Do You Hear Me?

We've apparently made it through another week. Once again, I hope that you and your families are safe and well.

With this weird, surreal, sometimes encouraging and often tragic week behind us, let's see if the latest Bizarro panels provided some comic relief.

Monday's gag seemed to resonate with parents who've been cooped up at home with their kids as the country self-isolates in an effort to slow the pandemic.

The image on the TV screen is based on an iconic scene from Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. It's one of those rare comedies that ends with the nuclear annihilation of the entire planet.

I suppose that, for bombs, it's an inspirational movie.

Tuesday was pun-day here at Bizarro Studios North.

Betsy Ross (or at least the Betsy Ross of legend) prefigured the current maker culture by a couple of centuries. The story of the actual person (who worked as an upholsterer) sewing the first American flag seems to have been invented by her grandson nearly thirty-five years after her death.

I ran another anteater/restaurant gag in late March. While drawing that panel, the idea for this joke presented itself, and it appeared on Thursday. 

Is anyone else creeped out by that tongue dotted with poppy seeds?

We followed the ants on Thursday with a giant cockroach on Friday. The protagonist of Franz Kafka's novella awoke to find himself transformed into a cockroach, a beetle, or an unspecified "vermin." Many English translations use the word cockroach, and that's what usually enters the minds of English speakers who are familiar with the story.

I previously referenced The Metamorphosis in this panel from July, 2018.

In that week's post, I recalled my introduction to Kakfa's literature at an  impressionable age.

Saturday's panel could be a direct transcript of an Executive Compensation Committee meeting at any large American company.

Thanks for sticking with us for another week. Don't forget to check out Dan Piraro's weekly blog, to see what he has to say about these gags, and to view his Easter Sunday offering.

Bonus Track

Among the many people we lost during the past week were one of the greatest cartoonists of all time, an iconic American songwriter, and Hal Willner, a music producer with an insatiable curiosity, and a talent for bringing together unlikely performers to create surprising and beautiful collaborations.

One Mr. Willner's early projects was Stay Awake, a collection of songs that originated in vintage Disney films. It's one of those recordings I have to listen to front to back, with no skipping and no shuffling.

This is the closing section, a medley of themes from Pinocchio. Ken Nordine's narration on the "Desolation Theme" is haunting, and Ringo Starr's vocal performance of "When You Wish Upon a Star" can bring tears to the eyes of a cynical Disney-hater like yours truly.



Bonus Track 2
 
Rather than end on a purely sentimental note, let's hear something showing Hal Willner's wacky, experimental side. It's my favorite selection from his 1998 album, Whoops, I'm an Indian, and it features an inspiring vocal performance by Jack Webb. Enjoy.