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
Sometimes you lie in bed at night, and you don't have a single thing to worry about...That always worries me!
Charles Schulz
In addition to being Cinco de Mayo, Tuesday was National Cartoonists Day (shouldn't that have an apostrophe somewhere?). Most of us in the profession probably celebrated by working on new material, and maybe having an extra cup of coffee.
It's nice to know that Schulz, possibly the most successful cartoonist of all time, lost sleep over nagging worries just like the rest of us.
We should also remember the words of Popeye the Sailor Man:
A comic artist ain't no different than you or me excep' he knows how to draw pitchers an is crazy in the head.
What can one add other than, "I yam what I yam"?
Today's pipe pic is the cover of a 1954 Bing Crosby coloring book.
Crosby was a hugely famous performer in the early to mid-twentieth century, but were kids really clamoring for a coloring book? Who knows?
One interior page, showing Bing's four sons behind him, dressed in choir robes, bears the caption "Softly, boys." I can't find a high-resolution image to share here, but that may be for the best.
Let's see what Bizarro had to offer for the week of Cartoonists Day.
The customer replied, "Oh, do you mean the tattoo?"
The cow is impressive; "Grazing in the Grass" is a bold choice, and would be challenging to sing even with a karaoke machine teleprompter.
Sometimes lying awake isn't so bad after all.
Every irrational fear has a name.
Naturally, sermon-writing AI platforms already exist.
Instead of apologizing for this caption, I'll refer you to the aforementioned Popeye quote.
That's the latest from Bizarro Studios North. I wish you a groovy weekend.
Bonus Track
Ronald Jansen Heijtmajer "Saxophobia"
from Fingerbustin'
Eigen Wijs Recordings (1995)
A Trove of Bizarro Trash & Treasure
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
Regarding your question about whether there should have been an apostrophe” cartoonists,” I think it is associated press style that with collective nouns such as this, the apostrophe isn’t needed because putting an apostrophe after “cartoonists” would signify that cartoonists essentially own the day. This also applies to sports teams, where a piece says don’t put an apostrophe after something like “Pirates second baseman.” I’m not sure if this style was originated by AP or might come from some other style book, but I think it’s pretty universal.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dave! I was joking a bit with that question, but I do wonder about things like that.
DeleteOur editors for the comic stick to AP style, so that's usually reflected in the cartoon dialogue. However, in my non-cartoon writing, I generally use the Oxford comma.
I don't claim to be completely accurate, but when I notice an obvious mistake, it bothers me. Just yesterday, I saw a menu that said "crostini's" were served with an appetizer! "Crostini" is already a plural, but they added an "s" and an apostrophe!
I am a member of the late newspaper columnist Herb Caen's Apostrophe Patrol. Misused apostrophes drive me crazy!
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteBefore there were AI sermon bots, there were magazine subscriptions. Sloths have been around for a long time. Not that I haven't taken occasional shortcuts along the way, but never the whole cloth.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear about those magazines, Warren!
DeleteI have also been a fan of Bill Griffith's Zippy all the way back to when I could read the daily strip in the San Francisco Chronicle comics page along with Dan O'Neill's Odd Bodkins.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the note, Kent. Griffy is one of the giants!
DeleteI went to Loyola High School in Los Angeles. Bing Crosby Library. The boys musta went there. One classmate was brother of the Lennon sisters...Band Dino (Martin), Desi (Arnez), and Billy Henschy (sp?) played often at our dances..
ReplyDeleteCorrupted by nuns and Jesuits, now a recovering Catholic....grew up in SE LA, not the 90210 group that populated the school....
Always love your stuff....especially the anti-MAGA quips of Dan...
Thanks for sharing those memories, David!
ReplyDeleteWhen reading your comments, my brain interpreted it as "recovering Cathoholic"!