Your Vote Counts

Before we review the week's cartoons, I want to thank everyone who responded to the Boston Globe's call for votes. The Globe dropped half of their comics in December, but Bizarro's readers convinced the editors to bring us back. The Jazz Pickle Army has emerged victorious! Your support means a lot to us here at Bizarro Studios, and we wish we could give each of you an "I Voted" sticker.

The editors of the Globe handled this professionally and gracefully.

Now, back to business...

This week's batch of cartoons features several animals, but I must apologize for not including any pigs, since Tuesday marked the beginning of Lunar Year 4717, the Year of the Pig. I'll try to stay on top of that next year.

Underwater carpentry is even tougher than you might imagine.

I had a bit of a breakthrough when coloring this one. Initially, I tried to fill in the individual areas on each item of camouflage clothing with different colors, which quickly became overwhelming. 

Eventually, I realized that the solid and shaded areas in the black & white art established the camouflage pattern.

Subtle color variations on top of the line art weren't necessary for the clothing to be recognized as camo, and when printed in the paper, they wouldn't even be visible.

Applying a single flat color to each item (as can be seen in this view of the color layer on its own) was all that was needed.

I hope I'll remember this lesson going forward, but I know that I'll probably have to "discover" it again.

We debated whether the word "cosplay" would be understood by most readers, but our syndicate editor convinced us to use it, although she added the disclaimer, "I'm a big ol' geek."

These rodents are actually getting by quite well, as opposed to someone who's just eking out a living.

This is the first time I've used Bizarro's Flying Saucer of Possibility symbol as an actual character in a gag. I wasn't sure if that violated any Bizarro Universe rules, but my editor/collaborator, Dan Piraro (who created the SoP) gave his okay, so I know I'm on solid footing.

This fellow never gets frustrated when calling Customer Service, since he has no expectations of speaking to a representative.

Be sure to read Dan's blog to see what he has to say about this week's selections, and to admire his latest Sunday page.

Bonus Gags

In honor of the Year of the Pig, here are some previously published porcine panels for your perusal. 

Bonus Track



Imagine if corporations used music this delightful when placing customers on hold. When you finally speak with a human, you might actually be smiling.

Disclaimer: Some YouTube music videos are unavailable outside the US.