Bargains Galore!

I've been digging through a lot of my old files in preparation for an upcoming exhibit of illustration and cartoon art. Among a folder of tear sheets was the inside cover from the first issue of Hyena, an anthology edited by Mark Martin. One of Mark's recurring creations was the Lillian Spencer Drake Catalog of Values, which featured the work of dozens of artists. Mark self-published an LSD Catalog in 1988, and revived the concept in 1991 for Hyena.

Following are my contributions to the 1991 Catalog.

Armageddon Savings Time

Today's collaboration with comics master Dan Piraro offers a possible excuse for Harold Camping's failed predictions.

Here's the scribble I submitted for Dan's consideration:

This is an example of the very loose roughs I scrawl in my sketchbook to get an idea on paper before I forget it. Normally I'll follow with a tighter sketch to try and sell the gag. I don't remember why I showed Dan this raw doodle, other than the fact that I hate to draw horses.

The finished cartoon depicts the supposed color of each rider's horse. Death is said to ride a pale (or green) horse, Famine a black one, and War rides a red steed. No amount of research is spared for Bizarro's discerning readers! Now you know why we both use the phrase "attention to detail" in our résumés.

Many additional hilarious—and sometimes educational—cartoons are in the works for your enjoyment and/or edification. The next one will drop in about three weeks, and represents a return to lowbrow form. Meanwhile, you are encouraged to view our "priors" in this blog's Bizarro archive.

The Wonderful World of Coolant

Today's Bizarro provides wholesome entertainment for the kiddies.

The idea for this cartoon arose during a visit with the family late last year. Someone had mentioned how excited their children were about seeing Disney on Ice, to which I responded, "Isn't that a little gruesome for young kids?"

It's a very straightforward gag, based on a literal interpretation of a familiar phrase. The name of the show has been repeated so many times in print and TV ads—not to mention by children hounding their parents for tickets—that people no longer notice what the individual words are saying. Attaching a different meaning to (or reminding the reader of the meaning of) an everyday phrase provides a little jolt of surprise and recognition that works rather well as a cartoon.

The joke has additional resonance for those familiar with the persistent urban legend claiming that Walt Disney (1901-1966) had a provision in his will to be cryogenically preserved after his death, to be revived in a medically-advanced future. In fact, the beloved creator of a vast entertainment juggernaut was cremated, like a regular old mortal.

My submission sketch is a little rougher than usual, with a simple eye-level presentation. Dan Piraro, the genius behind Bizarro, not only restaged the scene with an improved camera angle, but also rewrote the dialog.

Both the sketch and the finished version reflect Dan's (and my own) preference for deadpan reactions to weird situations. In each version of this panel, the adult expresses mild surprise or disappointment in a matter-of-fact tone, which is much funnier than if they'd been shown recoiling in horror.

If you enjoyed today's chilly shot of humor, perhaps you'd like to browse through the previous funnies I've done in collaboration with the mighty Piraro.

Our next joint effort will appear in a couple of weeks.

Talk That Talk

Beer and Candy

Today's Bizarro takes a peek inside a watering hole frequented by advertising characters.

Obviously, the sugary sea captain and the aristocratic legume have heard this one a few too many times, but the old codger with the Mexican beer in hand just won't give up on it. Most of us have worked with (or are related to) someone who repeats the same tired joke at every opportunity, and can sympathize with to the eye-rolling patrons of this particular tavern.

My submission sketch was fairly rough, but conveyed the idea. I'd originally included Elsie the Borden cow, but she was replaced by the more recognizable Mister Peanut. Maybe it was boys' night out.

In the sketch, the marshmallow man's perturbed face is partly visible, but Bizarro CEO Dan Piraro chose to depict just the back of his head, which does a better job of showing that this comment has been repeated so many times that anger has given way to indifference and resignation.

About a third of the people who previewed this cartoon didn't get it at all. This indicates that they probably don't waste a lot of time watching television, particularly the commercials, which speaks well of them.

The gag is based on "The Most Interesting Man in the World," an advertising character created to sell Dos Equis beer, portrayed by a guy named Jonathan Goldsmith. Goldsmith is fairly interesting in his own right. One of the character's taglines is "Stay thirsty, my friend." Dos Equis was a low-profile regional brand that has become very popular because of these "most interesting" commercials.

The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (much to my surprise) was created by the writers of the 1984 film "Ghostbusters," and was not a real consumer product. In 2010, Omni Consumer Products, a company that "defictionalizes" made-up products, began marketing actual edible marshmallows under the formerly-fake Stay-Puft brand.

So, if you didn't get the joke, you're probably an educated person of taste, whose head isn't filled with trash-culture detritus, and for that I commend you.

My next joint effort with Dan Piraro will appear on September 6, and might anger some fans/worshipers of a certain "magical" kiddie-entertainment empire. Stay tuned for that, and in the meantime, help yourself to my previous collaborations with the multi-talented Mister P.

Please enjoy these cartoons responsibly. And stay risible, my friends.

Peppermint Heimlich

Today's Bizarro comments on the grotesqueness of a popular candy.

I've always found Pez candy dispensers to be slightly disturbing. In order to eat the candy, you yank back on a cute cartoon character's head, and pull the brick-shaped confection from its gaping neck-hole. Yummy.

This cartoon is an example of the type of joke that simply points out a small truth that everyone ignores, or no longer notices. Surely the first child given a Pez dispenser must have run screaming when an odd foreign object popped out from beneath Santa's nearly-severed head.

I was very pleased to see that Dan Piraro's finished art duplicated my sketch so closely, although there's nothing in the frame besides the two characters and the word balloon, so there wasn't much that I could have misplaced.

