This Little Piggy Got Tattooed

Today's Bizarro, drawn by Dan Piraro and written by yours truly, takes a poke at picnicking pigs:

I don't recall how this idea came to me, but I liked it right away. The sketch flowed fairly quickly:

Many years ago, long before tattoos were as ubiquitous as today, I once saw an old guy with a cabinet hinge tattooed inside his elbow. At the time, I thought it was very clever. Perhaps that memory resurfaced and inspired this gag.

The coin slot tattoo made for a funny visual, though I also considered a butcher's chart, which might have been a little disturbing. Come to think of it, the butcher chart would have worked if the pig character had been a tough-guy jailbird or biker.

My piggies looked a little too buff, which Dan remedied with his portlier porkers.

Note to cartooning students: Once again, Dan Piraro rearranged the image to position the payoff (the tattoo) as far to the right side of the panel as possible, so the reader encounters it last. It's a handy rule of thumb for laying out a panel, and usually enhances the surprise of a gag.

You can search for the Bizarro label to see our previous collaborations here on the blog. The next one will appear on Monday, May 9.

Don't forget to follow my guest week takeover of Bizarro, May 16 through 22, and read Dan's blog too.