Saturday, June 29, 2024

Facial Hair Funnies

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

Wit and puns aren't just decor in the mind; they're essential signs that the mind knows it's on, recognizes its own software, can spot the bugs in its own program.
Adam Gopnik

Someone recently shared this quote from New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik, which spoke to me as someone who works and plays with words. I scrutinize words in every way I can imagine, turn them upside down, and overanalyze them as part of my writing process.

I don't have much to add to this, and I probably grabbed it to remind (or reassure) myself that puns and wordplay are legitimate ingredients for a single-panel gag, as long as they're surprising rather than lazy.


Today's pipe pic was scanned from my current reading material.


The groovy image was created by illustrator Oscar Liebman for the paperback edition of The Boss Is Crazy, Too, a 1963 novel by cartoonist Mell Lazarus (1927-2016).


Liebman's drawing is a prime example of 1960s paperback art. The central character reminds me a little of Rockford Files actor James Garner.

Liebman was a prolific artist who created quite a few paperback book covers, some classics, and some "classics."


This is one of Liebman's milder sexploitation novel covers.

Mell Lazarus was a Mensa member who created two long-running daily comic strips, Miss Peach and Momma. I only recently became aware of his comic novel, via a Facebook post by fellow cartoonist Scott Shaw.

Scott's description was more than enough to send me off in search of a copy:
If you've ever worked for a comic book publisher, I guarantee that you'll laugh your ass off if you read Mell Lazarus' THE BOSS IS CRAZY, TOO (1963.) Before Mell was doing his comic strip MISS PEACH and long before he created MOMMA, Mell's first job as a cartoonist was working for Toby Press, a comic book publishing outfit that was owned by Al Capp. THE BOSS IS CRAZY, TOO has a plot that many feel was stolen for THE PRODUCERS, set in the world of 1950s comics, with stories inspired by Mell's experiences in the field and tons of non-existent Oddball Comics titles. 
Of course, the "Broadway Play and major motion picture" never happened and that's why I have to explain all of this to you.

Thanks to Scott for turning me on to this hilarious book. Speaking of hilarious books, Scott is the undisputed champion at unearthing and sharing weird comic book covers. Check out his collection of Oddball Comics, as well as his own fantastic artwork at his site, but be prepared to spend a lot of time there.


Now, it's time to see how crazy we got at Bizarro Studios North over the past six days.


We jumped right in with a bit of wordplay that we hope would meet with Adam Gopnik's approval.


The human farmer was based on character actor Hank Patterson, who played Fred Ziffel on Green Acres.


A cotton swab is the Nerf Bat of hexing.


How did that guy end up with my sketchbook?
 

I just noticed that this batch of gags is beard-heavy. Maybe the patient from Thursday's panel found work as this help desk operator who has achieved the elusive work/entertainment balance.


Speaking of wordplay as we were, this caption employs a construction that I refer to as a streptonym. I coined the term in 2011 and I'm still waiting for it to catch on among linguists.

Thanks for lending me your eyeballs for a while. I appreciate you for reading the blog and the daily comics. See you in a week.

Bonus Track

Ben Vaughn: "Growin' a Beard"


This ode to whiskers from my old pal Ben Vaughn seemed appropriate for today's post.

Mucho Mucho Bizarro



9 comments:

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Summer Is Icumen In

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

Humor is a way to gain distance from a situation and see it in a broader perspective.
Saul Steinberg (1914-1999)

Saul Steinberg's drawings were considered fine art, but they were also, unquestionably cartoons. In 1936, when he was an architecture student at the University of Milan, he began contributing cartoons to an Italian humor newspaper. He fled Italy in 1938 to escape the Fascist government's antisemitic policies, and by late 1941, his work was appearing in The New Yorker. His most famous New Yorker cover was View of the World from 9th Avenue, published in 1976.

Cartoonists often use humor to comment on serious subjects, although readers sometimes misunderstand their efforts. We've all had angry reactions from people who think that cartoons should be nothing more than silly entertainment. With that limited worldview, some believe that anything a cartoonist depicts is something they advocate, even if it's explicitly identified as political or social commentary.

