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.
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
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.
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Many thanks!
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As usual, riches to unpack here besides the multiple laffs! "Icumen is a Middle English term referring to a type of medieval English musical composition known as a rota. It specifically refers to a specific rota song titled "Sumer is icumen in" which is one of the most famous and earliest surviving pieces of English polyphonic music." Who knew? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ReplyDeleteYour mention of Steinberg reminded me of this very interesting multi faceted Spanish artist. A real diamond like you n Dan P are.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.metalocus.es/en/news/reina-sofia-museum-receives-30-original-covers-la-codorniz-illustrator-enrique-herreros
Wow! I was not aware of Enrique Herreros, but I love those magazine covers. They're amazing!
Deleteyour Bonus Track of the week sent me back to college, when STIFF records first came out. They had a little saying on their labels, "If it isn't STIFF, it ain't worth a fuck!"
ReplyDeleteI was a fanatical collector of Stiff Records, and got sucked into the whole colored vinyl, mutliple copies thing. I got better over the years. Still love a lot of their output.
DeleteRegarding Britishisms, I've always liked this quote which is thought to have been by George Bernard Shaw, although it doesn't appear in any of his works: "England and America are two countries divided by a common language." 😎
ReplyDeletePatrick, yes, that's a terrific quote, even if we never know who actually said it.
DeleteI found this reference in a New York Times article on American and British English:
••••
In case you're wondering who should get the credit for that crack about "two nations divided by a common language," the answer is nobody exactly. George Bernard Shaw was quoted in 1942 as saying, "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." But nobody is certain where or when he said it. What we do know is that Oscar Wilde said the same thing in different words in 1887: "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language."
••••
(https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/books/chapter-origins-of-the-specious.html?unlocked_article_code=1.100.5Ioz.lUqgxTIjVZcp&smid=url-share)
I don't count the extra fancy crown, instead I'll just suggest the un-circled secret symbol in the upper left of the same panel. I'm surprised that multiples of the same symbol count as multiples.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at many of the Steinberg cartoons, I was left with the impression that Terry Gilliam (Monty Python) might have seen some of these, and drawn some inspiration from the style. Just wonderin'
ReplyDeleteWho knows? It's unlikely that Gilliam was unaware of Steinberg/
DeleteI have a friend who born in England, and in this country for more than 20 years, still retains for British accent. Although I’ve known her for 20 years, I still find it almost impossible to decipher some of her sentences. When she speaks numbers or vowels, I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out which vowel she’s using. In these cases, she sounds very much like Eliza Doolittle. A and E are virtually identical To my ears, and even B, C, and D can be problematic. She accompanied me to the recording studio once, and although I warned the engineer that she may be hard to understand at times, it really didn’t help. After she left, he said, “she should come with subtitles! “
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, a lot of people should come with subtitles.
Delete