Today's Bizarro comic imagines an embarrassing predicament particular to a certain segment of the entertainment industry.
Here's my submission sketch for comparison.
In the sketch, one puppet asks the setup question, while in Dan Piraro's finished panel, the conversation is between the ventriloquists. I'm only guessing, but I think Dan made that choice to keep the magical/absurd aspect focused on the sleeping dummy. This is a quiet little gag, so it probably doesn't need two dummies behaving like people. Either way works, but it is interesting to note the slightly different feel in each approach. Dan likes to draw the dummy and ventriloquist in matching outfits, which is a nice, funny touch. And now I want a red tuxedo. An earlier sketch, never submitted, shows just one ventriloquist on stage with a sleeping dummy.
I'd intended to show him thinking something like What a time for my arm to fall asleep!, but felt the gag didn't have enough punch, and almost immediately scribbled this thumbnail in the margin of the same sketchbook page.
Intermezzo:
Dan's drawing of the matching outfits reminded me of these uncannily accurate dummies of the band NRBQ, which appeared on the cover of their 2004 album Dummy.
Clockwise from top left: Joey Spampinato, Tommy Ardolino, Johnny Spampinato, Terry Adams
NRBQ has been around in various incarnations since the late 1960s, and have created a large body of wonderful records and compositions. The current band includes one original member, Terry Adams. The NRBQ dummies were made by an artist named Heidi Kennedy.
Back on topic:
Ventriloquists and dummies are certainly staple characters in gag cartoons (not to mention bad horror movies). One wonders if there's been a cartoon with a ventriloquist and a dummy on a desert island, being visited by the Grim Reaper. Here's a ventriloquist-themed illustration I did ten years ago. I believe it was done for the now-defunct New York Press, probably for the astrology column.
As always, you are invited to browse the many collaborations between Dan Piraro and me right here in this blog's Bizarro archive.
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
Greetings from the winter wonderland that is Hollywood Gardens, PA.
The first measurable snowfall of the season hit us this week. Our area had about three inches of heavy, wet snow, kicking off my supplementary seasonal exercise program.
At least it got me out of the studio for a bit.
And now, here's the blog for Week 49 of 2025.
I spotted today's pipe in the New York Times back in July.
The photo accompanied the paper's obituary of Ronald Ribman, a surrealist/absurdist playwright.
After earning a bachelor's degree in business, followed by master's and doctoral degrees in English (all from the University of Pittsburgh), he saw an Edward Albee play and thought he could do better, so he started writing his own.
Before reading his obit, I hadn't heard of Mr. Ribman, but I feel a kinship with all artists of the surreal and the absurd.
Let's see how the latest Bizarro gags rate on the Absurd-O-Meter.
This doesn't qualify as a wordless gag; perhaps it's more of a pantomime, though it involves a sort of wordplay. Whatever it is, I was happy with its simplicity.
The Dynamite of Boom Secret Symbol goes by the palindromic alias TNT.
I'd love to hear this guy's hecklers.
I had difficulty simulating the extreme cuteness necessary to put this joke across.
I managed to pull off a wordless gag late in the week. It even has a bit of a delayed payoff.
Saturday's panel imagined history's first mash-up.
Thanks for checking in. See you again next Saturday as we careen toward 2026. Make sure you're registered to vote in next year's midterm elections.
The Twelve Months of Bizarro
It's not too late to order a 2026 Bizarro Canines & Felines wall calendar for everyone on your gift list. You could even treat yourself. They're available at the Comics Kingdom Shop.
We also have a selection of t-shirts, hats, and holiday ornaments in King's Bizarro Shop.
Bonus Track
NRBQ: "I Love Her, She Loves Me"
From NRBQ At Yankee Stadium Mercury Records, 1978
"I Love Her, She Loves Me" has a beautiful lead vocal by Joey Spampinato and a toy piano solo by Terry Adams.
Bizarro Across the Worldwide Webs
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's 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
Your faithful cartoonist has been working hard to stay ahead of those neverending deadlines and had extra responsibilities to manage this week, so today's post will be shorter than usual.
You might want to take advantage of my brevity by grabbing a nap in anticipation of daylight saving time throwing us off our schedules tomorrow.
Today's pipe pic is a rather grotesque 1925 German artist Otto Dix painting.
The work is entitled Französisches Ehepaar (French Couple).
I think I found this one on my own; I don't have a note of anyone suggesting it to me. If one of you recall pointing me to this image, please pardon the omission and let me know.
Let's jump right into a review of the week in Bizarro.
The dating scene is sometimes even more brutal for insects than for humans.
Bizarro reader Paul F. alerted me to a business named Taco Pronto in Wichita, Kansas.
That was inevitable, and I have found a few other restaurants with the same name. If you live near a Taco Pronto, I encourage you to try them to ease my conscience.