Steinberg did commercial art, advertising illustration, photography, murals, textiles, and gallery art, remaining true to himself while confusing critics. In his own words,
I don't quite belong to the art, cartoon, or magazine world, so the art world doesn't quite know where to place me.
A tip of the Bizarro porkpie to Mr. Steinberg for the fine example he set for all artists.


Our pipe pic model this time around is Charlotte Rampling, in the 1974 film The Night Porter.


Bizarro reader Paul S. of Santa Monica sent this to me after he watched the movie last week. I never saw The Night Porter, even though it was released at a time when I went to see several movies per week at two theaters in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.


I do recall its provocative print ad, which I probably saw in The Pitt News or posted on campus bulletin boards.

Thanks to Paul S. for the image and for watching the movie so I don't have to.


I don't think we tackled any heavy topics in the week's cartoons, but let's review them to be certain.


Columnist Mike Peterson said some nice things about Monday's Bizarro on the Comic Strip of the Day site. He laughed at the gag and its use of a pretentious Britishism.

The column reminded me of a dear friend who was such an Anglophile that she always referred to the place where a car is stored as a "garridge." She was such a kind and generous person that what could have been an annoying habit was an endearing quirk. We wish we could hear her mixing British and American English again. 


The question is, am I Mom's favorite or her least favorite?



I employed the classic skull and crossbones representation of poison, but almost went with a "Mr. Yuk" logo.


My favorite part of this gag is the emblem on the bucket hat.


Perhaps that's Mr. Yuk's seafaring cousin or a maritime emoji.


Thursday's gag recognizes the arrival of summer, the hope for a plentiful harvest, and the end of the school year in our neighborhood.


I watch soothing nature documentaries at night to lull myself to sleep, and occasionally inspire a gag.


The fish had changed positions when it was time to snap their picture for the strip configuration.


This actually happened in a deleted scene from one of the Star Wars movies.


Home Delivery Now Available

Every time a newspaper cuts back on their comics page or disappears completely, cartoonists take a financial hit, and we're no exception. Fortunately, many of our readers are also supporters. 

King Features has added a new option to subscribe to an individual comic, which is emailed daily. The subscription also provides early access to seven days of upcoming comics.


The cost is $2.99/month, and half of that will go directly to Bizarro Studios (Dan and me). 

Of course, we'll continue to share Bizarro every day and in our weekly blogs, but this is also available for those who are so inclined.


Bonus Track

Jane Aire and the Belvederes: "Yankee Wheels"
Stiff Records single, 1978



It doesn't feel like summer until I hear "Yankee Wheels," written by Liam Sternberg and sung by Jane Aire, both hailing from Akron, Ohio.

How Much Bizarro Can You Stand? 



12 comments:

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Friends, Ramones, Countrymen

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

What you're trying to do as a creative person is surprise yourself.
Ray Bradbury

In a 1974 interview, Bradbury perfectly expressed my approach to puns and wordplay.

Puns are often referred to as the lowest form of humor, and they certainly can be when they're painfully obvious or overdone, but if they're surprising and presented in an unexpected way, they can work as well as any other basis for a gag. A pun also needs a strong setup and possibly a second layer of meaning to make a satisfying cartoon. (I solemnly promise never to do a gag based on the homonyms "hair" and "hare.")

There are a couple of punning captions in this batch of gags.I hope they surprise you and make you laugh.

Let us recall the words of Oscar Levant:
A pun is the lowest form of humor—when you don't think of it first.

Today's pipe pic is a screen capture from a 1965 British Pathé newsreel.

In the image, we see a technician working at the transmitter for Radio Caroline, one of the UK's "pirate radio stations." Bizarro reader Petri V., found this and offered this historical context:

The BBC held a monopoly of the airwaves at the time, and the only way kids could get their modern music fix, would be to listen to a broadcast that was transmitted from international waters. One such station was Radio Caroline.
Thanks to Petri for bringing this to our attention. I had heard of Radio Caroline, but didn't know much about when they started, and just found out that they're still broadcasting.


