This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.
Wayno
If we had not winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
~Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
As of this writing, with two-thirds of the country bracing for a severe winter storm, let's look forward to the arrival of spring with hope. Pittsburgh has been listed among a dozen cities that may be hit the hardest, so we're keeping our eyes on the sky.
Wherever you live, I hope you experience minimal impact and remain warm and secure from all threats to your safety, well-being, and happiness.
Today's slightly off-putting pipe pic is a folk art ventriloquist dummy.
I stumbled upon this bumpkin on an auction site last summer. We have a healthy backlog of pipe photos, but new submissions are always welcome.
Perhaps the latest Bizarro panels will offer a brief escape from concerns about snow and ice.
Monday's gruesome gag includes a nod to Pittsburgh's George A. Romero, often called the father of the modern zombie movie.
In the mid 1980s, we lived in the same Pittsburgh neighborhood as Romero's frequent makeup artist and stunt performer, Tom Savini. I'd often see him picking up supplies at the local hardware store or shopping at one of the Italian groceries in the area. He looked rather scary in person, but always offered a smile and a greeting.
Hey, it was worth a shot.
A couple of readers said this character reminded them of American Splendor comic writer Harvey Pekar. That wasn't my intention, and other than a hangdog expression, I don't see a resemblance, but since Pekar's comic persona was rendered by some of the best underground cartoonists, I'll take that as a compliment.
Among his other accomplishments, Pekar was a prolific music critic. He reviewed Charles Mingus's 1962 Oh Yeah album in Down Beat magazine, praising the musician's piano playing, but showing less enthusiasm for his singing.
Mingus took exception to this and shot off a letter of reply:
My efforts at blues singing were not meant to challenge such diverse masters as Joe Turner, Ray Charles or Big Bill Broonzy, and I don’t think their singing was meant as a challenge to each other or to me. No one could sing my blues but me (if you must call it singing), just as no one could holler for you if I decide to punch you in your mouth.
Mingus was uncompromising when it came to his music and was nicknamed "the Angry Man of Jazz." His written interaction with Pekar is an interesting intersection of the worlds of comix and jazz.
Wednesday's cartoon references another Pittsburgher: actor and comedian Frank Gorshin, who played the Riddler in the 1966 Batman TV series and received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal.
Gorshin was unhappy with the character's form-fitting unitard costume, and he came up with the suit and derby hat festooned with question marks. This outfit then began appearing in the comic books.
Their motto is "Cranky and Proud of It."
Unlike Tuesday's drawing, this one is meant to resemble two actual people.
We wrapped up the week with a variation on a familiar gag cartoon trope. We searched to see if someone had already done this joke, but couldn't find one out there.
Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read these renderings and ramblings. Stay warm and cozy!
Bonus Track
John Boutté: "Louisiana 1927"
Directed by Mark Bergeron
Randy Newman's song from his 1974 album Good Old Boys became associated with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. John Boutté turns in a lovely performance here.
At the 2026 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, we heard a heartbreaking version of the song by singer/pianist Marcia Ball.
Friend and colleague Michael Tisserand lived in New Orleans for many years and currently resides in Minnesota. Michael published an opinion piece in the New Orleans Times-Picayune this week comparing the post-Katrina period to current events. I highly recommend his thoughtful column.
A Whole Lotta Bizarro Hooey
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.
Wayno
Freedom of the press is perhaps the freedom that has suffered the most from the gradual degradation of the idea of liberty.
~Albert Camus
Pittsburgh will soon become the country's largest city without a daily newspaper. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is closing after 240 years. They're not going to a digital-only publication; they're pulling the plug and locking the doors on May 3. The same owners recently did the same to the city's last remaining alt-weekly.
The Post-Gazette is owned and run (into the ground) by a pair of spoiled twin nepo babies who inherited it. In 2020, they unilaterally, without negotiation, cut union workers’ contractual health care plans (among other things). Their actions led to a strike lasting more than three years.
On January 7, the Supreme Court denied their appeal of a federal court finding that they had, in fact, violated the terms of the union contract. So they decided to close up shop.
The closing of an individual newspaper is, of course, bad news for cartoonists, but that's nothing compared to the loss of a daily paper for citizens of a major American city.
The Post-Gazette was far from perfect, but it employed many quality journalists and was an important news source for Pittsburghers. If, as the Washington Post hypocritically features on its banner, "Democracy dies in darkness," the owners of the P-G have unscrewed one more bulb.
For those interested, I recommend recent columns and newsletters by people closely involved with the paper's history.
I'll close with a quote from Eric Deggans's Substack:
It’s a sad harbinger for the fate of news outlets across the country; increasingly let down by classless owners who never seem to understand or truly value the newsrooms they are trying to lead.
On a lighter note, our whimsical pipe pic comes from Bizarro reader Steve I.
We were in Istanbul in 2016 and I purchased two meerschaum pipes at the Grand Bazaar. Meerschaum (sepiolite) is a type of clay found in Turkey and they make pipes out of it, usually with intricate carvings. I believe the ones I have were carved by machine as the patterns are very precise and consistent. Some are carved by hand and can be expensive. If you burn tobacco in the pipes they turn brown from the heat. My apologies if you know that already.
The little guy posing with them is Flash Turtle. He has a long history and I could provide it to you, but I've found that it bores most people. He used to have a Facebook page of his own where I posted his travel adventures, but I eventually became fed up with Facebook and deleted both of our accounts. Flash was made sometime in the 80s and the company is long out of business. I could provide more info about that too, but again, it's bores most people.
A tip of the Bizarro chapeau to Steve for the photo and the info on meerschaum. I'm sure Flash Turtle is as happy to be away from social media as Steve is.
