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
Drawing is thinking.
Milton Glaser
Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.
Herbie Hancock
A few days ago, I had the pleasure of being a guest on The New Yorker Caption Contest Podcast. The program's hosts love single-panel comics, think deeply about them, and are engaging and fun conversationalists.
One of the many topics we discussed was the number of cartoonists who are also musicians, and we wondered why there was so much overlap. Initially, I proposed that it might be because making music usually involves other people, and it can provide social contact that we are missing as solitary hermits making comics. Human interaction provides a partial explanation, but there's more to it.
Cartoonists are almost always thinking of material, noticing phrases or images that might be the kernel of a gag. The effort of working out how to stage a drawing or finding the correct wording can hit a dead end, and the best thing to do is to step away from it for a while. Unfortunately, moving physically from the drawing table or computer rarely stops us from being preoccupied with solving the puzzle.
Playing music focuses the mind, taking us away from constant internal editing and putting the "writer" part of one's consciousness on the back burner.
Music is also psychologically beneficial for both performers and listeners. It's a tremendous mental palate cleanser.
I wish I'd thought of all this during the podcast, but my inner editor wouldn't shut up about avoiding "um," "er," and other disfluencies.
If you can bear an eighty-minute conversation with your cartoonist, check out Episode 181 of The New Yorker Caption Contest Podcast. It's available on all of the usual platforms.
We're happy to share another pipe found in the wild. This one comes to us from Bizarro reader Melinda D.
Melinda writes:
I have a cool pipe pic that I took while I was in the Republic of San Marino in September. It was taken in the Rocca Guaita Tower and is prisoner graffiti that was found under layers of whitewash.
Naturally, I searched the web for more information, and I found this closeup photo on the world travel site Atlas Obscura:
The prison closed in 1970, and the graffiti images may be over 200 years old.
Thanks to Melinda for thinking of us and sharing her photo of the mysterious pipe-smoking graffito-man.
I didn't run out of steam after the podcast, so here are this week's Bizarro cartoons with commentary.
Even members of the undead community are avoiding ultra-processed foods.
Unfortunately, the visitor came from a time before commas were invented and replied, "So what?"
Note: The dialog should be read in a voice that sounds like Tommy Chong.
When I sketched the idea for this gag, I worried that Bill Watterson might have done a snow-spider gag at some point. I spent considerable time searching online and couldn't find any, so I asked a Calvin & Hobbes superfan who was relatively sure she had never seen one in the comic.
The strip version is sparser but shows the complete spider.
Nothing's wrong; this is an example of the rare moping willow tree.
Their want ad states, "Only narcissistic candidates need apply."
I wish the Lucky Bunny old-school pinball machine actually existed.
That's the latest cartoon production from Bizarro Studios North. Thank you for reading our stuff and supporting the cartoon arts.
We'll be back next Saturday with a fresh batch of gags. Expect a turkey or two in the bunch.
Shameless Promotion: Holiday Style
As part of our continuing program of dreading the death of newsprint, our friends at King Features are offering a selection of holiday ornaments. Dan Piraro designed the UFO and Jazz Pickle baubles, and I'm responsible for the candy-stripe pipe.
Dan shared these on his blog and posted a helpful caveat, which I've stolen:
This is King Features' shop, not ours. We do not control the prices of the products or shipping. But we do get a cut of the purchase prices, though, so you can consider each purchase a holiday gift to us. Thanks!
Dr John: "Let's Make a Better World"From Desitively Bonnaroo
Atco Records, 1974
November 20 would have been the 83rd birthday of the late Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., known professionally as Dr. John. He's one of my all-time favorite musicians, and I have shared this song, written by Earl King, several times in the past. Its message of unity and empathy has become more critical and relevant in the fifty years since it was first released.