I received a comment from someone claiming to have identified an error in this gag, but the fact that it was written in sentence fragments without punctuation undercut their assertion.
The scout's field report concluded, "Then, I threw up a little."
What's your occupational theme music?
We ended the week by examining differing perspectives from two sides of a desk.
That's the latest from Bizarro Studios North. Your comments and questions are always welcome, and your readership is greatly appreciated.
Bonus Track
Tom Waits:"Heigh Ho"
from Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films A&M Records LP, 1988
I'm not a fan of Disney products, but I love this subversive 1988 album, conceived and produced by the late Hal Willner. Among its treasures is a version of "Castle in Spain" (from Babes in Toyland) performed by Buster Poindexter, the alter ego of David Johansen, who left the mortal plane on February 28. Some other highlights include Bonnie Raitt doing "Baby Mine" and The Sun Ra Arkestra's buoyant version of "Pink Elephants on Parade." Oh, yes, and this medley!
Garth Hudson & NRBQ:
"Feed the Birds" & "Whistle While You Work"
As a friendly reminder, it's always a good time to listen to NRBQ. The lineup on this recording is my favorite incarnation of the band: Terry Adams (keyboards, vocal, arrangement), Al Anderson (guitar), Tommy Ardolino (drums), and Joey Spampinato (bass, vocal).
More Bizarro Mishegoss
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free of charge, 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 am a Humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I’m dead.
Kurt Vonnegut
I like to scroll through websites offering quotations attributed to prominent figures, where I sometimes encounter a phrase or idea that might serve as a starting point for a gag. I often find myself exploring multiple quotes from a single person, which is how I came upon these words from Kurt Vonnegut. I did extra research on this, as I didn’t fully trust the first place I saw it because they alphabetize authors by their first names, and it appears that this is something he actually said and wrote.
Vonnegut was an honorary president of the American Humanist Association from 1992 until he died in 2007. His words express thoughts I’ve had on this subject, so perhaps I’m a (small “h”) humanist or simply a human who thinks that the basis of their philosophy makes sense. The threat (or promise) of punishments (or rewards) in an afterlife have historically been tools for control, oppression, and the acquisition of power. We still see dogmatists trying to impose their superstitions on the entire population.
My takeaway from the humanist way of thinking is, Try to be nice to people. A statement from The Humanist Society of Western New York put it more eloquently:
[T]his is the only life of which we have certain knowledge and we owe it to ourselves and others to make it the best life possible for ourselves and all with whom we share this fragile planet.
Although recent quotation-browsing may not have inspired any cartoons, it did provide a jumping-off point for this post.
My good pal and fellow ink-monkey Mark Zingarelli recently shared a page of original comic book art on his Facebook page. I clipped this panel for obvious reasons. Zing also provided info on the art. It’s from Amazing Spider-Man #59, April 1968, written by Stan Lee. The art was by John Romita (layouts), Don Heck (pencils), and Mike Esposito (inks)
Following are this week’s Bizarro gags. Please don’t compare the drawings to any other comic art you may have seen in this post.
This panel’s alternate title is Variation on an Overused Movie Cliche.
Saying the genre out loud is in itself a spoiler.
Glass distinctions are so twentieth-century.
In such a crowded field, a win would indeed be impressive.
The real one is always accompanied by a small soft drink.
Eventually, people got wise to Medusa and she had to resort to trickery.
Thanks for looking at these things we do. Your comments are always welcome. See you again next week.
Bonus Track
NRBQ: "Ridin' in My Car" From the LP All Hopped Up Red Rooster Records, 1977
I've mentioned my affection for NRBQ in the past, and this song, written by Big Al Anderson, is one of their best. It's also a perfect tune for summer, don't you think?
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, who created Bizarro in
the late twentieth century, continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho
Bizarro in Mexico.
Wayno
A genius is the one MOST LIKE HIMSELF. Thelonious Monk
I've been thinking about creativity as a daily practice, and exactly what can be deemed original, if that's even possible. I almost used this quote to open this post:
Life isn’t about finding yourself or finding anything. Life is about creating yourself.
I thought Bob Dylan coined it, but found that he was paraphrasing George Bernard Shaw (whose first sentence didn't include "or finding anything.")
Instead, we began with a similar sentiment, by jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, as transcribed by saxophonist Steve Lacy.
It occurred to me that Dylan's rewording of Shaw is entirely in character for someone who's absorbed an ocean of cultural influences, and used bits and pieces to create his own massive body of work.
Gag cartoonists work with recognizable characters, themes, words, and phrases, and try to put their own spin on them. It's inevitable that multiple cartoonists sometimes produce similar or identical setups and punchlines. It's happened to me before, and I know it will again. Fortunately, most of us recognize the common experience, from both perspectives.