Pittsburgh may be losing a place to see Bizarro in its classic halftone-dot-on-newsprint form, but we'll always have digital comics. Here are my latest.
I drew this from experiences in previous ill-fitting jobs. There's nothing like a day of mandatory fun to backfire on misguided management.
The Hans Christian Andersen Hotel is used to accommodating picky customers.
This cartoon depicting two warrior princesses encountering the Nerd of the Rings drew an inexplicably angry comment on the Comics Kingdom site. I still don't know what to make of it.
I should have reminded him that if someone is forcing him to read the comics, he should tell a teacher, parent, or other adult.
Are sleazy used car salespeople still a thing?
If only it were that easy.
The strip layout ended up looking more ominous.
If the newbie fails to complete it successfully, will he be sent to hell, or back to hell on earth?
Thanks for checking out the funnies, folks. We'll have a new batch for you in a week.
Bonus Track
The Jam: "News of the World"
Polydor Records single, 1978
A Boatload of Bizarro Blather
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.
Wayno
I have a bone to pick with Fate.
~Ogden Nash
As planned, I managed to stay away from the workspace and computer for a couple of days to welcome the New Year. My spouse and I enjoyed some lovely meals, hiked in brisk weather every morning, and spent time relaxing together without fretting (too much) about work.
Our blissful getaway was followed by a visit from that old bugbear, COVID. Fortunately, immunizations protected us from severe symptoms, and medication is knocking out the virus.
I'm getting back to normal, and returning to my regular work rhythm, trying to maintain a positive personal outlook. I'm glad to have had a few days off to recharge the creative batteries, and grateful for the medical science we still have available to minimize the effects of that particular infection.
If the past week of discomfort is the worst thing I'll experience this year, I have no complaints.
And, hey, I'll have natural immunity for the next three months.
This week's contemplative pipe pic comes from faithful Bizarro field correspondent Petri V.
I recently watched the music video for the Cat Stevens song "Father & Son." Although I've been familiar with the song for some years, I recently became reacquainted with it through happenstance, and so I thought that I would share this screen grab from the video with you for your weekly missives.
Thanks to Petri for sending the image our way.
We also have an update on last week's cartoon pipe pic.
I wasn't familiar with the cartoonist who illustrated the ad, and shared an enlarged image of the signature.
Rob, one of our regular blog readers, provided a lead.
After looking through some Dr. Grabow vintage adverts, I found what appears to be a clearer signature of the same artist in another ad. It may have been Phil Hustis a commercial artist who had a short-lived comic strip "Army Antics" in the early 1940s.
I have to agree, the signatures appear to match, particularly the extended lines used to dot the letter "i" in his first and last names.
Further digging turned up a portrait of the artist.
A tip of the winter fedora to Rob for the detective work, and a salute to Phil Hustis (1916-1991) for his amusing art.
We like to keep the signatures in Bizarro nice and clear, to aid future comics historians.
If nothing else, their signage reflects their success rate.
Guess who's been baking the books.
I drew the female in this panel the way I usually depict mummies: a recognizable human outline wrapped in long bandages. However, I wanted the other character to look like Boris Karloff from the 1932 movie. Drawing him was tricky. Rather than being wrapped in cloth, he looks as if his head is caked in dried mud.
I studied several photos of Karloff, but the most vivid image in my head was this 1969 issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland, with its gorgeous cover painting by Basil Gogos (1929-2017). Gogos produced dozens of striking portraits of classic monsters for the magazine, which was a staple of my childhood.
Sometimes, a bedtime story reader has to act as a custom content provider.
"Also, my neck muscles have never been stronger."
Credit is due to Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO, who wore these spectacular eyeglasses in the early 1980s.
The young one may already suspect the truth.
Bonus Tracks
The dB's: "Ups and Downs" from the LP, Repercussion
Albion Records, 1981
Sparks: "Lost and Found"
Island Records single, 1974
A couple of song selections inspired the blog intro and one of the gags.
Repercussion has received many spins around here since its release in 1981, and every track is a gem of guitar-based pop. I particularly recommend "Amplifier," and "Ask for Jill."
I became a fan of Sparks after hearing Kimono My House, their third album and commercial breakthrough. "Lost and Found" was the B-side of the hit single "Amateur Hour," and although I've been hearing it for decades, most of the lyrics eluded me until In the Words of Sparks, a book of lyrics, was published in 2013.
Lost and found
A wallet from a man, careless man, careless man
Too bad, too bad, too bad, too bad
Lost and found
A wallet from a man, careless man, careless man
And all the streets are paved tonight
And we won't be their slaves tonight
And I ain't gonna feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Lost and found
A wallet from a man, careless man, careless man
Too bad, too bad, too bad, too bad
Lost and found
A wallet from a man, careless man, careless man
He's Robin Hood by accident
I need it more than he does and
I surely will not feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Lost and found
A wallet from a man, careless man, careless man
Oh, is there anybody out there by the name of Mister Jones?
No? No? Well, I tried
Lost and found, lost and found, lost and found, lost and found
Lost and found
A wallet from a man, careless man, careless man
Too bad, too bad, too bad, too bad
Lost and found
A wallet from a man, careless man, careless man
We sailed off for the Barbary Sea
With Nina, Pinta, and Marie
And none of us will feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Yes, all the streets are paved tonight
And we won't be their slaves tonight
And I ain't gonna feel bad at all, feel bad at all
Lost and found, lost and found, lost and found, lost and found
I'm still not sure I hear all the words as written, but my ears are older than they once were.
Big Bales of Bizarro Bounty
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
