WaynoBlog: Pin the Tail on the Salaryman

Saturday, August 15, 2026

Pin the Tail on the Salaryman

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