Here in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, we've spent most of the past week shoveling snow, which isn't much to complain about considering the combination of dangerously cold temperatures and lengthy power outages affecting other areas.
Stupid groundhog.
It wasn't all drudgery, though, as we took time to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Ox, quietly and at home.
In the early part of this century, we mailed a series of Lunar New Year cards, which served as seasonal greetings to friends, and illustration samples for art directors. This one, from five years ago, featured a character with a pipe, which gives me an excuse to share it again.
Let's take a look back at our latest comics from this Year of the Ox.
Oh, the humanity. It's so tasty!
The soldier here is heavily (and hairily) armed, and fifty percent out of uniform.
Wednesday's gag triggered a pang of nostalgia for shopping malls, which never appealed to me in the past. COVID isolation must be getting to me.
The strip layout necessitated some creative rearrangement of Secret Symbols, but it allowed me to show the side panel of the kiosk.
My initial sketch attempted to comment on the cinematic cliche of a serial killer's lair filled with dozens of lit candles, but I think the rewrite resulted in a better gag.
They're nowhere near the totals for cowboys, cats, dogs, or clowns, but we're building a decent library of bro-based gags here at BSN.
This strip conversion also required some symbol-shuffling. I usually try to place the same set of symbols in both the panel and strip formats, rather than making myself (and my editors) count and keep track of different totals on a single day. I must admit, I was happy with the image of the dynamite perched on the bill of the character's cap.
Some scholars read Moby-Dick as an allegory for humanity's quest for meaning, but it might also be about our search for companionship.
The jury will now exit in an orderly "V" formation.
That's all for this frigid week, friends. Don't forget to visit Dan Piraro's blog, to check out his latest Sunday Bizarro page, which is always magnificent.
I hope you're all safe and warm. See you next Saturday.
Bonus Track
Since we ended the week with an avian gag, here's an appropriate tune from our vinyl archives.
Rico Henderson and the Citettes Strictly for the Birds Citation Records, 1958
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This quirky number was written by Irving Szathmary (1907-1983).
Irving Szathmary, circa 1950s
Szathmary
was a composer and arranger whose most successful gig was writing the
theme and scoring every episode of the Get Smart TV series. Sazthmary's
youngest brother, William, achieved show-biz fame under the name Bill
Dana, who was best-known for his faux-Bolivian character José Jimenez.
I can find no information on bandleader Rico Henderson. Maybe it was a pseudonym for Szathmary, who ran the Citation label.
My copy has a sticker on the label reading, "Thanks for the Spins - Harold Wald." My guess is that Wald was a salesman or distributor who delivered records to disk jockeys. Whatever its origin, the sticker is a delightfully enigmatic artifact.
Instead of opening this post with commentary on the second impeachment, we've decided to share this delightful street sign, spotted in the Bayou St. John neighborhood of New Orleans.
The photo arrived via text message from my friend Tom McDermott, a masterful piano player and composer who lives near the sign. He's also a prolific limerick writer, and a fine caricature artist.
In the Year Before COVID, Tom McD paid a visit to Pittsburgh, and thrilled a small group of fortunate locals with a joyful house concert. That's him, sandwiched between your humble cartoonist, and my wildly talented bandmate Tom Roberts. Yes, I know two piano maestros named Tom.
I'm looking forward to a time when we're again able to gather to enjoy food, music, and each other's company. I'm preparing for that day by working hard in the studio to get a bit further ahead of publication.
Here's a look back at our most recent cartoon output.
We kicked off the week with a punning and vaguely political gag.
I was pleased with the strip layout for this one.
My Bizarro Studios partner, Dan Piraro, recently recommended that I watch My Octopus Teacher, a documentary on Netflix, correctly predicting that it would blow my mind. Dan's also recommended it to readers via social media, and I heartily second him. Go watch it as soon as possible.
The art the teacher displays in this gag is loosely based on Roy Lichtenstein's 1964 painting, Nurse. I'm generally a fan of twentieth century pop art, although Lichtenstein engenders mixed feelings. He became wealthy by appropriating the imagery of living, underpaid comic artists, who never profited from his use of their art, transformative though it may (or may not) have been. Is making a large format painting of another artist's image significantly different from writing a symphonic arrangement of a songwriter's pop tune, which would involve payment for licensing? I don't know for certain, but it'd be worth discussing over drinks, when discussing things over drinks is possible.
While laying out the text, it occurred to me that "Lichtenstein, Warhol, Rauschenberg and Grooms"1 sounded like a lost Tom Lehrer song. I was probably half-remembering his composition about Russian mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky.
Late last year, at age 92, Tom Lehrer put all of his musical compositions into the public domain, making them free for anyone to reuse and perform in any way they like. Instead of taking other artists' work without permission like Lichtenstein, Lehrer released his own creative output into the wild, in order to give it new life.
