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
Modern Americans behave as if intelligence were some sort of hideous deformity.
Frank Zappa
Anti-intellectualism is a fascinating subject, an us-versus-them psychology, rooted in obsession with others having more of something. Instead of admiring smart people and aspiring to become one, it's easier to cry, "No fair!" as if knowledge were a physical commodity to be divvied up. "If you have some, that's less for me!"
The flipside of Frank's observation is the pervasiveness of willing, even proud stupidity. People in charge of certain systems don't want their followers to think; the uninformed are more easily controlled by the powerful.
Intelligence, reason, education, and science are so despised in some circles that they risk being legislated out of society. One hopes the pendulum will swing the other way, but it had better happen soon.
Mister Zappa left the physical plane more than thirty years ago. If only he could see us today.
Bizarro reader Michael P. sent us a pipe pic he snapped in the wild.
Michael writes:
I saw this planter at an antique store in Knoxville, Tennessee, but didn’t buy it.
This unusual piece is possibly as old as the 1950s and appears to have been a fairly popular item, based on the number for sale on Etsy and elsewhere.
Mother's Day is coming up next month, kids.
Thanks to Michael P. for recognizing a potential pipe pic and photographing it for us.
You can decide whether the latest Bizarro panels are stupid or smart. I try to find the sweet spot somewhere in between.
Romance comics were once a big thing, sometimes expanding into niche markets.
I usually include a bogus Secret Symbol count on April Fool's Day. This panel has five symbols, hinted at by the numeral in the crown. When I draw each comic, I assign a sequential number to the art, and this one was the 2,271st since I started working on the dailies—no fooling.
Wednesday's gag takes place in a corporate fretboardroom.
The musical gag prompted my favorite comment of the week over on BlueSky:
Superb work! The chord frames on the sheet music are realistic, and well spaced. The Gibson SG, Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster are all accurate, with correct curves on the Fender headstocks. Realistic controls on the amplifier. Few people will notice, but BRAVO!
Thanks to sombermoose for paying attention to the details. Comments like yours make the effort worthwhile.
Recontextualizing a familiar phrase or swapping in a different word can provide the seeds for a gag, as with this oracular offering.
"...and serve it in a paper cup."
At least poor word choices are easy to fix.
Bonus Track
Michael Hurley: "Long Journey"
From the LP Long Journey
Rounder Records, 1984
Rounder Records, 1984
Outsider folk musician, singer-songwriter, and sometime cartoonist Michael Hurley died this week at age 83. His debut album, First Songs, was released in 1963. Several of his subsequent LPs featured his wolf cartoon characters Jocko and Boone.
Hurley was a true American original.
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Does the feedback go up to 11?
ReplyDeleteLove the tap handles! Especially the “eye” PA.
Autocorrect: I still think Musk’s Cybertruck is uglier!
Thanks, Walrus!
DeleteAgreed on the cybertruck. People who drive Hummers can nopw say they arem't the douchiest vehicles on the road!
I read a comment recently where a guy said he was going to sue Musk for plagiarism. He claims he drew the Cybertruck when he was five and his mom had it pinned to the fridge and still has it! LOL!
DeletePriceless!
DeleteOh I noticed the perfection of the instruments on Wednesdays panel. Great art!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Judi!
Delete2,271... Hmmmm - No fooling.
ReplyDeleteWith a nod to Frank.
Thanks, David. I admire a lot of Frank's work.
DeleteI really feel the anti-intellectualism where I live, I am sorry to say.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that. It's rampant.
DeleteI really appreciate the EYE-P-A in the April 4th comic.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tim!
DeleteMichael Hurley’s passing hits me hard. Any song from his masterpiece “Have Moicy” could inspire your followers with his genius!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Robert. Hurley was a true original.
DeleteMy husband is a bass player and also plays guitar, so I am familiar with the guitar amp on the cartoon. The caption/joke is perfect!!
ReplyDeleteIt's all the BUZZ!
DeleteThanks!
DeleteAlways a pleasure to see yer work, thanks.
ReplyDeletemany thanks!
DeleteGreat bar gag with the line about the fake i.d. On the bonus line, I might have offered ‘…in a plastic glass.’. But that might belong in another related cartoon.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, a plastic glass might be more artificial that a paper cup.
DeleteViva Zappa!
ReplyDelete"All your children are poor unfortunate victims
DeleteOf lies you believe
A plague upon your ignorance
That keeps the young from the truth they deserve."
Coool Song!
ReplyDeleteI love Michael Hurley's music!
DeleteAnother great lyric from Zappa that I treasure:
ReplyDelete“Who cares if you’re so poor, you can’t afford to buy a pair of mod-a-go-go stretch elastic pants…
There will come a time when you can even take your clothes off when you dance!”
Walrus, same here! I love that early era of the Mothers, and the Hot Rats, Grand Wazoo, Waka/Jawaka stuff. I saw Zappa a few times, but I was born too late to see the prime era. The "comedy" stuff hasn't aged as well for this listener.
DeleteI was probably 13 or 14 when I bought "Lumpy Gravy" and it blew me away! Still one of m,y favorites.