Requiem for a Rhapsodist

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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Seems to me it ain't the world that's so bad but what we're doing to it, and all I'm saying is: see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. Love, baby - love. That's the secret. 

Louis Armstrong

I've been listening to Louis Armstrong's early music this week and noted that the first band he led, the Hot Five, began making records in November of 1925, nearly a hundred years ago.

I suspect that the quote above was from around 1967, when "What a Wonderful World"  was released. I adore Armstrong and agree with those who think of him as America's all-time greatest musician. However, I can barely stand "Wonderful World." The song was impossible to avoid in 1967 and still is today. If you attend a wedding, chances are you'll hear the tune at some point. I'm not against sentimentality and a positive message, but "Wonderful World" has always felt cloying to me. Likewise, I wouldn't be upset if I never heard Armstrong's hit recordings of "Hello, Dolly" (1964) or "Mack the Knife" (1955).

But I'm here to praise Satch, not to bury him. My take on those particular records reflects on me, not Armstrong. There's nothing "wrong" or "bad" about them, they simply aren't my cup of espresso. 

A true artist's career of any significant length is the result of experimentation and evolution rather than endless repetition. Louis performed for six decades. It would be a shock to find someone who loved everything he did. 

Let's say that x equals something a particular fan of a particular artist doesn't care for. If the artist hadn't made x, they may never have created y, which that same fan thinks is a masterpiece.

Before I became a full-time cartoonist, I had several noncreative corporate and academic jobs, although I had known I wanted to be an artist since I was quite young. For years I pursued illustration and cartooning at nights and weekends while doing other full-time jobs, making slow progress while missing a lot of sleep.

I  was often angry at myself for allowing people to push me into things I didn't like and for not being serious about art earlier in my life. Eventually, I realized that the work I happily do today was informed by everything that came before it. Without the experience of functioning within a corporate setting, I might have been less equipped to manage the business of being a freelancer dealing with editors and art directors who work within corporate systems. The people of varied backgrounds encountered in my previous careers provided some understanding and awareness of differing viewpoints, personalities, and motivations, and shaped the way I see the world and interpret it through humor.

I like to think I'm not the art snob I was in my teens. If someone enjoys music that I don't care for, I don't disparage it. The beauty of all art is that it speaks differently to everyone.

I'm a fan of Bob Dylan, but when I listen to his Blonde on Blonde album, I usually skip past "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," commonly referred to as "Everybody Must Get Stoned,” but I'd never suggest that he shouldn't have recorded it. Nearly everything else he did profoundly appeals to me, and who am I to question his artistic choices?

Miles Davis is a favorite here too, but when I revisit his Sketches of Spain record, I fail to connect with it. But I'll continue to listen to it every once in a while. Ordinary mortals will never fully understand everything a genius produces.

I don't have a neat wrap-up for this intro. It incorporates thoughts I've had in the past, which came to mind when I found the quote at the top. I can't argue with a word of that. 

Love, baby - love. That's the secret.

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Today's pipe pic is a photo I snapped in the wild.

While walking around the business district near our home, we stopped to say hello at a friend's floral shop. I looked up and saw this bespectacled pipe-smoking deer(?) and felt compelled to take a photo.

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Now, let's check out this week's Bizarro panels. If you dislike any of them, please go easy on the cartoonist. 

When I sent my initial sketch to Dan Piraro, he did some research and found that "choke on your aspirations" to which I added the asparagus comment. We both liked the pun, and that seemed to be a workable setup for it.

In fact, I sketched two puns on "Darth Vader," and we couldn't choose between them. Dan suggested I run them on consecutive days, which we did. It's a shame I couldn't come up with enough for a full week.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if something like this happened in real life.

It's never a bad idea to consider diversifying one's business.

Friday's gag made me wonder which superhero I've parodied most since I started doing the daily Bizarro. I suspect that Batman is number one, followed by Spider-Man, Hulk, and Iron Man, but I wasn't curious enough to check.

I've written several gags based on fairy tales lately, and this one remedied a recent dearth of therapist cartoons.

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Beer Here!

Stock ale is a traditional British brew. "Nebby" is an old Pittsburghese word meaning meddlesome or intrusive.

For this label, I scanned an ancient wooden cigar box and overlaid it with distressed letters from a silkscreen concert poster.

 

I still have a few more labels I designed for East End Brewing Company and will share them until I run out of images.

Bonus Track

Louis Armstrong, "We Have All the Time in the World"
From the James Bond Film On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Warner Brother Records single, 1969

To demonstrate that I'm not a total curmudgeon, here's a sentimental Louis Armstrong number that I love. John Barry composed the music, and Hal David wrote the lyrics.

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More Bizarro Material 

 Wayno's Weekly Bizarro Newsletter

  Dan Piraro's Weekly Bizarro Blog

Dan "Diego" Piraro's Peyote Cowboy Graphic Novel

 

Thanks for dropping by. See you next week.
 

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