Comfort Food

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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Perfection is finally attained, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I recently encountered this quote from the French aviator, poet, journalist, and writer best known as the author of The Little Prince. I've seen the same idea expressed by many other artists and writers, and I try to apply it to my art. It's sometimes difficult but is always at least worth considering.

This week, as I was about to upload a batch of comics, I stopped and tweaked a word balloon, trimming twelve words down to seven. I had to change all four files for that day (color panel, color strip, black & white panel, and black & white strip) which was slightly painful, but it improved the gag.

When my musical trio learns and rehearses new material, we often talk about leaving spaces for silence in the arrangements.

These insights aren't revolutionary. I mention them mostly as reminders for myself.

Our pipe pic for the week is a vintage graphic from Finland.

Sometimes the Rule of Three beats the philosophy of brevity, as in this fine design. I do wonder what the word "impregnated" means regarding safety matches.

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As we review the week's Bizarro comics, let's see if there's anything I should have left out.

Suzanne P, a Facebook friend asked if the Inquisitor shown was the Archbishop of Cadbury, which made me laugh.

Tuesday's gag is based on the real-world phenomenon of crows learning that scarecrows are usually located near food. It's mentioned in Mary Roach's informative and funny book Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law.

 

 

Speaking of real-world conditions, this optometrist adapted vision testing to the way many people read.

Hasbro is proud to introduce Mister Reassuring Head.

As usual, my favorite gag is in the Friday slot. I have an affinity for using inanimate objects as characters in Bizarro. I especially like to draw them simply as the objects they are, without adding human-like features. I may have been partly influenced by Ernie Kovacs.

I was also pleased with the strip layout.

We wrapped up the week with what might be called an optical pun. When the caption is read aloud, "faster" doesn't sound close enough to "Easter" to qualify as a pun. However, the reader's default mode network might initially process the caption as "The Easter Bunny," before noticing the word substitution. It's an unusual form of wordplay, whatever it's called.

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Beer Here!

Because someone asked, here's another beer label design from my archives.

Our pals at East End Brewing Company made and bottled this delicious beer three times, and we changed the label's color palette for each batch.

Back in 2012, I shared all three versions, along with concept sketches on this very blog.

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Bonus Track

The Hoffman Brothers: "Unbroken But Blue"
From the album All Ears (2023)

 

I’m fortunate to have many friends who are excellent musicians. Some even let me perform with them, though I'm an advanced beginner at best.

The Hoffman Brothers (Gary, Mark, and Jeff) are veteran Pittsburgh musicians and educators. Mark is an old friend with whom I've had memorable adventures, including a trip to New York to see the Residents on their Cube-E tour. Many years ago, I was in a short-lived band with Gary and was in awe of his powerful drumming and singing. I don't know Jeff, but I know he comes from good stock.

This new song is a beautifully crafted piece of guitar-based vocal pop and has become my latest earworm, which I now share with you.

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Alternate Bizarro Locations

Dan Piraro's Bizarro Blog
Dan's Sunday page, plus comics commentary and a reminder that it's not cool to steal someone else's work

 Wayno's Bizarro Newsletter
A supplement to the blog, with a peek at an upcoming gag and a graphic image from my past

Peyote Cowboy

Dan "Diego" Piraro's epic, award-winning surreal Western graphic novel

 

Thanks for stopping by and reading more words than are probably necessary. I hope you'll visit us again next week.
 

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