Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Dead Death

Bizarro is brought to you today by Exciting Discoveries!

I spent all of my blogging time today on the previous post about Ash Wednesday, so this one is short.

I don't know how good this cartoon is (I'm sure the commentators will tell me in no uncertain terms) but I was thinking one day what conclusion you could draw after finding the Grim Reaper's dead body. If you can think of a better line for the cop to use, I'm all ears.

53 comments:

Jeremy said...

Maybe he committed suicide because he was tired of people cheating him.

Anonymous said...
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bbonds44 said...

why the rib cage area of the cloak is so deflated?

Erik Marcus said...

"Maybe my reverse mortgage wasn't such a hot idea after all."

bbonds44 said...
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Anonymous said...

I think the comic is hilarious

Anonymous said...

How about, "The funeral homes aren't gonna like this news one bit."

Anonymous said...

Here's a radical idea - think up the gag before you draw the panel. It really is painfully obvious at times that you are drawing a picture long before you try to write the comic.

Michael Tallon said...

I think it'd be funny if the bubble just read "Suicide?"

Cooperphile said...

Now I'll NEVER get my mother in-law out of the house.

Nothing said...

Osteoporosis: the other silent killer

Black said...

Dan,I can't believe I'm saying this, and anyone who knows anything about me, wouldn't believe it either. So let us package this as quietly as possible. Are you okay? You know how to tag if you need to.

Keep your chin up and never give up. I know, I know, this is not the form for personal mush-mush. I miss Franklin, the first thing I thought when I saw this strip in the paper was Franklin, lifting the robe up and looking for his butt plug.

Black said...
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bbonds44 said...

Sometimes i think anonymous is the only genius on here .

Lockwood said...

I do like your caption, but here's an alternate that occured to me: "I'm not gonna say it's a bad thing, but 'Homocide detective' may not be the best line of work to be in right now."

Or shorter: "Nuts. Looks like we're out of a job."

bbonds44 said...
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-idogcow said...

He died the way he lived.

-or-

At least he died doing what he loved.

Anonymous said...

Cop: Now that I'll be living forever, I'm bored.

lee said...

I collect Death/Grim Reaper cartoons. This one made me laugh.

How about the caption about how he was lately more of a glum reaper instead of a grim reaper?

Oskar said...

"The prime suspect is Garry Kasparov" or something along those lines.

Because... you know... death and chess... get it?

Anonymous said...

It's extremely funny!!! :))
Copy I think should be the same pun, but much shorter:
"Suicide?"

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing the cops don't see the dynamite.

FIDO said...
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Anonymous said...

How about "Weirdest farming accident I've ever seen."

Anonymous said...

Oskar's comment gave me an idea.

How about, "We'd better check on Taxes".

doug nicodemus said...

very funny HAHAHAHAHA

Dave Stratton said...

"This kind of morbid, conceptual, ironic humor could only come from a cartoonist on Celexa."

Not funnier, but I thought you'd enjoy it. How about...

"Put out an APB on Keith Richards."

The ericmarcus reverse mortgage joke was excellent. As was the short version of Lockwood's.

Dave Stratton said...

To anonymous: what's wrong with coming up with the visual first? Who made you the boss of creativity?

One more caption (if you want your inbox filled with angry "I don't get it" notes):

"Something about this crime scene doesn't make any sense."

Or to really push it -- no caption at all.

Anonymous said...

"Oh, Sickle cell anemia..."

Anonymous said...

Cidecide, he commted cidecide.

Unknown said...

Even Death has problems...Maybe it all got to be too much for him...

*and I also wondered why his rib-cage was so flat...I was envisioning some big ol' tire tracks going over him, with a caption hinting about how dangerous it is in this part of town?*

Anonymous said...

Dave Stratton,

Drawing a visual with no idea of what your punchline is going to be is ass backwards. Figure out what the gag is going to be, visualize it and then put it to paper. What Piraro is doing here belongs in Highlights for Children magazine.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous,

-- and yet Dan Piraro is a nationally-syndicated cartoonist, and you are not.

Monkeywalk Global Network said...

Bahahahaha! Too funny, idogcow! I was going to suggest, "Good news for us" but it didn't occur to me that these guys would be out of a job soon. Then again, they'll have plenty of time for retraining.

Anonymous said...

>Drawing a visual with no idea of what your punchline is going to be is ass backwards.

