Showing posts with label primitive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label primitive. Show all posts

Saturday, December 27, 2025

I Am Not An Architect

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 

I think the misconceptions people have about artists is that artists walk around with unrealized things in their head, and the process of being an artist is making those become real. But I don’t really know any artists who work that way. You might have an idea of where you want to start, but the process of making something is the process of you starting to understand it as well. You find your way through making it, not you’ve got it all in your head. We are not architects, essentially. Architects have to plan it all in advance because otherwise the things fall down. But in art, it doesn’t matter if it all falls down. 

~Brian Eno

Source: Brian Eno Looks Back At Roxy Music And More With Zane Lowe

 

Here we are at the final blog post for 2025. It continues to be my honor to make comics for Bizarro's community at the close of my eighth year as the daily cartoonist.

Brian Eno is one of the great artists and thinkers of modern times, and the lengthy quote from a March interview sums up the often nebulous process of creating art of any type, even one as lowly as cartooning. There isn't anything I care to add to Eno's eloquent statement, so I'll simply offer a few words of thanks.

I'm grateful to every reader, and all who commented, subscribed to my newsletter, or sent me pipe pics for the blog. Working with Dan Piraro as a creative partner is the best work experience I've ever had, and I don't expect it to be topped, so I'm hanging on into Year Nine of my Reign of Humor.

Our year-end pipe pic is a vintage print ad; magazine and publication date unknown. 


I found this in September while exploring a time-wasting image-search rabbit hole. With that sculpted Brilliantine pompadour, the model could be mistaken for a particularly unqualified US cabinet member, minus the theocratic tattoos.

Now, let's check out the last full week of Bizarro gags for 2025, and see how many fell down and how many remained standing.

As stated above, I appreciate every online comment, even from readers who may have a beef with the gag, but was it really necessary for so many responses to be "more cowbell"?


It's only a matter of time before smart appliances evolve into smug appliances.


Behold the hunter-fabricator, and the coincidental second gag in a row to use the word "successful."


How the mighty have fallen, albeit in slow motion.


The username "Poppycock" should have raised a shiny red flag.

The week closed with a company known for excellent craftsmanship and questionable messaging. 

Stop by next week as we face a new year of outrages and, one hopes, defeats of oppressors and their enablers.

I wish you a festive, fun, and safe New Year's celebration. I'll be offline as much as possible between now and January 1.

Talking Shop


Alex Garcia of King Features recently had me as a guest on the Inside the Kingdom podcast. I hope you enjoy the interview, and overlook my inability to look the camera in the eye. 

Bonus Track

Eno: "Needles in the Camel's Eye"
From Here Come the Warm Jets
Island Records, 1974


Beginning in the early 1970s, to aid my quest for finding new and different music, I started reading the British music weeklies (New Musical Express, Melody Maker, and others), which were available in independent record stores and many newsstands. These papers introduced me to Roxy Music, and I devoured their LPs, beginning with their self-titled 1972 debut and its 1973 follow-up, For Your Pleasure.

One of the band's two geniuses, and arguably its most fascinating, was Brian Eno, who at that time went by his last name alone. He was credited with playing the VCS3 synthesizer (an early analog synth known for unstable tuning), tapes (or tape effects), and backing vocals. He was responsible for adding otherworldly noises to the band's performances of Bryan Ferry's songs.

I had no idea what to expect from his first solo album after departing from Roxy, but I knew I had to hear it. It was dense, weird, inscrutable, and fascinating, and unlike anything I'd heard before. The opening track, "Needles in the Camel's Eye," felt like a declaration of independence from Bryan Ferry's leadership, and a challenge to listeners to accompany him on an exploratory journey.


Vast Volumes of Bizarro Verbiage

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.


     

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Saturday, July 27, 2024

Totes Uncommon

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

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. ~ Isaac Asimov

Welcome back, dear readers. I'm cautiously optimistic about the near future; a feeling I'm not used to. I wonder why. Has anything significant happened since our last post? Who knows. I'll just enjoy it for as long as it lasts, and do everything I can to ensure that it lasts well past the end of the year. I hope you will too.

As a reminder and motivation, I'll also ponder the words of Dr. Asimov. I haven't read his fiction in many years, though I devoured tons of it in my teens. Perhaps I should become acquainted with some of his other writings.


Oddly enough, our pipe pic of the week is another speculative fiction writer whose work I've enjoyed over the years.


