Brown Paper Gag

This is the regular dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I 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.

Wayno

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Last Saturday our neighborhood threw a block party on what turned out to be a lovely, blue-sky autumn day. We closed the street to traffic (with a permit!), and about 75 of us hung out, chatted, and laughed over food and drink. We met quite a few friendly people from nearby streets, and had a truly pleasant day. It was a sweet reminder that a diverse assortment of humans can gather peacefully and enjoy each other's company.

Our special guest at the event was Jamal Etienne-Harrigan, better known as Uncle Jammy. Jamal runs The Smokey City's 412 BBQ, and is the creator of a line of tasty barbecue sauces and rubs.

In addition to sharing his sauces, Jammy gave a demo on making vegetarian "pulled pork" from dry rub, jackfruit, coconut oil, and tofu, with a side of smoky tofu cubes. He brought extra joy to the table, and made many new friends. We love Uncle Jammy and welcome him back any time.

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Today's spectacular pipe pic features French Dadaist and conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp, from five different angles.

 Portrait multiple de Marcel Duchamp
(Five-Way Portrait of Marcel Duchamp)
Unidentified photographer, 1917

Images of this type were shot with the subject facing a hinged mirror, and were popular at amusement parks and photography studios. People would sit for a photographer, and get a set of three postcard prints of their quintuple portrait. Duchamp had his done at the Broadway Photo Studio in New York, and incorporated it into his own body of work.

Thanks to the National Portrait Gallery for historical information on this item.

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This week I added six new Bizarro cartoons to my own artistic oeuvre, such as it is. Let's see how they turned out.

 

My hope was that it would take an extra moment for a reader to notice that the familiar logo on the bag has one letter changed. The gag also relies on the reader recognizing whose as a possessive pronoun. 

Call me an optimist.

This one's nothing more than a seasonally appropriate pun.

Caterpillar sex is impossible since these animals don't develop genitalia until they become butterflies, but they can still show affection, at least in a cartoon, where they can also speak English.

 

Consider this a pitch for (or prediction of) yet another edgy reboot of a beloved Saturday morning cartoon.

You don't want to know what happened to Fred and Shaggy.

 

Your cartoonist almost pulled a muscle while twisting and contorting in order to shoot hand selfies as photo reference for this gag. 

Note: That was the first time the phrase "hand selfies" has appeared in this blog. I'll try not to let it happen again.

Last month, I did a Sisyphus gag without showing Sisyphus himself. This time around, I didn't show the mountain or the rock. Perhaps one day I'll come up with a Sisyphus cartoon that doesn't show the character, the mountain, or the rock.

That does it for this week's pictorial foolishness. Thanks for dropping by. Although summer is over, barbecue can be enjoyed all year round. If you need flavorful sauces or rubs, you can't go wrong with anything from Uncle Jammy.

And, if you what to see more of what we do, why not swing by our other virtual homes?

Dan Piraro's Bizarro Blog
Even more words about cartoons, plus Dan's latest widescreen Bizarro Sunday page

Wayno's Bizarro Newsletter
News from the studio, with an exclusive sneak preview of an upcoming Bizarro gag, and an image from the archives

Diego Piraro's Peyote Cowboy Graphic Novel

Dan's award-winning surreal western adventure comic

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week.

Bonus Track

Robert Gordon & Link Wray: "The Way I Walk"
from Fresh Fish Special
Private Stock Records, 1978

 

I first heard Robert Gordon's voice on the 1976 Atlantic Records compilation Live at CBGB's. At that time, Gordon was a member of the punk rock band Tuff Darts. For this listener, Mink DeVille and Tuff Darts were the standouts on the CBGB's album. 

Gordon left Tuff Darts before they recorded their debut LP, and in 1977 and '78, he released his first three albums of great neo-rockabilly. The legendary Link Wray played guitar on the first two, and Chris Spedding was in the band on the third. Gordon's discography eventually ran to a dozen studio albums and four live ones.

He introduced many music fans (myself included) to deep cuts from the early days of rockabilly, while also incorporating songs by contemporary writers such as Bruce Springsteen ("Fire") and Marshall Crenshaw ("Someday, Someway").

Robert Gordon died on Tuesday, October 18, 2022. 

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