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
You cannot tell a cartoonist not to do something and expect them not to try to do it.
Lynn Johnston
I spent last weekend among my colleagues at the 80th annual National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Awards, in Columbus, Ohio. Once a year, the reclusive loners who make your daily cartoons bust out of their workspaces, put on shoes, and get together to celebrate each other and the odd line of work we share. I came home exhausted and energized, if that makes any sense.
I received a nomination for Best in Newspaper Panels, and although I didn't win it, I was thrilled to congratulate my Philadelphia compadre, Dave Blazek of Loose Parts.
Friendly rivals Dave Blazek and Wayno
Bill Whitehead, who creates the daily comic panel Free Range, was also nominated, so I was in fine company.
Over the past several years, an influx of new and younger members from all corners of the cartooning world has revitalized the venerable organization. I saw many new faces with "first-timer" ribbons attached to their badge. It's a tradition to look for them and welcome them to the group. Next year, they'll do the same.
I was able to hang with old and new friends and thank the King Features crew who support your cartoonists every day, especially our hardworking editors who correct our boo-boos before the comics are published.
I've been attending these annual gatherings since 2013, and while I've enjoyed every one, this may have been the best one yet.
The NCS is a welcoming and inclusive family of misfits, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
My buddy Jeff B., of Fairmont, WV, found this smoking skeleton image online, though I haven't turned up any information about it.
Clearly, it's a bookplate for a Rud. Petersson. I don't know if their first name is/was Rudolph, Ruddigore, Rudd, or something else entirely. The mysterious Petersson may or may not have created the design.
Thanks be to Jeff for finding this delightfully creepy image, and for being a good pal and a swell human.
Perhaps I'll include something from this week's Bizarro gags in my Reuben Awards submission package next year.
My inner word nerd was pleased with this gag based on multiple meanings of "qualification."
Cartoonists love to make jokes about Sisyphus, and it's gratifying to come up with (one hopes) a unique angle on the character.
See also: Gregor Samsa.
How many anxieties can one develop in such a brief lifespan?
One approach to writing a gag is to alter a familiar expression or illustrate an unexpected interpretation of it. "Business up front, party in the back" is used to describe a mullet haircut. For Friday's panel, we went with a literal interpretation of the phrase.
While procrastinating researching, I learned that Business Up Front/Party in the Back was the title of a 2006 album by Family Force 5, a Christian rock band from Atlanta.
I've had several jobs for which I was ill-suited, but no in-office experience instilled the dread of team-building activities. These were attempts to make the boss seem like one of the gang; a fool's game at best. When a supervisory person tells a subordinate, "Come on, it'll be fun," it's time to hide.
Thanks for following along with the weekly recap.
Bonus Track
Herbie Hancock: "Spider"
from Secrets
Columbia Records LP, 1976
A Whole Lot of Bizarro Lunacy
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
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
Summer's flying by, so today we'll jump into the deep end with a new pipe pic. It's a baseball-related photo of the late George Lee "Sparky" Anderson.
Faithful Bizarro reader John C, of Nipomo, CA, sent it along with a brief note:
Forwarding the pipe pic below of Detroit Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson. I always remember seeing him trying to hide a cigarette he was smoking in the dugout. I think this gives him a more magisterial air.
A few years ago, John also contributed a splendid photo of soul singer Fontella Bass.
A respectful tip of the hat along with a dangerously-low bow of thanks to John C for his longtime readership and support of comics, his sharp eye for pipe pics, and his impressive vocabulary. Magisterial, indeed!
Here's what we found clogging the cartoon pool filter over the past week.
Readers of a certain age will recognize this sort of come-on as a regular part of their postal delivery.
Before anyone tells me that this isn't how snow peas work, I am aware. In the Land of Fairy Tales, where a single pea can be detected buried under twenty mattresses, a princess will literally feel cold when in contact with a snow pea. I know, it's a weird place.
This is the final cartoon from my recent cornucopia of crash test gags. There's also one more rejected sketch that will appear in my Substack newsletter.
The kid on the right recognizes the absurdity of the question, and just might grow up to be a Two-Dimensional Graphic Humor Technologist.
Our explorers should have stopped after a tiny sip, but engaging in risky behaviors is the strongest side effect of this beverage. A reminder to us all to drink responsibly.
You have to be a fast reader to get through an actual printed paper when underwater.
Bonus Track
Stuart McKay & His Woods: "Take Me Out to the Ball"
from Reap the Wild Winds
RCA Victor LP, 1955
Nodding to the Sparky Anderson photo and Thursday's outfield cartoon, here's a quirky arrangement of an appropriate song.