Ellison often wrote while sitting in bookshop windows as a way of demystifying the creative act.

Jake Rossen published an excellent profile of Ellison earlier this year in Mental Floss. The piece includes a quote from Ellison discussing this unusual practice:
"I do it because I think particularly in this country people are so distanced from literature, the way it’s taught in schools, that they think that people who write are magicians on a mountaintop somewhere. And I think that’s one of the reasons why there’s so much illiteracy in this country. So by doing it in public, I show people it’s a job… like being a plumber or an electrician."
I found this Ellison photo and Rossen's article after I'd written last week's post about inspiration and creativity, and it was heartening to see an artist of Ellison's stature expressing these ideas more eloquently than I could.


The following cartoons were written and drawn in a more private setting.


Before rolling onto his side, this emperor was known as Ramses the Snorer.


Later, the clerk had to deal with someone looking for a single glass slipper, and an old woman who was house-hunting.


While attending college, he was known as G.I. Bill.


She could argue, but she wouldn't be heard.


I came up with the caption while playing a social media game called "Ruin an extinct group of archaic humans generally regarded as a distinct species by changing one letter." 


This is the latest in my ongoing experimentation with inanimate objects as gag cartoon protagonists. I like to challenge myself to use the things/characters are they are in real life, without adding arms, legs, faces, etc. I can't quite explain why, but I find this approach to be funnier than if I had added physical human features.

That brings us to the end of another blog entry. Thanks for checking it out, and please consider coming back next week for more words, pictures, and commentary.


Bonus Track
Slim Gaillard: "Dunkin Bagel"
Circa 1946

Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (1911-1991) was a singer and multi-instrumentalist who spoke six languages, and created his own hipster jive called "Vout-O-Reenee." If any you ever spot a copy of Slim's Vout-O-Reenee Dictionary at a flea market or thrift shop, it would make a lovely gift for a grateful cartoonist.


More Bizarro ? You Got It


  

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Saturday, October 02, 2021

Dolls, Dogs, and Drinks

The longer we live, the more we experience the passing of friends, family, and others we admire. This week was no exception, as I learned of the death of musician Dr. Lonnie Smith at age 79. 

Dr. Smith was one of the most joyful players I've ever seen. I was fortunate enough to hear perform live twice, and his love for the music and the audience was evident each time. He was a master of funk on the Hammond B3 organ, and was also an occasional vocalist, as on his 1969 hit recording, "Move Your Hand."

I listened to several of his albums while working this past week, and they sounded as great as the first time I'd heard them. His latest was released in March, and featured two collaborations with the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop. 

Rest in Power, Doctor.

This week's pipe pic comes to us from another American original, children's author Richard Scarry (1919-1994).

Published in 1963, this was Scarry's first book as both author and illustrator, and kicked off his popular "Best Ever" series. A corncob pipe is a common accessory for a farmer, but a farmer who's also a lion is surprising.

Perhaps we'll surprise you with one of these recent Bizarro comics.


Monday's panel was a rare two-panel gag, without dialog. I'd been trying to create with a comic involving carnival photos for a while, and finally came up with this precursor of modern day Instagram filters.
 

In another nod to obsolete technology, we imagined a dressmaker who designs life-size paper doll clothing. 

This panel brought to mind my grandmother Mary, who ran a home-based business as a dressmaker for over forty years. Her work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit inspired me as a youngster and still do today. Both of my maternal grandparents influenced me in many ways, and I'm grateful to have known them into my adulthood. 

My grandfather started calling me Wayno, practically from the time I was born. I assume the name my parents chose wasn't Italian enough, and he bestowed the moniker on me. He also introduced me to coffee, adding a splash to my cup of milk. Although he left school at fifteen to start a fifty-year run working at a Pittsburgh steel mill, he read the local newspapers every day, as well as the Sunday New York Times, which counts me as a subscriber for decades.

I hadn't expected to take a detour into autobiography, but a reader who's a dressmaker expressed appreciation for this panel, and it brought up some pleasant memories.

But now, let's get back to the comics.


I've used Russian matryoshka dolls as characters a few times in the past. Before I signed up to be Bizarro's daily cartoonist, I did an online feature called WaynoVision. The gag below was my most shared (and most stolen) WaynoVision comic.

I just noticed a coloring error in this panel, on the front-facing wall above the word balloon. That small section is pink instead of gray. Not one of the scoundrels who clumsily removed my signature from the panel over the years ever bothered to make an actual correction.


