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
A stranger is shot in the street, you hardly move to help. But if, half an hour before, you spent just ten minutes with the fellow and knew a little about him and his family, you might just jump in front of his killer and try to stop it. Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know, is bad, or amoral, at least. You can’t act if you don’t know.
Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
In my household, we watch spooky movies throughout October. Some are works of art, and some are goofy romps. One film we revisit every year is 1983's Something Wicked This Way Comes, based on Ray Bradbury's 1962 horror/fantasy novel.
The text quoted above didn't make it into the movie, but it feels especially relevant. The lack of empathy and the level of cruelty on exhibit lately are directly related to what Bradbury called a refusal to know. The rampant "othering" of groups of our fellow humans makes too many feel they have permission to treat people as less than human. Being part of a community is wonderful, unless it devolves into tribalism.
Perhaps Halloween is popular for the same reason people celebrate Mardi Gras: Masks and costumes can obscure the arbitrary differences people with too much (or too little) power and wealth exploit to define groups of people as "them."
Today (Saturday), we'll be attending our town's annual Halloween parade, cheering the high school band in their themed costumes, and watching kids scramble for treats thrown their way.
I hope you all have an enjoyable Halloween, see a lot of fabulous costumes, and give and receive the best treats. Mask up, have fun, and meet and greet your neighbors.
Don't refuse to know.
Bizarro field correspondent Danielle A. spotted this vintage metal leaf tobacco box in a collectibles shop in her hometown.
The illustration on the box is charming and well-executed. The marine looks as if he's emerging from a porthole in its side.
Thanks to Danielle for taking the photo and sharing it with us. I love to see pipes found in the wild.
Oh, and if you ever see a Bizarro comic displayed somewhere out in the physical world, I'd be grateful for a photo of that, too.
Halloween creeps into Bizarro this week and next, although we keep the holiday in our dark hearts all through the year. Here's the latest sextet of cartoons.
Monday's gag was inspired by the Beatles knockoff records that proliferated in the 1960s. Designed to fool well-meaning grandmas, the phony groups had names like the Buggs, the Liverpools, or the Beat-A-Manias.
Metaphorical, if not inaccurate.
I offer my apologies to Charles Schulz.
"But I'm keeping the Dr. Brown's eyeball soda."
Their business card says "England's Newest Note Takers."
We wrap up with a reading from The Book of Rebellious Offspring 6:13-22.
Thanks for taking the time to read these boxes of badinage. Come back next week for more of this sort of nonsense.
Bizarro Bonus Track
The Kirby Stone Four: "You Came From Outer Space"
From Man I Flipped When I Heard the Kirby Stone Four Cadence Records LP, 1958
The Kirby Stone Four were one of many vocal quartets of the 1950s and early 1960s. They released several LPs on Columbia Records and other, smaller labels, but their debut on Cadence remains my favorite.
The group incorporated boisterous comedy, vocal impersonations, and a jazzy sensibility that set them apart from their contemporaries.
I chose "You Came From Outer Space" as today's bonus track because it's fitting for Halloween, and as a nod to Bizarro's Secret Symbol, the Flying Saucer of Possibility.
This song closes out the Rhino Records box set Brain in a Box: The Science Fiction Collection, a five-CD compilation released in 2000. Each disc is dedicated to a genre or style: Movie themes, TV themes, Pop, Lounge/Incidental, and Novelty. I served as an "A&R consultant" on the project, and the KS4 track was one of my suggestions that made the cut.
Rhino was known for extravagant packaging, and Brain was one of their most elaborate box sets.
It's designed to resemble a mad scientist's apparatus powered by a human brain, and it has lenticular images on three sides. It's a gem in my collection.
Need More Bizarro? We've Got You Covered.
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
The "Something Wicked This Way Comes" film is one of my favorites. Especially frightening when Johnathan Pryce tears the pages out of the book and throws them away: "Gone!"
Awesome gags! I bet the line cooks at the Ctrl Alt deli are quite surly with all of those returned plates .... If you are interested in campy Halloween movies, the Kanopy streaming platform has a wide assortment of gems. It is free through your library card, at least out here on the West Coast. Thanks for what you do! Jennifer B
1)when my grandson was younger he limed (still does) the song Blackbird by the Beatles, but called it Blue Jay by the Bugs.
2)re you’re 10 minute subscriber. No worries here. Your Saturday missive, and Dan’s Sunday follow-up are the highlights of my online week. I’m in it for the long haul, reading it today while wearing a jazz pickle shirt,.
Regarding the Ctrl-Alt-Deli one, in case you’re interested, there actually is at least one place by that name: in the computer science building at Rochester Institute of Technology! https://www.rit.edu/dining/location/ctrl-alt-deli
The "suspension of disbelief" is a necessary concept that enables us to enjoy many SciFi/Horror movies, and even some other fictional characters and shows. It is even an easily used idea for the enjoyment of many Bizarro cartoons. However, this temporary suspension is OK and helps get us through the harshness of our current times, and enjoy a bit of humor or escapism. Unfortunately, I see too many people that seem to want to suspend their disbelief as a method to avoid actually having to accept something they don't want to hear or know. Closing off a small portion of your mind for a temporary time is one thing. But, those that close off a lot of their minds for extended periods are akin to those that are "refusing to know" what is obvious to everyone else. Thank you, Wayne (and Dan), for giving me many brief times to suspend my disbelief in the pursuit of laughter.
Glenn, Thank you for both your kind words of encouragement, and your thoughtful observations on willful suspension of disbelief in order to shut down new ideas. Well said!
Eternal thanks to you and Dan, Wayno! ♥️👏 Your humor, and enlightened spirits are beacons in dark times … I’m reading Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century”. Several of those 3-4 page lessons include how the dangers of “refusing to know” preceded things that became inescapable from knowing … Gunnar
The "Something Wicked This Way Comes" film is one of my favorites. Especially frightening when Johnathan Pryce tears the pages out of the book and throws them away: "Gone!"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DHtYc3BWg
Any idea where the whole movie can be streamed?
DeleteDisney+ app, Apple+ app w/fee
DeleteYes, Dave! Pryce is chilling, as is the Mister Cooger character.
DeleteAh, "Something wicked this way comes" is a great line from MacBeth which we just happened to see this week. A great play if you can find it somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThank, Judi. We taken so many familiar lines and phrases from Shakespeare!
DeleteAwesome gags! I bet the line cooks at the Ctrl Alt deli are quite surly with all of those returned plates .... If you are interested in campy Halloween movies, the Kanopy streaming platform has a wide assortment of gems. It is free through your library
ReplyDeletecard, at least out here on the West Coast. Thanks for what you do! Jennifer B
Thanks, Jennifer!
DeleteOh yes, we're fans of Kanopy. They have a great selection, for sure. We're currently watching the BBC series "Ghosts," which is very funny/
Hooray for Kanopy! Oh, I haven't heard of that. Thanks for the tip. Jennifer
Delete1)when my grandson was younger he limed (still does) the song Blackbird by the Beatles, but called it Blue Jay by the Bugs.
ReplyDelete2)re you’re 10 minute subscriber.
No worries here. Your Saturday missive, and Dan’s Sunday follow-up are the highlights of my online week. I’m in it for the long haul, reading it today while wearing a jazz pickle shirt,.
That's so funny about "Blue Jay by the Bugs."
DeleteThanks so much for reading and for getting a Jazz Pickle shirt!
I meant Liked -my typing is terrible on my phone.
ReplyDeleteNo worries, I'm with you. My phone-typing skills are inconsistent too.
DeleteWell said, amigo. Your opening statements about "refusing to know" are perfect.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks. Bradbury's words leapt out at me.
DeleteRegarding the Ctrl-Alt-Deli one, in case you’re interested, there actually is at least one place by that name: in the computer science building at Rochester Institute of Technology!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rit.edu/dining/location/ctrl-alt-deli
Thanks, Stranger! I had no idea! That's hilarous!
DeleteToday I learned the word badinage.
ReplyDeleteThe "suspension of disbelief" is a necessary concept that enables us to enjoy many SciFi/Horror movies, and even some other fictional characters and shows. It is even an easily used idea for the enjoyment of many Bizarro cartoons. However, this temporary suspension is OK and helps get us through the harshness of our current times, and enjoy a bit of humor or escapism. Unfortunately, I see too many people that seem to want to suspend their disbelief as a method to avoid actually having to accept something they don't want to hear or know. Closing off a small portion of your mind for a temporary time is one thing. But, those that close off a lot of their minds for extended periods are akin to those that are "refusing to know" what is obvious to everyone else. Thank you, Wayne (and Dan), for giving me many brief times to suspend my disbelief in the pursuit of laughter.
ReplyDeleteGlenn, Thank you for both your kind words of encouragement, and your thoughtful observations on willful suspension of disbelief in order to shut down new ideas. Well said!
DeleteEternal thanks to you and Dan, Wayno! ♥️👏 Your humor, and enlightened spirits are beacons in dark times … I’m reading Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century”. Several of those 3-4 page lessons include how the dangers of “refusing to know” preceded things that became inescapable from knowing … Gunnar
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gunnar. You've reminded me that I've been meaning to read "On Tyranny," but haven't done it yet. I'll have to remedy that.
DeleteI am consistently impressed with our readers, and we're grateful for you all.