War and Pekoe

I must first apologize for the tardy blog post. I normally publish on Saturdays, but last weekend was unusually busy here at Bizarro Studios North. I've been working overtime in an attempt creep a little further ahead of deadline, so I can relax with family and friends over the holidays. 

I spent most of Saturday getting ready for the annual holiday gig by my musical group, The Red Beans & Rice Combo.
 

L-R: Dave Klug, Wayno, special guest Rick Sebak, Tom Roberts

The show was a lot of fun, despite a brief intermission to repair the bass drum pedal. Dave, our percussionist, improvised a fix using a metal clip from an equipment case and after reassembling the pedal, he sounded even better than before.
 
Now, let's review last week's cartoon  activities.

A surprising number of people (including my comic partner Dan Piraro) told me that they've long referred to the familiar retailer by this name. It's an appropriate moniker, given the fact that its retired billionaire co-founder supports our own domestic dictator's bid for another term of constitution-burning.

Instead of addressing his intentionally poor performance, this kid is attacking the teacher's credentials. Where could he have learned such a tactic?

Wednesday's gag illustrates the expression "unclear on the concept."

Corporate decision-making is all about weighing alternatives and evaluating trade-offs.

I share my cartoons on a few social media platforms, and reactions to this one indicated that Facebook users were more likely to understand the literary reference and the connection to reading tea leaves than Instagram readers. I'm not sure what to make of this data point, it's simply an observation.

Saturday saw a return to simple, jokey wordplay, riffing on two meanings of the word "idle." My car has a gas-saving feature which turns off the engine when the vehicle is stopped. Maybe that's why I never get invited to bank robberies.

Readers whose newspapers publish the strip version of Bizarro saw only three secret symbols, instead of the four visible in the panel configuration. Only those with X-ray vision found the K2 symbol hidden behind the caption box.

Be sure to check out Dan Piraro's blog. His latest Sunday page is brilliant and timely, and it prompted an unusual amount of heated commentary.

Thanks for continuing to follow Bizarro, online and in your local newspaper, assuming it's still in business. See you on Saturday with more of this sort of thing.

Bonus Track

"Fortune Teller"
Performed by the composer, Allen Toussaint




This is a favorite song here at BSN, first recorded by New Orleans R&B singer Benny Spellman in 1962.