Saturday, April 16, 2022

Beans (Garbanzo & Jelly)

This is the weekly communiqué from Bizarro Studios North, where I (Wayno®) have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, who created Bizarro in the late twentieth century, continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

We managed to survive an internet outage the other day. Internet service is an odd sort of utility, where the consumer must do most of the troubleshooting and repairs, and the product may or may not be delivered in the "quantity" being paid for. Anyway, we're back in business here, and grateful for our modern conveniences.

One of this week's comics involves a lighthouse, so our pipe pic is a portrait of Ontario, Canada's last lighthouse keeper, Pete Coletti (1935-2020).

According to an obituary in The Hamilton Spectator, Coletti was a colorful pirate-like character, who had not one, but two parrots. They were named Foghorn and Gasbag.

Pete's assistant, Chris Mills, said, "He decorated life. That’s what Pete did. He was one of a kind."

That's a rather fine way to be remembered. Based on this second photo, I imagine I'd agree with Mr. Mills.

 
Now, let's look over our recent comics, including the aforementioned lighthouse gag, and see how we decorated the funny pages.

Self-medication for superheroes.

I've done a few gags with this familiar character. Each time, comic book fans let me know that his suit is actually made of a gold-titanium alloy, and not iron. 

That's his story, anyway. If he didn't want to be the subject of magnet jokes, he should have chosen a different name.

 
My image reference search for this panel led me to the photos of Pete Coletti shared above. 

The night light photos I used are less interesting—or, so I thought.

At times, I learn  something from the online comments.
 

This one is a Middle Eastern version of an old Italian fable, "La Principessa e il Cece."

 

Thursday's panel imagines fusion cuisine for the holiday, with a caption in the form of a streptonym. At this restaurant, the pot stickers are filled with marshmallow chicks.

My friend and fellow cartoonist Marjorie Rishel offered a prediction:

In five years or less, jellybeans deep-fried in a crispy wrapper will become the newest fad in food, and people will wait outside donut shops for three hours to buy one.

I predict that Bizarro will run another Easter gag, the day after the holiday, so be sure to check in on Monday.

 

We scored a daily double on Good Friday, with a clown gag that's also wordless. Well, mostly wordless, since the changing table items are labeled.

I believe this is the first time I've included Olive Oyl rather than the easier-to-draw O2 SecretSymbol in one of my panels.

 

He's known for writing brief biographies.

 

That's the latest batch of drollery from Bizarro Studios North. Thank you for visiting. If you crave more of my commentary, I invite you to subscribe to my weekly newsletter. I send one whenever the blog is updated. Each installment includes a sneak preview of a future gag fresh off the drawing board, along with a comic, drawing, or design from our archives.

 

You should also check out Dan Piraro's blog, where he always has something interesting to say, and shares his latest Sunday Bizarro page.

 

BONUS TRACK

 

They Might Be Giants

"Birdhouse in Your Soul"
with Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band

April 30, 1990

 

 

A great song from the TMBG album, Flood. The lyrics mention both night lights and lighthouses. I remember awaiting this performance on The Tonight Show and videotaping it from the TV.

 

22 comments:

  1. Is this an example of synchronicity? All this week I couldn't quite recall the phrase or the complete melody to "Put a little bird-house in your soul" until your timely blog entry. This isn't the first time a song followed me around for seven or eight days until it popped up from between the couch cushions to reveal itself!

    Also, in the peephole cartoon, your Ace reporter is using an iPad to take photos. Does today's public recognize it's a camera more readily than if you'd given him a Speed Graphic, or was it just easier to draw?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Music works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?

      I drew the little reporter using a phone to take a photo because of the large screen area. But now that you mention it, it was easier to draw than an actual camera!

      Delete
  2. TMBG are a timestamp to a certain era of my life. Whether or not the era was a good one depends on the context, but the music was great.

    I really loved the comics this week. The on about Easter Eggrolls was definitely my favorite.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I like TMBG a lot, particularly from that era.

      Thank you for your kind words about the comics!

      Delete
  3. The skiff is just about to smash into the rocks when the lighthouse keeper shouts,"Full speed ahead..." I can only imagine the ensuing disaster.

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    Replies
    1. I was also wondering if that was a delivery.

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  4. Anonymous3:02 PM

    Wow, I was quoted in the Wayno Blog.
    I commented on that lighthouse because I noticed the plug was not polarized.
    I didn't figure anyone would notice or care. But I was wrong :-D

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    Replies
    1. I appreciate attention to detail.

      Delete
  5. I don't usually ask for jokes to be explained.... but I'm befuddled as to why the dad clown is holding his nose in his hand? At first I thought he was changing the babies nose along with his diaper, but then I notice he didn't have a clown nose in his face.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Holding his nose due to the smell?

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    2. He removed his nose to disable his sense of smell when doing the diaper change.

      Delete
  6. ☵ The "official" TMBG video for "Birdhouse In Your Soul" has one of the Johns smoking a pipe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I forgot about that! It’s only for a brief second. Good eye.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous6:34 PM

    Ben, I think he's removed his nose so he doesn't have to smell the stink. How many of us wish we could've done that?

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  8. What is the custard for ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don’t know, I never had children.

      Delete
  9. Holding his nose is part of the GAG. And yes that is a fresh bag just delivered! His mother will be proud.

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  10. I'm also grateful that you shared the TMBG's song. I was familiar with it, but listening to the lyrics carefully helped me to more fully "get" the lighthouse joke.

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  11. Anonymous5:22 PM

    6th try. Maybe using the web version will do the trick. I knew Pete Colletti, the lighthouse keeper as I grew up nearby. He was indeed a crusty character but also a fine man… what a shock to see his face staring back at me from my fave cartoonist’s blog.

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    Replies
    1. It's so nice to hear from someone who knew Pete Colletti. I was touched by the memories of him in that article. It must have been a surprise to see your friend's face on my blog preview. That's a first.

      Thank you for referring to me as your fave cartoonist. I hope to keep you amused for a long time to come.

      Delete
  12. I don't know if you've seen this pipe pic yet:

    https://www.stevecutts.com/uploads/2/6/3/8/26381140/722415_orig.jpg

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  13. Stevo: That one is wild. Very nice work!

    ReplyDelete