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
A comic artist ain't no different than you or me or anybody excep' he knows how to draw pitchers an' is crazy in the head.
Popeye the Sailor Man, by Elzie Segar1
Popeye the Sailor Man, by Elzie Segar1
This image regularly turns up in my social media feeds, and it always brings a laugh tinged with perverse pride. It recently appeared on a day when we learned of yet another group of newspapers dropping nearly all print comics, and it took on a different meaning.
Given the uncertain future of printed newspapers (or perhaps more accurately, the inevitable future that may arrive any day) Popeye's words feel cynically prophetic: One would have to be a fool to get into the comics business in these times.
But here we are. We'll keep at it as long as we can; perhaps eventually in some medium that hasn't been invented yet.
We'll also continue to feature a pipe pic in honor of Bizarro's Pipe of Ambiguity Secret Symbol in every blog post.
Today's model is H. T. Webster (1885-1952), a cartoonist who was responsible for multiple comic features that ran on different days of the week, including The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime, Life's Darkest Moment, How to Torture Your Husband, and How to Torture Your Wife.
Tom Heintjes, the comics historian (and charming human) who edits Hogan's Alley magazine, recently posted photos of Webster on Instagram, including this 1945 Time magazine cover. Tom wrote:
H.T. Webster’s most enduring creation was The Timid Soul, whose name was Caspar Milquetoast. His last name survives to this day as a description of someone excessively timid.
Thanks for educating me about H. T. Webster, Tom. I'm always learning something from you!
In our latest bid for the cover of Time (or any magazine), we present this week's Bizarro cartoons.
Every day the restaurant manager has to think of a new way to startle the chef.
I've done several similarly staged restaurant gags, and I usually have to adjust the server's posture to fit the characters in the strip layout without having to make them too small to read. In this case, the alterations allowed me to draw tentacles.
A cross-cultural athletic contest.
Thursday featured my latest inanimate object comic. Feel free to suggest other household items, tools, etc. you'd like to see as protagonists in a gag.
Here endeth the latest output from my Little Shop of Humor. I hope we've provided momentary relief from the unending onslaught of depressing news.
Thanks for reading the comics, the blog, and the newsletter. We'll be back next week with more of this sort of thing. If you run into a cartoonist somewhere, please offer a word of encouragement, and if you're able, buy them a coffee.
Note
1. I don't know the actual publication date of this comic panel, and I'm no expert on Popeye. I'm guessing it's Segar's work, but I could be wrong.
1. I don't know the actual publication date of this comic panel, and I'm no expert on Popeye. I'm guessing it's Segar's work, but I could be wrong.
Bonus Track
Robert Wyatt: "Sea Song"
from Rock Bottom
Virgin Records LP, 1974
from Rock Bottom
Virgin Records LP, 1974
Since a couple of our gags featured sea creatures, I decided to share this beautiful song by Robert Wyatt. I've been enjoying Rock Bottom for almost fifty years, and I never tire of it.
Alternate Sources of Bizarrotude
Wayno's Weekly Bizarro Newsletter
Dan Piraro's Weekly Bizarro Blog
Dan "Diego" Piraro's Peyote Cowboy Graphic Novel
To a hammer, all other tools look like nails!
ReplyDeleteTruth!
DeleteTo a hammer, that hard keratin plate at the end of your thumb looks like a nail!
DeleteWhen the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
DeleteHi, Wayno. I liked your sumo cartoon, though the ring (dohyô) looked forlorn without the woven rice-plant border, which looks like this: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2B83T65/sumo-wrestlers-fighting-in-the-wrestling-ring-at-2013-september-grand-sumo-tournament-at-the-ryogoku-kokugikan-tokyo-japan-2B83T65.jpg. This has great spiritual significance in sumo, since it creates a place of purity for the ritual to take place.
ReplyDeleteDave, thank you for the photo reference and education. I appreciate learning from our savvy readers, and I hope my cartoon conveyed no disrespect. I should have done a little more homework when drawing that gag to get the setting right. Thanks again.
DeleteI doubt that’s a problem. They often wrestle in informal situations (shows for kids, exhibitions, etc.). Probably a formal ring can’t always be provided.)
DeleteMaybe they're not in the ring yet?
DeleteThe senior in the Duplex Illustrated cover:
ReplyDeleteHe looks a bit like an old Bob Newhart…
Was he modeled after anyone in particular?
Oh oh, looks like the senior’s coffee mug’s name is Bob…was I onto something??
ReplyDeleteCard players by Cezanne - pipe pic
ReplyDeleteA nice one, thanks!
DeleteYou asked for suggestions for household items for cartoon ideas. How about -- 2 old dog leashes hanging on a peg by the door: the 2 leashes are recalling the days when the old couple in the house were still active enough to take their last 2 dogs [now long-gone] for
ReplyDeleterides & walks. Kinda sad, tho .... Maybe you could cheer it up a bit?
That is a sad idea, but also sweetly sentimental. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI had a hs history teacher who used this phrase to describe the dangers of traveling by stagecoach in the old west. "Often you would be stopped by bandits and be robbed and plungered." I'd like to see a robbery with a plunger used as a weapon.
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious! I bet as a high schooler, you got a kick out of that!
DeleteThanks for the referral to the creator of "Nancy!" We got the book today. It looks great!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I look forward to hearing how you like it.
DeleteLoved the Steelers vs. Browns poster and your photo with it in the program! I think you made our Browns player (I’m from Cleveland) look a little fat, soft and old. But cute— like a stuffed animal. 😊
ReplyDeleteHa! I hadn't thought of that, but you might be right. Players all look athletic, for sure. When I was researching photos for Cleveland "Dawgs," I found a lot of photos of tailgating, beer-drinking dudes, so I guess that influenced my drawing. I tried not to make it angry or violent in any way. Glad you found cuteness in it!
DeleteBy the way, I'm a sports agnostic, so I'm not pointing to any team's fans as being beer-swilling bros. We have that here too!