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
Dreams are constructed from the residue of yesterday.
Sigmund Freud
I hadn't planned on quoting Freud in two consecutive posts but his words from The Interpretation of Dreams are particularly fitting this week.
Last Sunday night into Monday morning, I had a vivid dream of working on a project in my garage. I was standing by a folding table, cutting apart a large poster with an oversized pair of scissors. I then rearranged the pieces and secured them using egg yolks as homemade glue.
I was doing this to reconfigure a portrait-oriented poster to fit into a horizontal frame. It was a precise analog equivalent of what I do with Photoshop in my waking life every week.
As many of you know, some newspapers print Bizarro in a horizontal strip configuration. The feature is available in both formats to make it easier to sell if a potential client has a strip-sized vacancy. I conceive and draw the gags as vertical panels, and after they're completed, I digitally rearrange the parts to fit into a widescreen strip.
I woke up with a laugh because this was the first time I ever had a dream about doing this comic. In the past, I've had nightmares related to jobs I was working. Some of the less disturbing ones involved showing up at the office without shoes (or worse).
One summer during my college years, I worked in a hot, dirty, dangerous factory, and was assigned to a different shift every week. My sleep cycles were disrupted for three months, and I lost a ridiculous amount of weight from my already small frame. Once, after working the four to midnight shift, I dreamed that I was in my bed (where I actually was at the time). I saw/hallucinated a forklift in the corner of my bedroom, as if the factory had infiltrated my home. I vowed never to again work on rotating shifts.
Although I found the recent Bizarro dream amusing, I'd much rather wake up with a usable gag. Maybe next time.
Today's weirdly charming pipe pic is a shot of the men's room door in a Mexico City restaurant.
Bizarro reader Bruce D. spotted this while on vacation and was kind enough to send me his photo. I've been wondering what they have on the door to the women's room. If I could see them both, I might be able to figure out the meaning, but for now, it remains a tantalizing mystery.
Heartiest thanks to Bruce for sharing his find with us.
All of this week's Bizarro comics were written and drawn while your cartoonist was fully awake.
After inking this gag, I became envious of the comedian's amplifier. I bet a harmonica would sound wicked played through that thing, and at the very least, it would look cool.
I'm as guilty as anyone of asking a server to take a group photo when we're out to dinner with friends, but I always show my appreciation when calculating our gratuity.
The Terminator movies may have been onto something.
Thursday's panel offered a dark take on a game of Rochambeau.
I was pleased with the strip version of this gag, which felt a little more threatening.
I'm taking suggestions for the name of this astronaut, the first to squawk on the moon.
The signs are nice, but airports are among the least calming places to be, which is probably why their bars open so early.
The strip layout forced me to rearrange the inspirational art on the walls, which fortunately required no egg-based adhesives.
Bonus Track
Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra: "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" Recorded in Chicago, November 4, 1931
The opening discussion of dreams allows me to (once again) share my favorite Louis Armstrong recording. I enjoy almost every phase of his career, but the years 1931 and 1932 are my sweet spot. This particular number gets me every time I hear it.
Bizarro Bonanza
If you like what we do and appreciate that it comes to you free of charge, we encourage you to explore any or all of the following links.
Hi Wayno, Did you know that Dan had a rock-paper-scissors scene going on in Sunday Bizarro for 4-14? Interesting to see the way the two of you take different perspectives on a common theme or element.
I think I recall you writing that you enjoy coming up with comics where there are no people and usually-inanimate objects take the character roles. That works out very nicely here with the rock, paper, and scissors.
You can tell it was a dream, because in real life, egg whites make a better adhesive that egg yolks. I speak from experience. I'm glad that you glued in a somewhat higher number of secret symbols this week, I like it when there are four or five to search for in each comic.
Thanks, Kurt! I'm sure I've seen a photo of a Supro amp at some point. I primarily use a Gibson GA-5 reissue and also have a refurbished vintage Kalamazoo Model One. The Kalamazoo was restored by Greg Heumann of BlowsMeAway Productions. Greg also built me a custom rosewood bullet mic using a vintage Shure element.
This one was based on Hank Patterson, who played Fred Ziffel on "Green Acres."
I have drawn Mr. Green Jeans in a comic before. To check it out, use the "Archive" pull-down menu on the right, and navigate to the March 25, 2023, titled "Veni, Vidi, Abduxi."
I'll be on the lookout for that pipe on a men's room door. In Mexico, one often sees an "M" and an "H" on restroom doors. When I first came here, I mindlessly strolled into the one with an M and was met by a roomful of surprised "mujeres," which is "women" in Spanish. The H stands for "hombres," of course.