We're still at it, too. Here are the latest Bizarro gags, which we hope contain some surprises.


If you thought their shows were interminably long before, imagine if they had an army of clones to continue jamming.

A reader contacted us about the caption, mentioning that since Jerry Garcia was a male, the caption should read "Muchos Garcias," and as written, it refers to many females named Garcia.

I had considered that when I wrote the gag, but thought that changing the caption sounded weird and ruined the pun on "muchas gracias." 
 
We took a small liberty with language for the gag's sake, and I understand the reader's point, but stand by the panel as it is.


It would have been more horrific if they'd been drizzled with flavored syrup.


Here's our second genetic wordplay gag of the week, without gender-based language mucking things up.


Apartment living can be contentious.


The musician on the left went by the stage name "500 500 Ramone."


I wonder where the Loafers and Pickles are based.

The team names are shortened from the Lost Loafer Secret Symbol and Jazz Pickles, our nickname for Bizarro's community of readers.

That's the latest output from Bizarro Studios North in scenic Hollywood Gardens PA. Thanks for stopping by.

Please come by next week for more of this kind of material.

Oh, and happy Fathers' Day to all of you who are parents, whether your kids are human or otherwise.


Bonus Track

Dee Dee King: "The Crusher"
from Standing in the Spotlight
Sire Records, 1989


Dee Dee Ramone adopted another stage name for his 1989 solo rap album. It immediately acquired a reputation for being terrible. I don't recall hearing it before, but this song isn't all that bad.

Need More Bizarro? 



24 comments:

Saturday, June 08, 2024

Illogical Logic

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

Comedy is a way to bring logic to an illogical situation, of which there are many in everyday life.
Bob Newhart

I shared this observation in a talk I gave twelve years ago about my career up to that point, using it to illustrate an aspect of cartooning. It appeared on Bob Newhart's Twitter account, which allowed me to remark on how amusing it was that Mr. Newhart had a Twitter account.

While working on a new batch of Bizarro panels this week I realized that I'd already done one of them in 2018. The drawing was different but the dialogue was identical. I played around with it until I had written a new joke that worked with the image.

A lot of cartoon fans do this sort of puzzle-solving in cartoon caption contests. Readers are presented with a drawing that usually includes some unexpected element, and they look for a clever way to resolve the incongruity.

I don't always write that way, but it worked in this case, and I was reminded of the Newhart quote.

Last month, I featured a photo of philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre smoking a pipe. A blog reader spotted the image accompanying an article written by author Ursula K. LeGuin.

Our model this time around is LeGuin herself.

I don't know the photo's backstory. I found it on the web a while back, and it's been sitting in a digital file folder waiting to be shared with you.


Let's see how many illogical situations cropped up in Bizarro this week.


Her cookies are out of this world.


A couple of my favorite characters returned to Bizarro on Tuesday. They truly were made for each other.


The place is well-insulated and remarkably quiet.


It could also have read Clothes Captioned for the Fashion Impaired, but that wouldn't fit on one line.


Carny folk disparage this employee as a "Rent-a-Clown."


I sometimes leaf through my old sketchbooks to trigger ideas for gags. The Funland Security panel was in part inspired by this page from 1991. 

While applying Zip-A-Tone shading film to an illustration, I absent-mindedly stuck the scraps onto a blank sketchbook page. Later, I drew over the patterns. The shapes suggested a dispatcher's microphone and this image emerged. Thirty-three years later, it turned into something useful.

Inspiration can lurk anywhere.


We wrapped up with a silly snowy Saturday. The character on the right was modeled after the "grimacing face" emoji.


That concludes another week of illogical cartoon logic from your faithful ink monkey.

See you next week with more anomalous juxtapositions.


Bonus Track

Steve Young: "Broken Heart Insurance"
from the Broken Heart Insurance EP


My pal Steve Young just released his first EP of all original material, recorded in Nashville with the backing of some of the city's finest musicians. It contains the future hits "Fitted Sheets," "Breakfast," and more. 

Check it out!


Bizarro by the Bunch








   

6 comments: