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
Happy Saturday, O cherished cartoon community.
I have no pithy intro or inspiring quote to offer today, so I'm skipping ahead to our pipe pic of the week. It's a screen grab from the "Save It For Later" music video by The [English] Beat.
Canadian Bizarro field correspondent Petri V sent the image and noted:
The song came up in the news recently, and I watched the video and found this image of a woman with a pipe looking at an album cover with a friend. From your blog posts, I know that you are more than just a little bit interested in music, so I thought I would share it with you.
The 1982 music video features the band performing at a tiny subterranean club for an audience of blasé hipsters, who are eventually won over by the catchy tune. I'm reasonably certain that the gentleman in the beret is not my partner in comics, Dan Piraro.
Naturally, I had to determine what that album was and found that it was a 1960 compilation of songs by French performer Juliette Gréco, released in the US and Canada.
A tip of the the cocoanut straw porkpie to Petri for the image and for reminding me how much I like that song.
If you're as overwhelmed by current events as your cartoonist, perhaps you'd like to visit this week's cartoons for a few moments of escape.
From the day I wrote this gag until I uploaded the file for publication, I ping-ponged between using "would" and "could" in the dialogue. The difference is subtle, and a case could be made for either word. If we didn't have deadlines, I'd most likely still be wavering.
One imagines that authors would be grateful if this sort of thing were limited to a couple of hours per day.
When sequencing a week of cartoons, I schedule my favorite for Friday, but now I think this gag is the strongest in the batch. I like the drawing, and the joke takes an extra beat or two to land. Also, the panel references a familiar character without showing him or even mentioning the name.
My newsletter for the week goes into detail about formatting the panel and strip versions of this gag, for those interested in the nuts and bolts.
In its original 1950s incarnation, kids were expected to use actual potatoes to play with this toy, and the potato was literally just the head.
Thanks for dropping by. Come back again next Saturday for another six-pack of pictures with words.
Please feel free to add your comments. I enjoy hearing from you!
Bonus Track
Todd Rundgren: "Onomatopoeia"
From Hermit of Mink Hollow
Bearsville Records LP, 1978
Bearsville Records LP, 1978
Rundgren made all of the noises on this album by himself.
A Ton of Bizarro Treasures & Trash
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I don't remember any Potato-Head injuries, but I remember that the "spikes" broke off, leaving the parts less-than-useful.
ReplyDeleteGlad you escaped unharmed.
DeleteHallie and I saw Todd Rundgren in Ohio a few years ago. Excellent show! He is a great performer and a true goofball. The concert had an intermission, and in the second set he dressed in a different costume for each song. A true showman!
ReplyDeleteA wizard, a true star, one might say.
DeleteIndeed.
DeleteIn 1980, my then girlfriend/now wife saw Todd with Utopia at NIU. The drum kit was on a motorcycle frame that would revolve at strategic points.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing that drum kit on TV, Jerry!
DeleteIf you search "Todd Rundgren Mike Douglas," you'll find two or three videos.
I guess you'd have to draw stereotypes to add "sexual" orientation as a 3rd meaning for Saturday's cartoon
ReplyDeleteHa, yes, probably.
DeleteTodd Rundgren's "Good Vibrations" (from his album Faithful) is another example of his virtuosity
ReplyDeleteHe'd certainly done a lot in his career, as a performer and producer.
DeleteWayno, in reference to your Monday cartoon, I believe "could" was a better choice because the joke is more subtle with that phrasing. The reader has to take a moment for the humor to connect and that always makes for a funnier cartoon in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's what I was thinking when I finally decided to call it finished.
DeleteI began immediately to ponder the could/would dilemma before even seeing your comment on the subject. I would prefer "would", but I "could" be wrong. After all, what the koan do I know?
ReplyDeleteYou know about as much as I do!
DeleteThanks for the insight into the process (and thoughts) behind each panel Wayno. You always keep me coming back!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judi!
Delete