Rat Race (Bizarro Guest Week Day 1)

Welcome to Day 1 of my second temporary takeover of Bizarro. We tried this out in May, when Dan Piraro took a few days off, and received very few death threats, so we're doing it again.

Today's gag features a fat cat who's actually a rodent.

I'll post each day's comic throughout the week, but will forgo my usual explanation of the genesis of the gag and how it progressed from sketch to final art. I will however mention that, although the purpose of my subbing was to allow Dan some time off, he was very involved in the selection and creation of all seven gags. We started with a group of about 30 submissions, and narrowed them down to those we agreed on as the best of the bunch. Dan reviewed my pencil sketches and inked art, and gave many helpful suggestions regarding composition and color, as well as editing and refining the text.

Both of these guest week stints have been educational experiences for me, the equivalent of attending a master cartooning class in which I was the only student. My sincere thanks go to Dan for this opportunity, and to his editors at King Features Syndicate for giving us the go-ahead.

Thanks for reading. Please come back and read the subsequent installments, which will wind up on New Year's Day 2012.

Our previous collaborations, which now number over seventy gags, are still archived here under the Bizarro label.

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