The fact that Lehrer is the third pianist named Tom mentioned in today's post is weirdly coincidental. I'm now imagining Roberts, McDermott, and Lehrer forming a trio called "ZZ Tom."
Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services, in their endless hunger for content, have added films and TV series from all over the world. We've enjoyed quite a few series produced in Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Korea, and elsewhere. We've also discovered that the trope referenced in this comic is alive and well outside of North America.
This celestial visitor was heard to describe us as "puny, prickly Earthlings."
Tarzan of the Cats may seem meek compared to his cousin who was raised by apes, but at least he uses a litterbox.
All hail Linen.
Thanks, as always, for visiting us here at the ol' blog. Don't forget to check in at Dan's weekly blog, too. He always has something interesting to say along with sharing his latest magnificent Sunday Bizarro page.
Bonus Track
For those curious to hear Tom McDermott's music, here's a clip of him performing Professor Longhair's classic "Tipitina."
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Tom is a self-employed musician navigating this time of limited (or nonexistent) opportunities to perform, so CD sales are more important than ever. If you're interested in some great music for your home, check out Tom's recordings, all of which are available from Louisiana Music Factory.
One of my favorites is his 2019 album Tom McDermott Meets Scott Joplin. Tom writes, "This isn't an album for purists, but I hope the impurists out there will wallow in its freshness." I couldn't have said it better.
I also love his book of limericks and drawings, Five Lines, No Waiting. Notes
1) I've since realized that I must have been reminded of "Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell and Dean, a novelty song from the Watergate era. The dark corners of my brain are crammed with useless material.
According to a certain Pennsylvania rodent, we're in for another six weeks of winter. After enduring the past eleven months, that'll be a cakewalk.
Last month, a longtime friend celebrated a milestone birthday. I searched through my files and turned up a set of illustrations he'd commissioned from me many years ago, which I sent to him as a birthday gift.
I've long forgotten the original purpose for these drawings of a character we named Dexter, but it was cool to see them again. I regret that none of these images shows Dexter holding a pipe, but I have a great pipe image found in the wild to share next week.
I still draw in ink over blue pencil today. Let's take a look at some current work to see if my style has changed much over the decades.
I was a child raised by television, and so were quite a few Bizarro readers. Several people noted that the doctor in this panel bears a resemblance to character actor Milburn Stone, of "Gunsmoke" fame. That was my intent, but when another reader mentioned that the layout was similar to the office set on "The Bob Newhart Show," I was surprised and had to agree. I've seen that series multiple times over the years, and its furniture placement must have stayed with me.
Bizarro HQ received a note of appreciation from a reader who's actually named Chuck Gunderson. The Chuck who wrote to us spells his last name with a single "s," which I take as evidence of further cost-saving measures at the Justice Department.
Wednesday's panel employed a trusty comedic device: the old verbal switcheroo.
This trick might also work with humans. We'd achieve herd immunity in no time if COVID vaccines were tucked inside Chik-fil-A sandwiches.
After an absence of nearly two years, this character reappears in Bizarro.
We find him to be entertaining, but his Amazon reviews are mixed.
Coming full circle, we closed the week with another cowboy-themed gag.
Thanks for checking in on us. Don't forget to visit Dan Piraro's blog to see what's on his mind, and to marvel at another gorgeous, panoramic Sunday Bizarro.
Bonus Track
Grico Samon "Who Put the Hole in the Doughnut"
While hunkered in place, we've been doing some decluttering, and are even considering letting go of some records and compact discs. This one, however, is a keeper. The label image and digitized audio were done right here at Bizarro Studios North.
I remember finding this at a record show, in a box of singles marked "MISC/ODD," where I knew I'd strike gold. This strange and mysterious artifact has a place of honor in my little case of "bulletproof" records.
Today we should all congratulate ourselves on (just about) making it through the first month of the new year. I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude, so let's say we're one month closer to getting our COVID-19 vaccines.
While scrolling through my photo archives, I came across this 2015 "record head" shot featuring a forebear of the Pipe of Ambiguity. The record cover art was done by Sam Norkin (1917-2011). Norkin was a prolific cartoonist who specialized in caricatures of Broadway actors and ensembles. At first glance, his work probably reminds the viewer of Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003). While there are similarities in style, and certainly in subject matter, Norkin's art is more wildly exaggerated and angular, even Cubist.
Norkin did this wonderful drawing of Cab Calloway for a 1955 LP on Epic Records.
The "Bingle" photo is a souvenir from a phase I went through several years ago, when I wasted a lot of time taking record-head selfies with items from my collection. It was fun, but thankfully, I now have a weekly deadline to keep myself busy making cartoons.