As a constant second-guesser regarding my own work, I'm wondering if I should have used the word "drain" instead of "siphon." It could apply to a tank of liquid fuel as well as a battery. 


It wouldn't be a normal week here without a cartoon featuring dogs or cats, would it?
 

We're nothing if not dedicated to making things difficult for ourselves. This simple pun took longer to draw than any other panel this week, with those shelves full of bottles. Thankfully, it gave me some good spots for placing secret symbols. Plus I got to draw Bob Denver in his second greatest role.

The strip layout only shows two shelves and a small bit of a third. The rest of the display is implied by the cropping and Gilligan's revised posture.

Converting the panels to strips can be something of a puzzle, although Monday's novelty photo comic was no trouble at all.

That's the latest from your correspondent at Bizarro Studios North. Thanks, as always for stopping by and sharing your comments. Speaking of sharing, a special note of appreciation goes out to everyone who threw a few virtual shekels into the tip jar. We keep the blog and newsletter free, and appreciate any extra support in these times of uncertainty for printed papers.

Don't forget to visit Dan Piraro's blog, too. I read it every week, despite having seen most of the comics already. Dan's Sunday pages are always glorious, and I never fail to learn from his thoughts on other topics.

Bonus Track

Dr. Lonnie Smith with Iggy Pop
"Sunshine Superman," from Breathe
Blue Note Records, 2021

NOTE: Some YouTube videos are unavailable outside the US. On some mobile devices, you must view the web version of this blog to see the video link and preview image.

 
The blog and newsletter are always free,
but gratuities are welcomed.


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Saturday, July 31, 2021

May I Have Another?

Greetings once again from Hollywood Gardens, PA, the home of Bizarro Studios North. 

We're about halfway through the summer season, and the cautious optimism of Independence Day is already giving way to a possible resumption of existential dread. We'd like to offer a brief, harmless escape from the raging lunacy of the world by presenting our latest cartoon output for your enjoyment.

But first, here's this week's pipe pic. It's a portrait of novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler, and was brought to our attention by a regular Bizarro reader named Andréa.

Chandler created hardboiled Detective Philip Marlowe, who appeared in a series of novels, including The Big Sleep; Farewell, My Lovely; and The Long Goodbye. Many photos show Chandler with a pipe, and this one is a particularly striking composition. Thanks to Andréa for the alert.

Chandler became a writer at age thirty-four, after losing his job as an oil company executive in the Great Depression, which should serve as an inspiration to all of us late-blooming escapees from the corporate world.

Some gems of wisdom apply across the universe.

I enjoyed drawing a pair of Klein bottles in this panel. According to Wikipedia, a Klein bottle is "a non-orientable surface: it is a two-dimensional manifold against which a system for determining a normal vector cannot be consistently defined." Who am I to argue with that? 

I first heard the term mentioned on the Firesign Theatre's 1972 album, Dear Friends.

The album includes a parody of sci-fi adventure serials, titled Mark Time! In the segment, an excitable character voiced by Philip Proctor proclaims:
Prince Arcturus has us by the thrusters! With you as bait, half the Federation Navy's gonna come blastin' in, and the Prince’ll have 'em trapped like Mars flies in a Klein Bottle! 

I've mentioned here before that the Firesign Theatre had a profound effect on my sense of the absurd, when as a misfit high schooler, I listened to their seminal Columbia LPs countless times on my cheapo Lloyd's brand stereo console.

Tuesday's panel showed a highly motivated consumer from the olden days, when people worked together in offices.

Newspapers that publish Bizarro in its strip format received one of our infrequent sideways strips, which we've rotated here for easier reading.

The fun-loving monastics of Alpha-Omega House love to initiate new members. Many of our readers noted that the third brother from the left was modeled after John Belushi. In fact, all four characters were loosely based on actors who appeared in Animal House. Left to right, the inspirations are Bruce McGill ("D-Day"), Stephen Furst ("Flounder"), Belushi ("Bluto"), and James Widdoes ("Hoover").

A word of advice: Don't argue semantics with a beast who can lock its jaws on your forearm.

Our second cinematic homage of the week references one of Gene Wilder's most beloved roles, and reveals the origin of his surname.

To be fair, the cleric was using the Penance app to keep things fair for all parishioners.