Stay tuned for more new Bizarro gags, and if you have time to kill, please enjoy our previous 100 (!) collaborations in this blog's archive.

Very soon I'll officially announce a Winter exhibit of my illustration and cartoon art, along with a "lecture" (or some sort of public speaking event), at a prestigious educational and cultural institution here in Pittsburgh.

Will Work for Pizza

After many production delays, the first few pallets of boxes have arrived at A'Pizza Badamo, one of several great pizzerias in my area.

Wayno, the box, Anthony Badamo

Anthony Badamo opened his small shop two years ago, in the space previously occupied by Caruso’s, a neighborhood tradition for 30 years. Anthony's nonna sometimes supplies homemade cookies, which sell out quickly, and Anthony himself is usually behind the counter fielding takeout orders from working parents, employees of local businesses, and groups of schoolkids. 

The shop has a few tables, and a BYOB policy, and is a regular gathering place for local musicians, restaurateurs, and artists.

In addition to the boxes, we've put his friendly mug on menus, business cards, t-shirts, posters and banners.

Anthony's menu also now features "The Wayno," a pie that includes fresh mozzarella, anchovies, tomatoes, garlic and other seasonings. Anthony and I experimented for some time to match the sweet smoothness of the cheese with the acidity of tomatoes and the salty punch of anchovies.

The pizza box design was my first experience working in water-based ink on cardboard, and we're pretty happy with the results. I was delighted when the printer informed me that they had an ink color called "standard pizza box red."

Weapons of Self Destruction (Number 100 in a Series)

Today's macabre offering marks my one hundredth (!) appearance in Dan Piraro's aptly-titled daily comic, Bizarro.

The layout in my submission sketch is similar to the final product, although Dan seized the opportunity to add a stick of dynamite (one of his recurring secret symbols) to the female character's instruments of mayhem. He also shifted the "camera angle" a few degrees. I tend to draw my panels from a very straightforward point of view, while Dan usually adds visual interest by altering the perspective.

There's a long, ongoing tradition of cartoonists using the Grim Reaper as inspiration for a gag. This one is based on the common phrase "flirting with death" as a description of risky behavior. The combination of cigarettes, alcohol, firearms, knives, drugs and dynamite certainly qualifies.

A few months earlier, I drew a nearly identical sketch, with the woman speaking.

This version works, too. It's a little subtler, and relies on the character's body language and expression to establish the mood and expectation. The "flirting" version has the benefit of adding the props to reinforce the joke. This earlier drawing clearly shows the influence of Virgil "VIP" Partch.

Virgil Franklin Partch (1916-1984)

As mentioned above, the Grim Reaper is a staple of gag cartoons, and some of my earlier Bizarro collaborations have also featured the old Pale Rider:

January 31, 2012

August 19, 2011

June 29, 2011

It's a true pleasure, as well as an invaluable learning experience, to be working with Dan Piraro. We're already getting started on the next hundred collaborations.

If you have some time to kill, feel free to peruse the previous fruits of our combined psyches in this blog's archive. 

Thanks for reading and commenting.

My eternal gratitude goes to all-around prince Dan for allowing me to occasionally shake off a dusting of cold, harsh reality and stick my head into Bizarro's Rectangle of Strangeness.

Altogether Ooky

Today's Bizarro comic features a musical number you'll never see, even if you're Off-Off-Off-Off-Off Broadway:

Although I usually avoid listening to friends' ideas for comics—I have plenty of my own waiting to find homes—this one, described by mad genius Jesse Schell grabbed my attention.

The cartoon work of Charles Addams served as an early introduction to darkness in humor, and as an oddball child, I read and re-read crumbling Pocket Books reprints of his cartoons. These disturbing and hilarious books predated my introductions to the early MAD paperbacks, the underground comix of the late 1960s, and, later, the groundbreaking National Lampoon.

Dan Piraro's published art follows my sketchbook version pretty closely, and we both paid our respects to Addams's style in our own ways.

This one was particularly satisfying to color. A web search for covers of Addams books, which often featured lovely watercolor illustrations, provided color guidance, and we tried to be as faithful as possible.

Thanks again to Jesse Schell for convincing me to go against my better judgment and draw a comic based on a friend's idea. Occasionally, you have to break you own rules, especially when the idea comes from someone whose intelligence is at times frightening.

If you haven't seen my previous collaborations with Dan Piraro in his daily panel, feel free to wade through the archive.

And You're Not So Big

Today's Bizarro reminds us that no one is a celebrity in his own home, even someone with an impressive, managerial nickname.

This joke arose from a conversation with friends around the time of a Bruce Springsteen concert or record release. Having never been a fan, and feeling contrarian, I remarked "He's not The Boss of me." It drew laughs from the table, and I scribbled the phrase on a scrap of paper.

A few days later, I made this sketch. Dan Piraro's finished art is pretty close, although he added some extra sass to the child's posture, and made the father a little more rumpled. The slippers are a nice little detail too.

Playing off a musician's nickname is nothing new. The great tenor sax player Lester Young (1909-1959) was popularly known as "Pres" or "Prez" (short for "The President"), a monicker supposedly given to him by Billie Holiday.

Jazzbos through the years have expressed political disdain by saying "My president is Lester Young."

My next collaborative cartoon with Mr. Piraro, which also has a musical theme, will appear on Thursday July 26, followed by a milestone of sorts on August 9. Our previous joint efforts are archived here.

By the way, today's cartoon took three hours and fifty-five minutes to draw and color, without a break. Several encores followed.