Comedy Barn: alien, eyeball, dynamite. Where, oh where, is the 4th? Yours are always so obvious that not seeing it is very worrisome to me! And thanks to Anonymous posters for reminding me of Arnold Ziffel and naming Neil Wingstrong!
Hi! Looking at Monday's bandstand tire, I started wondering if you draw entire wheels and then edit down the entire size for the final cut. Another is the Tuesday tablecloth. Basically, to get such a good representation is the original fuller?
Thanks for the question, Miss Dannimac. I usually draw just a touch beyond where the border would be in case I need to tweak the position. I'll extend further on the sides rather then the top and bottom, because I might need more art for the strip layouts.
You could turn that dream into a gag - if the cutter is transformed into the strip shape instead of the toon. Or not.
ReplyDeleteOne never knows. If I let it marinate long enough, I might come up with a usable gag.
DeleteHi Wayno, Did you know that Dan had a rock-paper-scissors scene going on in Sunday Bizarro for 4-14? Interesting to see the way the two of you take different perspectives on a common theme or element.
ReplyDeleteI can assure you he did not. We work separately and W never sees my Sunday cartoons until they are published.
DeleteI did not know that he had that one in the pipeline! Happily, I see Dan's Sunday pages at the same time as everyone else.
DeleteI think I recall you writing that you enjoy coming up with comics where there are no people and usually-inanimate objects take the character roles. That works out very nicely here with the rock, paper, and scissors.
Delete"One small flap for chicken, one giant flap for chickenkind", Neil Wingstrong.
ReplyDeleteHa! Thanks!
DeleteYou can tell it was a dream, because in real life, egg whites make a better adhesive that egg yolks. I speak from experience. I'm glad that you glued in a somewhat higher number of secret symbols this week, I like it when there are four or five to search for in each comic.
ReplyDeleteI think the comedian's amp looks like an old Supro and yes, a harmonica would be killer through that, but you would need a different mike.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kurt! I'm sure I've seen a photo of a Supro amp at some point. I primarily use a Gibson GA-5 reissue and also have a refurbished vintage Kalamazoo Model One. The Kalamazoo was restored by Greg Heumann of BlowsMeAway Productions. Greg also built me a custom rosewood bullet mic using a vintage Shure element.
DeleteThanks for the Louis Armstrong number. That whole band was brilliant and he was weird in the good way.
ReplyDeleteMichael:
DeletePops is Tops.
I have to say, that looks like Arnold Ziffel's dad. Um, referencing the dairy farmer in the email that went out this morning.
ReplyDeleteHank Patterson, a.k.a. Fred Ziffel, of Green Acres!
DeleteCorrect!
DeleteIs that an advertisement for Pipe Dream Airlines in Saturday's gag?
ReplyDeleteYou got it!
DeletePollo 11! I •literally• laughed out loud.
ReplyDeleteI did too when I first saw his sketch!
DeleteThank you!
DeleteMr Greenjeans…
ReplyDeleteThis one was based on Hank Patterson, who played Fred Ziffel on "Green Acres."
DeleteI have drawn Mr. Green Jeans in a comic before. To check it out, use the "Archive" pull-down menu on the right, and navigate to the March 25, 2023, titled "Veni, Vidi, Abduxi."
I'll be on the lookout for that pipe on a men's room door. In Mexico, one often sees an "M" and an "H" on restroom doors. When I first came here, I mindlessly strolled into the one with an M and was met by a roomful of surprised "mujeres," which is "women" in Spanish. The H stands for "hombres," of course.
ReplyDeleteComedy Barn: alien, eyeball, dynamite. Where, oh where, is the 4th? Yours are always so obvious that not seeing it is very worrisome to me! And thanks to Anonymous posters for reminding me of Arnold Ziffel and naming Neil Wingstrong!
ReplyDeleteThe chest pockets of the bib overalls are "O2."
DeleteBuck Buck Bugawk Rogers
ReplyDeletePerfect!
DeleteBuck Buck Bugawk Rogers
ReplyDeleteHi! Looking at Monday's bandstand tire, I started wondering if you draw entire wheels and then edit down the entire size for the final cut. Another is the Tuesday tablecloth. Basically, to get such a good representation is the original fuller?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the question, Miss Dannimac. I usually draw just a touch beyond where the border would be in case I need to tweak the position. I'll extend further on the sides rather then the top and bottom, because I might need more art for the strip layouts.
Delete5/1/24.. inquiring minds want to know, fishtail or no
ReplyDeleteNope, but if you see one there, you can award yourself an extra point.
Delete