In this case I think the visual is far more powerful than "the" caption/gag... so many captions could fit here, hilarious or sublime in many different ways.

Jodie said...

I like it the way it is... :-)

Karl said...

"Well, at least we still have taxes"

Anonymous said...

Anon, wouldn't ass backwards imply that someone is walking forwards? A better term might be ass forwards.

Anonymous said...

Yet Another Steve,

You have no idea if I am or not. But a valiant attempt at writing a clever retort.

Piraro said...

One reader sent this caption to me via email:
"Quite honestly, death becomes him."

Piraro said...

This gag was not drawn, then written, as one of the anonymous commentators suggested. In 25 years, I've never written a cartoon that way, it just isn't the way my mind works.

But there is nothing "ass backwards" about doing it that way. There are many brilliant cartoonists who sometimes envision the picture and add a caption later.

There are no rules to the creative process. Cartooning isn't a military activity.

Black said...

This is a test of the emergency broadcast system! In the event of a real emergency I’ll open a can of whipass.

Danny boy, Danny boy, Danny boy, did you think you could slip this one under the wire and the professor wouldn’t notice?

Let's look at those last two sentences, shall we.

“There are no rules to the creative process. Cartooning isn't a military activity.”

I believe, the verb ISN”T in the second sentence is applying a RULE to the creative process.

You've been a good student. So far, somewhat above average. But I'm going to take a full 10 points off your grade. Right now.

Now let's review other classroom members talking about cartoon strips, and the military. The satirist Harry Shearer in his syndicated public radio show ‘Le Show’ weekly two or three weeks ago, discussed cartoons in the military.

So, P, you brought me to the boiling point. And I'm going to take another 10 points off your grade. You're now in D territory.

Let's try not to make any more mistakes shell we.

In the binary world I’m somewhat constipated and cannot deliver a proper payload to a set of fairy tales and amphibians. Until I can pass as binary excrement everyone, be careful.

Anonymous said...

I'll call your bluff. Who are the "brilliant cartoonists who sometimes envision the picture and add a caption later", Dan?

Anonymous said...

I think this one's very funny! A similar idea, but perhaps sharper wording: "He did it!" (italicized "he"). Although, the "better check on taxes" is pretty good. The "sickle cell anemia" one is brilliant, especially for how you've drawn the cartoon, but perhaps too insensitive...maybe?

Anyway, great gag.

Anonymous said...

I thought the punchline was perfect (although the "osteoporosis" line wasn't bad). Grim Reaper gags always crack me totally up for some reason. As for those who imbibed Haterade before they commented: I don't know about you but I can't imagine having to come up with a punchline and an image to match it seven days a week.

Black said...

Baine Leopold,
What exactly does ‘imbibed Haterade before they commented’ mean to you. I actually opened a dictionary and look the words up.

I think you may have misspelled ‘Haterade’ but believe me I’m the last person you want to get spelling advice from.

Just curious if you have the time.

Unknown said...

Haterade, Gatorade... no confusion to me.

Here's another caption that just came to mind: "Well, no point in rounding up the usual suspects."

Unknown said...

This is a classic! I would have died laughing.
• I think it would be funny if the name badge on one of the cops read "Tithonus."
• Death obviously turned vegan & thought he'd help the cause. His suicide note: "You'll eat meat over my dead body."
• Even though many of the other suggestions are a lot funnier than mine here, I'll offer "This joke has been done to death."

Geoff W. said...

This is one of my favorites, Dan!

However, I must concur with Michael Tallon and filosofulupeste - One word, "suicide" would have been perfect!

Unknown said...

Dan, given the comments on Death's 'flat' appearance... was that part of the idea for the drawing? Since they are under an overpass, did you intend for it to look clearly like Death had jumped from above? If so, suicide (or the appearance of it) would obviously be part of the gag.

Still, taxes, foul play, others... all fun and still appropriate too.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it needs a caption. The picture by itself is pretty funny.

Anonymous said...

No one asked you, Anonymous.

Anonymous said...

Other caption ideas:

"Just a sickle accident"

-or-

Cop 1: Suicide?
Cop 2: Most likely. That kind of job would make anyone depressed.

-----
On another note— You little petty arguers are quite entertaining. I feel like I'm listening to Mr. and Mrs. Costanza fighting. Please, continue.

Anyway, great cartoon Dan!