That's the recap for this week, dear friends. Stop by Dan Piraro's blog for more comics commentary and other edification. While you're there, pause to admire his latest magnificent Sunday page.

Take care of yourselves, and each other.

Bonus Trailer

Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
Starring Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe


Note: Many YouTube videos are unavailable outside the USA. On some mobile devices, you must select View Web Version on this blog to see the video link.

Bonus Painting

Robert Mitchum (2007)
Acrylic on Masonite, 12" x 12"

 


 
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Saturday, July 24, 2021

Spare Parts

Welcome back to the blog, Jazz Pickles. I'm starting this post with a pipe pic featuring someone I've met in person: the great R&B singer Barrence Whitfield.

© Bloodshot Records, 2013

Mister Whitfield is a deeply knowledgeable music historian, and has been making his own music since the mid-1980s. He's the most dynamic performer I've ever seen. I had the pleasure of hearing the original lineup of the Savages at a small club in Pittsburgh in 1985, and again, at an even smaller club in 2015.

Your cartoonist with Barrence Whitfield
Club Cafe, Pittsburgh 8/26/15
Thirty years after that first time, he was more powerful than ever, and put on a show worthy of the largest venue. If you have a chance to hear this man, do not pass it up. And be sure to buy some of his music. You'll thank me.

Now, let's review the week's Bizarro comics to see if any pipes turn up.

Monday's pipe-free cartoon showed a clever crew's innovative mutiny strategy.

I find the creative naming of pups of mixed parentage to be quite amusing. Whatever you call your canine family member is fine with me as long as they are loved and properly cared for. A few weeks ago, I heard one that was new to my ears: "sheepadoodle." I also have a good friend who's a chiweenie. We're all mutts of one sort or another.

My favorite comment on this one appeared on Instagram:

Inaccurate. Mayflies have no mouths.

At least I accurately portrayed their use of social media and their ability to speak English.

The musician in Thursday's panel is famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma. I drew this cartoon back in March, after hearing that he had given an impromptu solo performance at the Massachusetts clinic where he received his second dose of the COVID vaccine. I'd been thinking about his generous gift to others at the clinic, and naturally my cartoonist's brain led me to a silly pun.

My thanks go out to Yo-Yo Ma for inspiring the gag, for sharing his musical talents with the world, and for demonstrating concern for his fellow humans by getting himself vaccinated.

While doing research, I found a lovely quote from Mr. Ma:

Music, like all of culture, helps us to understand our environment, each other, and ourselves. Culture helps us to imagine a better future. Culture helps turn "them" into "us." And these things have never been more important.

Truth.

This kitten scout has earned the organization's first-ever demerit badge.

 

Mythical creatures likes mermaids, Sasquatches, or centaurs often provide fodder for gags. I've seen cartoons about mermaids with the human and fish parts switched, but don't recall one about a reverse centaur. Centaurs not only get all four legs from the horse, but also the human's arms, and they're considered to be exotic and sexy. A beast made from the remaining pieces seems like a sad afterthought.

That's the recap of my latest work. Thanks for stopping by, and remember, you can subscribe to my newsletter here, and receive notifications on new blog posts in your email. Each newsletter also includes a peek at something from the drawing board, just for fun.

If you'd can't get enough behind-the-scenes comics talk, don't forget to visit Dan Piraro's Bizarro blog. In addition to commenting on these gags, Dan also shares his latest Sunday page, and he usually has interesting words about any number of unrelated topics. I always feel that I've learned something when I read one of his posts.

Mistaken ID

Last weekend, we visited friends in a nearby town, and I took the opportunity to check out the comics page in their local paper. I prefer reading comics on newsprint, with the imperfections and grit of physical media. 

When I started as Bizarro's Monday through Saturday cartoonist in 2018, my name was added to the feature's byline to reflect that change. The credit in your local paper (one hopes) now reads Bizarro, by Wayno & Piraro.

This particular publication instead created a mashup of our names, crediting the comic to "Dan Pirano."

Another comics panel in the same paper had a byline crediting a cartoonist who has nothing at all to do with that feature, so ours is at least nearly correct.

Bonus Track

Barrence Whitfield and the Savages
"Stop Twistin' My Arm"
from the album Ow! Ow! Ow!
(Rounder Records, 1987)


Note: Some YouTube videos are unavailable outside the US. The mobile version of this blog may not display the video link and preview. When viewing on your phone, scroll down and select View Web Version to see the link.

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