Stuart McKay (born around 1915) was one of history's few jazz bassoonists, and Reap the Wild Winds was his sole album as a bandleader. He played on a small number of other recordings, including a dozen in a group led by a guitarist named Brick Fleagle (really!)
This version of "Take Me Out to the Ball" is off-kilter from beginning to end, with three instrumental runthroughs followed by an out-of-sync vocal chorus that starts a couple of notes too soon, resulting in an abrupt, unresolved finish.
The album includes three well-known compositions and nine originals composed by pianist John Saunders, with oddball titles such as "Those That Live by the Swordfish Die by the Swordfish," "You're Just a Cucumber," and "Newton the Fig."
A McKay composition, "Burping Bassoon," was recorded by Eddie Stone and his Orchestra in 1938.
Most of the above information came from Many Fantastic Colors, a scholarly music blog.
Tons of Bizarro Trivia
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
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
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
Alan Watts
Change affects us daily in one way or another. Over the past week, we learned that our favorite local music venue, owned by people who have become our friends, is closing its doors in a few weeks after fifteen years of hard work, excellent wines, and unwavering support of musicians.
The co-owners issued a public statement, reading in part:
Although this is painful and heartbreaking for all of us, we remain
eternally grateful for the love and support the community and the scene
have bestowed upon us.
We stand in awe of the level of
talent that has graced our stages over the years, and we implore
everyone to continue to support them wherever they perform.
Please also let this serve as a call to action to do everything you
can to support your local independent music venues, especially those
that support and host local music. These
rooms are the lifeblood of this art form, and they desperately need your
patronage.
And though our stages may go dark, the memories will burn bright in our hearts forever.
I had the pleasure of performing there many times over the years, and enjoyed hearing countless wonderful musicians as a patron of the club. Even so, we now wish we had gone more often.
I believe that our friends who have run the business will come through this huge change all right, but we'll all feel the loss of a great place to gather for music and friendship for a long time.
Alan Watts makes sense when he suggests plunging into change to make sense of it.
It's also a good idea to remember that nothing we care about will last forever, and neither will we, so let's appreciate what we have while we have it (and while we're still around).
I found this meta image of a pipe smoking another pipe, but must also credit Bizarro reader Stuart VR for leading me to it.
Stuart sent me Craigslist ad for a pipe with a bowl modeled after a Star Wars character. It was crafted by a famous Turkish pipemaker, Sadik Yanik, and I posted that photo in June.
Naturally, I had to find Yanik's webpage, and spent a ridiculous amount of time browsing the selections, where I spotted the Popeye model.
So, we offer another tip of the Bizarro porkpie to Stuart for sending me down a Meerschaum rabbit hole a few months ago.
When I'm not wasting time scrolling through photos of cartoon character heads, I write and draw Bizarro. Here's the latest six-pack o' laffs.
The software may not be intelligent, but it certainly mimics human behavior.
July 20 through 25 was Crash Test Dummy week. It resulted from an intense writing session where the gags about dummies poured out of my head. I couldn't draw them fast
enough, and my sketchbook pages are almost indecipherable. Rather than a normal gag-writing day, it felt more like a possession.
I ended up drafting a total of ten crash test gags. I used six last week, the above this week, and I have one more in the pipeline. The remaining two weren't strong enough to use, but I'll share them in my Substack newsletter.
It's a reserved preserve.
This panel includes a rare variant Secret Symbol: The Invoited Boid.
Thank you, Jerome "Curly" Howard.
My understanding is that Elsa Lanchester's real (red-auburn) hair was teased up and augmented for the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein film. I almost colored this panel in gray tones, but decided against it. The other character is my version of the wonderful Teri Garr as Ilsa in Mel Brooks's 1974 Young Frankenstein. Caricature isn't my strongest suit, but I was relatively happy with the likenesses of both actors.
Just a reminder that theComics Kingdom Summer Shop has a full selection of new and old Bizarro T-shirts, coffee mugs, hats, and other items, which help keep your cartoonist in caffeine.
Bonus Track
Daevid Allen: "Stoned Innocent Frankenstein"
from Bananamoon
BYG Records LP, 1971
I'm an unashamed fan of the goofy 1970s psychedelic-space-hippie recordings of Daevid Allen (1938-2015) and his band/family/collective, Gong. Friday's cartoon reminded me of this tune from early in his career.
I'm also quite fond of this quote on mortality from Daevid Allen:
I can only hope that during this journey, I have somehow contributed to the happiness in the lives of a few other fellow humans.
Buckets of Bizarro Bric-A-Brac
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