Speaking of which, here's the latest batch to roll off the production line here at Bizarro Studios North.
He's a good employee, but don't startle him when he's concentrating on a repair.
The only time most Americans encounter Roman numerals is in reference to Super Bowl games, although the NFL showed less than total commitment when they named the 2015 game "Super Bowl 50" instead of "Super Bowl L." Apparently, some football fans were miffed, but maybe it was a wise decision. The version with the Roman numeral almost looks like "Super Bowel."
While doing my research for this gag, I learned the difference between the words pictograph (a drawing or painting on a rock wall) and petroglyph (a carving or inscription in rock).
The CEO of the Mister Lactose Corporation is a former military operative who participated in musical torture initiatives.
Friday's spiritually-enlightened spud was fun to draw, although I later realized that for potatoes, having more than two eyes isn't a big deal.
We ended the week with an unintentionally timely gag. Fortunately for this patient, he has more than forty colleagues who are eager to show the way, and then some.
That's the latest from our US headquarters in scenic Hollywood Gardens, PA. Thanks for popping by. Don't forget to visit Dan Piraro's blog to check out his latest Sunday Bizarro. He's also been reporting from what looks to be a restful getaway on a mountainside near Oaxaca City, Mexico. He seems to be in an enviable state of relaxation and bliss, which makes me very happy for him.
Bonus Track
Tom Waits: "Ice Cream Man" from the album Closing Time (Asylum Records, 1973)
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This week we watched the peaceful inauguration of our country's new President and Vice President, and saw that it is indeed possible for elected officials to act like adults.
The new administration will certainly not be perfect, but things already look promising in many ways.
The highlight of the day for us at BSN was the young inaugural poet Amanda Gorman. Her writing is brilliant, and she was poised, powerful, and on point. She served as a refreshing contrast to the grunting criminal imbeciles who desecrated the Capitol just two weeks prior. Perhaps we have reason to be hopeful for the future after all.
Transitioning from the sublime to the ridiculous, we're tickled to share another pipe-related image.
This is a screen grab from the 2015 horror-comedy Moose! The Movie, a low-budget indie film written by Tundra cartoonist Chad Carpenter. The dapper gent pictured above is Tom Gammill, creator of the comic strip The Doozies. Tom also has a side gig as a producer for The Simpsons, and he's one of the funniest people on the planet.
Our gig here is to do our best to send little packets of humor out into the world, and hope they bring our readers some levity. Here's our latest batch of comics.
My first sketch of this gag was captioned "Vice Signaling," but the final caption was more effective and satisfying.
As I write this post, I notice that the character in the bow tie reminds me of the work of Willy Murphy (1936-1976). Murphy, though not as well-known as some of his contemporaries, is one of my favorite underground cartoonists. His writing was sharp and smart, and he directed much of his satiric commentary at the counterculture. His character, Henry Henpeck, suffered some form of humiliation in every story, but in the last panel was always shown describing an imagined triumph to reluctant listeners. This representative page is from the second issue of Murphy's posthumous comic book, Flamed-Out Funnies.
From the Bizarro Studios North Comics Archive
Tuesday's gag grafts together two wildly disparate pop culture references, for a peanut butter cup of humor.
If you have compound eyes, and you look through a kaleidoscope the wrong way, do you see a single image?
I took some good-natured heat from a few banjo aficionados I know, though they clearly recognized this as a joke and not a manifesto. I also pointed out that the character said "practice" rather than "play," and that as someone who plays ukulele, I'm fair game for similar jokes.
I'm fairly certain that this happens regularly.
Let's hear it for lowered expectations. What really hurts is that this is his agent, not his publisher.
That's the weekly wrap-up from Your Obedient Cartoonist. Don't forget to check out Dan Piraro's blog to see what he's cooked up for his always-sumptuous Sunday Bizarro page, and his always fascinating commentary on the week's comics and current events.
Bonus Track
Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt (Weren't No Kin) Otis Jackson
Recorded in 1949
Since a new president took office this week, here's a musical tribute to a previous American leader. The sound is so full and complete, it's easy to miss that it's purely vocal, with no instrumental accompaniment.
I first heard this tune on a wonderful LP called "Get Right With God," which was issued in Europe in the early 1980s.
Listeners with more than a passing interest in rock and roll understand that the music has deep roots in Black church music. You don't have to be a religious believer to dig the performances collected on this album. All you need is ears.
NOTE: Some YouTube videos are unavailable outside the US. On some phones you must select "View Web Version" to see the video content.
Another Saturday has rolled around, and yet again we find ourselves at the end of a head-spinning week of events. The current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue set a record for most impeachments, and we're crossing our fingers that his final exit four days from now will be uneventful.
