End Zone Antics

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday, for those who worship at that particular altar, and today's Bizarro comic acknowledges this oddball American institution.

My submission doesn't really qualify as a sketch, as I simply wrote new dialog for an existing cartoon, with minor visual alterations.

Since I have little knowledge of (and no interest in) such spectacles, friends and family may well question how I came up with a sports-related gag that doesn't consist of outright mockery. Please direct your blame at NPR's dandified commentator Frank DeFord. One December morning, he was in a lather over the practice of football players following a touchdown with a signature dance move or other mini-performance. That segment made me wonder whether these guys coordinate their celebratory acts in advance, to avoid the embarrassment of one player stealing another's thunder.

Bizarro's creator, Dan Piraro, edited the dialog (today's readers are probably more familiar with the Robot than the Charleston), and added the Super Bowl reference, which worked out rather nicely.

The players on this fictional team were named after gag writers who contribute to Bizarro, and whose jokes make me laugh, serving as a tip of the helmet to Andy Cowan, Cliff Harris, and the mysterious Ricardo Cabeza. Not mentioned in the dialog, Michael Capozzola also appears in the finished art. It was fun to sneakily acknowledge these talented and funny writers, whose work I always admire and often envy.

By the way, in the strip layout of today's comic, Dan tucked me into the crowd of athletes.

He achieved a decent comic likeness!

Please feel free to review our previous comical collaborations here.