Golly, Wally

This is the weekly 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 created Bizarro in the late twentieth century, and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno

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The only thing I knew how to do was to keep on keeping on...
Bob Dylan, "Tangled Up in Blue"

Last week, I paused briefly to look at the work I've done (so far) as Bizarro's daily cartoonist. I'll elaborate on that later in the post. 

I selected a fragment of a Dylan lyric as the header for today's entry. It's taken out of its original context within one of Bob's epic tunes, but these words, on their own, resonate with me in regard to spending years on a body of work. 

I try not to think about how many gags I'll have to write and draw in an upcoming month or year, and focus on the current batch of six. When that's finished, the process starts over. Looking further ahead can become overwhelming.

The only thing I know how to do is to keep on keeping on.

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Another part of my routine is sharing a pipe pic. It's a weekly nod to Bizarro's Pipe of Ambiguity Secret Symbol, which was launched on New Year's Day 2021.

Today's example is a generic illustration that could have been clipped from any American magazine or newspaper of its day. Like most of the images I share in this section, it was the result of idle googling when I should have been at work on comics. 

Although most readers consume Bizarro online, I still enjoy seeing comics and photos on newsprint, in glorious, grubby halftone dots. I tip my hat to the anonymous art-monkey who created this smiling smoker.

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The personal milestone I mentioned above was closing the lid on the latest box of original art. 

Each one of these archival storage boxes holds the drawings for 150 Bizarro panels, plus some sketches and other materials.

The stack contains over five years of work and 1,650 comics, more or less. One or two originals were sold to collectors, three were donated to the Charles M. Schulz Museum, and a couple went to charity auctions. There are probably three or four in here that were never used for one reason or another.

Each filled box provides a bump of motivation to keep working.

I shared the photo and description on Instagram, and was asked about unused cartoons. I posted and discussed one of these in a 2021 blog entry, but here's one that I haven't shown before.

 

I knew this one was too naughty for the mainstream funny pages, but I had to at least sketch it and show it to Dan Piraro. We both laughed about it, and then shelved it.

 

We did publish this somewhat risqué gag obliquely touching on the same topic around the time we spiked Prince Midas, which made my inner adolescent happy.

Now, let's confirm that none of my recent panels crossed any lines.

 

This guided meditation session employs a watchdog. My spouse and I do a guided meditation most mornings, and although I usually fail to quiet my brain, I believe I benefit from the practice.

 

For Valentine's Day, we offered a comic about one of the purest forms of love.

I regularly reference surrealist art, and feel that cubism deserves equal time.

I have a good friend who has done actual courtroom art, including some high profile cases. I couldn't handle that pressure, or achieve a serious likeness. There's not much call for courtroom cartoonists.

 

A reader informed me that the dog on the right is in fact a Labrador Deceiver.

 

Nursery rhymes often have a dark side.

The popular Where's Waldo? character and "you are here" information kiosks often appear in Bizarro, so it's only natural that their Venn diagrams overlap today.

 

While searching for a reference to draw from, I learned that he's only called Waldo in the US, and in the original British books his name is Wally.

The strip version has added existential despair.

 

That wraps another week of gags from your humble cartoonist. Thank you for sticking with us over the years. We'll be back next Saturday with more comics and comments.

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Bonus Track

The Impressions, "Keep on Pushing"
from the album Keep on Pushing
ABC-Paramount Records, 1964

 

Musical inspiration from Curtis Mayfield and company.

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Other Bizarro Locations

Dan Piraro's Bizarro Blog
Dan's latest Sunday Bizarro page, and some sobering thoughts on artificial intelligence

 Wayno's Bizarro Newsletter
More miscellany from the studio, a preview of a future gag, and an archival image

Peyote Cowboy

Dan Piraro's epic, award-winning surreal western graphic novel

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