Since we introduced the Pipe of Ambiguity as Bizarro's new Secret Symbol, I've been seeing examples of pipe imagery on the web. I'm not implying cause and effect, only noting that since the symbol is in the front of my consciousness, pictures of pipes jump out at me.
My dear friend and fellow cartoonist/illustrator Mark Zingarelli recently posted this helpful hint (or "life hack" in today's parlance) on his Facebook page, and naturally I had to share it here.
With all that's been happening in the news, you might have missed some of our recent cartoons, so we're presenting them all in a convenient blog post for your amusement.
Health care professionals have to blow off steam from time to time, just like the rest of us.
He'll soon be leader of the cave village.
Horror writers know to build stories around their readers' fears. This piece features prominently in his literary collection, Tales of Mystery and Catatonia.
This fellow is planning for a future when we can again travel in relative safety. I managed to do a cowboy-themed comic without having the fun of drawing a cowboy. I should have given our would-be tourist a snazzy western shirt.
Friday's gag is a prime example of a cartoonist using humor to help cope with our troubles or fears. In my area of the country, a lot of us may experience seasonal affective disorder. Our winters are usually long, cold, dark, and gloomy. This time around, those meteorological factors are coupled with the fatigue of many months of isolation and self-quarantine (or at least they should be).
When we're able to move about again, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's photos from their travels, and to reuniting with friends near and far.
One waggish commenter suggested that this comic's protagonist suffered from overexposure to Jimmy Buffett's music. For this listener, there's no safe level of Jimmy Buffet. But that's me. Whatever brings you enjoyment without harming others is fine by me.
And if we're a democracy, how did we get stuck for four years with a mendacious criminal despot? An apian monarchy would have been preferable, but let's hope for an orderly transition to something closer to normal in the coming week. Pincers crossed.
That's the latest from Bizarro Studios North. Thanks for checking in on us. If you're interested in additional comics commentary, you ought to visit Dan Piraro's blog, where you can also admire his latest Bizarro Sunday page.
Bonus Track
Therapy and psychology are recurring themes in our comics, and we certainly believe that humor can be therapeutic. Music offers similar benefits, and a terrific new album that was released this week has been nourishing my soul.
The album is Maquishti, a collection of solo performances on vibraphone and marimba by Patricia Brennan. My copy arrived in Thursday's mail delivery, and it provided my working soundtrack for most of Friday. It’s already a favorite, and I know I’ll return to it often.
Here's a live version of "Sonnet," which is one of the compositions included on Maquishti.
To quote a good friend: Music improves the human condition.
Well, this year is off to an unfortunately eventful start, isn't it. All I will say about current events at this time is that reliable sources in Hell report that Nixon has been doing cartwheels there since mid-week.
A few readers have mentioned that a significant percentage of my Bizarro gags are cowboy-themed. I recently found some of my elementary school photos, and this one from third grade probably explains a lot.
I insisted that I had to wear that shirt for my school picture. I still believe I made a smart choice.
With the news dominated by cosplaying goons, you may have missed some of the week's comics. For your amusement, we present a handy recap.
For his sixth birthday, he's getting his first corporate directorship.
Remember when narcissists were relatively harmless figures of fun?
They do things the old-fashioned way at Dodge City General Hospital.
By the way, medical research has found that biting down on a leather strap is much more effective than biting a bullet.
Some of the windowsills show signs of waif damage, and the seller failed to disclose that the previous owner was murdered by a pair of drifters.
He needs reading glasses for closeup work, be can see far out just fine.
Sometimes when we cartoonists brainstorm topics for humor, we come up with more than one usable joke. That happened to me a couple of months ago, when I wrote two gags riffing on the phrase "memory foam mattress." The first one ran on December 28, and the other was published today.
Had I found four more variations, I might have run an entire week of memory foam gags.
Thanks to all for reading Bizarro, and for your comments and email. Be sure to visit Dan Piraro's blog, to see what he's cooked up for Sunday's comics page. It's a real beaut this week, and he also offers some solid commentary on the horrible news of the week.
And if you're not reading Dan's surreal western graphic novel, Peyote Cowboy, what are you waiting for? The art is stunning, and he's already twenty episodes into the wild and woolly storyline.
See you next week. Until then, be nice to yourselves and to each other, and don't follow fascists.
Bonus Track
Allen Toussaint Who's Gonna Help a Brother Get Further
Allen Toussaint (1938-2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer, and a key figure in popular music worldwide. I saw him perform a few times, and was always impressed by his gentle nature and humility. His music is in heavy rotation in my workspace.
Note: Some YouTube videos are unavailable outside the US, and on some mobile devices, it may be necessary to select "View Web Version" in order to see the video.
