SpudBatZilla

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

---

Next week's blog entry will mark the opening of my eighth year of creating the daily Bizarro comics. I can scarcely believe it's already been that long at the job I wanted all my life. I still enjoy making cartoons daily and plan to keep at it for as long as you'll put up with me.

Earlier this year, I was honored to receive a Silver Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society for Best Newspaper Panel despite being nominated alongside Nick Galifianakis and Dave Blazek, two fantastic cartoonists. This award was a highlight of 2024 for me, and I managed to stumble through my acceptance speech without injury.

The entire awards ceremony is on YouTube. If you want to see a bunch of cartoonists dressed up (some wearing shoes and pants for the first time in months), you'll enjoy it.

A big bucket of year-end gratitude goes to all of you who read the comics daily and follow our blogs, newsletters, and social media postings. We tip our hats to you, the Bizarro cartoon community.

Thank you.

---

Warren W of Nipomo, California, provided our year-end pipe pic.

Warren writes:

I stumbled across this in a 30 October 1906 newspaper (Santa Barbara Morning Press, page 8), the illustration atop an advertisement for a Santa Barbara clothing store, "The Great Wardrobe." 

For several years in that era, the store published these ads weekly, each with a different cartoon atop, artist anonymous, always depicting a young man with googly eyes in different poses.

The drawing looks like a prime example of "nephew art." I didn't coin that phrase, but I can't find who did. It refers to something created by a business owner who doesn't want to pay a professional for design, art, or other services but has an employee who volunteers, "My nephew is pretty good at [service in question]." Still, this has a certain charm.

Thanks to Warren for the image and detailed information on its provenance.

---

This week's Bizarro cartoons include the requisite Santa gags, but the New Year's Baby will not appear in next week's batch.

Several toy-collecting friends have expressed an interest in a PotatoHead/Batman/Godzilla action figure, so this may not be a failure.

After the first billion or so houses, the temptation is impossible to resist.

On the other hand, the temporary spare requires no feeding or "yard cleanup."

Besides, mutts make the best canine companions.

He doesn't need the extra cash; he just likes saying "hi-fi wi-fi refi."

I wasn't going to use the "hair/heir" pun, but then I came up with the image of the mortified teen and the father-son outfits.

For those who are counting, none of the characters' headgear counts as the crown Secret Symbol.

That's the most recent cartoonery from my Little Shop of Humor. I hope you'll return next week as we face the multiple horrors and uncertainties of the New Year. We're all in it together.

---

Bonus Track

Dr. John: "I Walk on Guilded Splinters"

From Gris-Gris
Atco Records, 1968

I've been reading Two-Headed Doctor: Listening For Ghosts In Dr John’s Gris-Gris, a fascinating book-length examination and history of this mysterious and compelling album.

An excerpt is available here.

---

Shilling for Bizarro

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free of charge, we encourage you to explore the following links.

We don't love doing commercials, but it's now part of the job. As newspapers face an ever more perilous future, cartoonists must find supplements to help them stay in business. 

Many thanks for bearing with us.

CK Bizarro Shop (Get your tees here!)

Wayno's Tip Jar (One-time or recurring)

Dan's Tip Jar (One-time or recurring)

Wayno's Weekly Newsletter

@WaynoCartoons on Instagram

Dan Piraro's Bizarro Blog

Subscribe to The Naked Cartoonist

Dan "Diego" Piraro's Peyote Cowboy Graphic Novel

Official Bizarro Shop

Daily Email Subscription to Bizarro

Support Your Local Humorist

Copyright© 2024 by Wayno®