These
thoughts began to swirl in my head when someone
pointed out a comic that was similar to one I'd recently done, and accused
the other cartoonist of theft. I knew that wasn't the case. We both started with a familiar premise, and chose different dialog to turn it into a gag. The lesson I took from this was to avoid reading comments on social media.
Online thievery of cartoons is maddeningly common, but it rarely occurs among fellow artists. Here's a brief rant I posted on the Book of Face in 2016:
If you want to make clever political commentary using a cartoon image, don't alter an actual cartoonist's work with your own "improvements." It's incredibly tiresome to see the work of colleagues stolen and defaced every day. Whatever your political bent may be, and however honorable your cause, you undercut yourself by engaging in thievery to make your point.
Draw your own damn cartoon. Thank you.
The
difference between legitimate fair use and robbery can be nuanced and
perhaps debatable, but if we're honest with ourselves, we know which is
which when we see it.
In his 1980 ROZZ-TOX Manifesto, artist Gary Panter said, "Inspiration has always been born of recombination." Though I've read Panter's document often over the decades, I find something new every time, and there are still parts that are a little over my head, but it's always worth revisiting.
I'll close this intro by returning to Dylan, who echoed Monk's declaration in the song "Maggie's Farm."
Well, I try my best to be just like I am But everybody wants you to be just like them.
Now that I've got that out of my system, here's this week's pipe pic, from the cover of a 1970 Blondie comic book.
The full cover shows Dagwood acting as a dressmaker's dummy, while asserting his masculine nature by puffing on a pipe.
A tip of the Bizarro summer straw to faithful reader and prolific pipespotter Andréa for bringing this gem to our attention.
The Blondie comic strip has been running since 1930, and is distributed by King Features Syndicate, which also distributes Bizarro.
Speaking of Bizarro, that's what we're supposed to share on this blog, so let's get on with it.
Fortunately, this buccaneer has generous health benefits, which cover imaging services.
Tuesday's panel plays with two familiar cartoon tropes: a castaway on a tiny island, and a ventriloquist whose dummy may or may not be alive and sentient.
I enjoy doing clown gags, and I love it when I come up with a wordless gag. This one checked both boxes.
Although the drawing and joke are simple, I hit a snag when doing the strip conversion.
One of my regular tricks for making a panel into a strip is to frame the art with a "nightclub spotlight," adding solid black areas to both ends of the layout. In this case it looked as if we were spying on the clown through a telescope.
I then tried extending the tile wall and the shower curtain to fill the space, but it looked like an impossibly wide bathtub. I neglected to save a screen grab of that version, but rest assured, it was ridiculous.
I eventually tried a white "reverse spotlight," with an edge that gradually dissolves, instead of a solid border. It works nicely, suggesting a steamy bathroom. Sometimes the job involves solving little puzzles.
Yet another cartoon trope appeared on Thursday. The patient in a therapist's office is a bottomless source of comedic raw material, since we humans are so filled with anxieties and neuroses.
Of course that's how a goth moose would dress to annoy the parents.
A few months back, I sketched a judge sitting behind a piano instead of a normal courtroom bench, and eventually wrote a gag to fit it. Pro tip: Drawing a full keyboard is more work than one might think.
I recommend visiting my partner Dan Piraro's weekly blog, to see what he made of this batch of cartoons, and to check out his newest widescreen BizarroSunday page.
Also, please consider subscribing to my free newsletter, where I usually share a peek at an upcoming gag and some old art or design from my files. If you're not ready to subscribe, you can read previous newsletters on the archive page.
Dummies in History
The desert island ventriloquist gag prompted this note from Bizarro reader Black Mold, a disc jockey on the great New Orleans radio station WWOZ:
Did you know that the first mention in writing of the blues being performed on stage was a 1910 newspaper critic's review of a ventriloquist act where the dummy sang the blues?
He backed up this delightful factoid with an excerpt from The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville, by Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff.
Now I've got another volume added to my reserve list at the library...
Black Mold hosts a wild blues program on WWOZ called Music of Mass Distraction, which I highly recommend. I'm also a proud supporter of 'OZ, and have been a listener since 1983.
Dummy Bonus Track
"Dummy" by NRBQ from the album Dummy (Edisun Records, 2004)
I know the exact date I bought this disc. It was at the band's 35th anniversary reunion show, on May 1, 2004. I discovered my ticket stub tucked inside the booklet.
The CD packaging includes several photos of a set of NRBQ ventriloquist dummies, created by an artist named Heidi Kennedy. She achieved striking likenesses of each musician.
Clockwise from top left: Joey Spampinato, Terry Adams, Johnny Spampinato, Tom Ardolino
Thanks for reading Bizarro, and for following the blog.
And remember: Try your best to be just like yourself.
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