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
Fantasy is overrated; the real world is surreal enough.
Saul Steinberg
Happy Saturday, Bizarro Buds. This week you'll get a break from my verbose introductions. What can one add to Saul Steinberg's words anyway?
Instead, we'll jump right in with a historic pipe pic.
I haven't been able to find any specific information on the date or location; we only know that it's a shot of J. Robert Oppenheimer. He was often seen with a pipe, and in fact, I ran a picture of him almost exactly a year ago, during the craze over a couple of summer movies.
Today's image came from my friend Black Mold, who's been a disk jockey on the great New Orleans community radio station WWOZ for more than thirty years. His wildly entertaining program, Music of Mass Distraction, is like nothing you've heard before.
A tip of the cocoanut straw porkpie to the mysterious Mister Mold for sharing the photo. I hope to get back to NOLA in the future to check out WWOZ's new studio.
Saul Steinberg notwithstanding, we do hope to add to the world's general level of surrealism.
According to some versions of the story, Jack and his mother actually made out like bandits from his magic bean trade. He broke into a home, robbed it three times, and finally killed the poor property owner.
Our friend Eric S sent us a picture of this gag as it appeared in the Los Angeles Times. They're one of the clients who use the strip version, and it looks like they do a decent job of printing it without distortion or extreme reduction. Thanks, Eric!
The biggest challenge with this one was finding a way to write dialog to conjure a particular accent in the reader's mind. The concept made it one of my favorites of the week, and I almost ran it in the Friday slot, where I schedule the strongest panel.
After more than six years of doing the daily gags, I've gotten over my hesitance to do vertical strips. Sometimes it's the best way to use the space.
Couples therapy is all about finding common ground.
When two monarchical societies mingle, you never know what'll happen. I'd imagine that a regular "two-checker" king would have less power than the king or queen in a chess game, but a stack of twelve might be a different story.
When I rearranged the gag's elements for the strip layout, I had more horizontal space but less headroom, so I let the stacked checkers extend out of frame. The reader can imagine an even taller UberKing.
The week closes out with yet another nod to surrealist René Magritte, who inspired the Pipe of Ambiguity Secret Symbol (which doesn't appear in this panel).
That brings us to the end of another blog entry. Thanks for checking it out, and please consider coming back next week for more words, pictures, and commentary.
Bonus Track
Todd Rundgren: "Just Another Onionhead / Da Da Dali"
from A Wizard, A True Star
Bearsville Records, 1973
Bearsville Records, 1973
This selection from Rundgren's psychedelic masterpiece references another favorite surrealist. The melody of the "Da Da Dali" section is identical to "Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye," a song made famous by Al Jolson in the 1920s.
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I cannot stop giggling over the accent rug gag! I found myself laughing while at a stop light yesterday just thinking about it. You're awesome! And I concur, Black Mold's show is epic and is the exclamation point to my Friday. Jennifer in Yakima, WA
ReplyDeleteJennifer: Thank you! I was pretty happy with the accent rug gag myself. And yes, Black Mold's show is one of a kind!
DeleteIt's cool that you posted a Todd Rundgren song. Hallie and I saw him in Ohio a few years back. Great show! The man is a total looney -- but in the best way!
ReplyDelete