Bizarro is brought to you today by Forgotten Fashion.Today's offerings are a couple of cartoon ideas from friends. The first, the fat pigeon in the parking lot of some random fast food place, was from Rey, my good friend and life coach. Any time I have a question about something important in my life, I ask Rey what he thinks I should do. Then I do the opposite. Works every time, couldn't ask for a better life coach.
The second is from the infamous Richard Cabeza, who has the funniest name in the world. Adding the suit to the ostrich really makes this gag sing and dance. The dangling arms tickle me.
Our ancient cartoon from the dusty archival crypts of Bizarro International Headquarters is from January 1st, 1996. This was the first day that Bill Watterson's beloved "Calvin and Hobbes" did not appear in the papers. I made a joke about it and unwittingly raised the ire of many C&H faithful. I got a small wave of hate mail from people who thought it sacrilegious to make fun of the cartoon messiah, especially on a day when his fans were in such deep despair, grief and withdrawal. I waited 15 years to talk about it publicly to give them plenty of time to heal, but I'm sure many will need longer. I'll let you know how many letters I receive from this blog post.
12 comments:
Charles M. Shultz, Berkeley Breathed, Bill Waterton, and now...Dan Piraro!!!
Long live the King!!!!
You're a Watterson fan, right?
The one is where the a is the eye.
Tell me one other time in this universe when that sentence has made sense? It sounds good and is fun to say too :-)
One thing I have found in the comics world as with any other "world" is that there are people who take it for what it is, and other who become obsessed. I loved C&H as much as anyone, and I was disappointed when Watterson retired. But I also understood that it was his life his character and his choice. IF my "local" paper ( the Rochester NY Democrat & Chronicle) had (ever) carried Bizarro, I would have been laughing my ass off at this comic. It's a great take. At least as good as the last few Strips of "Bloom County" when B.B. drew his characters in the style of other cartoonists as they "found other jobs" in the comics.
On a similar note, Since the paper is losing "Cathy" ( I read it because it's there) I am hoping to pitch them Bizarro!! Wish me luck!
Thanks for the Calvin and Hobbes comic. It's a great joke. And I'm drunk!
Bizarro didn't run in our local paper at the time, so I never saw the strip. However, I think I would have found it quite amusing. I was quite the Calvin and Hobbes fan at the time, and really anything related to it would have made me laugh. I think some people just have no sense of humor (and yet they read the comics... how odd...).
OOO dan piraro! this is BLASPHEMY!!!
how could you?!
yes, we get your irreverence and not holding anything sacred - but Oh My Bill Watterson!
come on! why the insecurity charlie? maybe BW was a-never-to-be-seen-again-once-in-a-lifetime-phenomenon but you are a genius too! ;)
on a more serious note, as an artist and a cartoonist, how DO you rate his work (taking out the print space episode bias etc).
The 'no fly' comic is great! I actually remember the C&H comic -- that was about the time I stumbled upon Bizarro. Although I do like Bizarro a lot, I also appreciated C&H -- it was timeless.
Several people asked, so I suppose I should have mentioned that I liked Calvin and Hobbes. It wasn't my favorite style of comic, I like surprising, surreal humor and his was usually more philosophical, but I can certainly appreciate his tremendous skills. His snowman jokes were my favorite because they were surprising and surreal. His art was always perfect, a rare draftsman in what has become a field of mostly hacks.
I remember your good-bye to C&H. I utterly loved past the appropriate point C&H and I thought your comic was wonderful. It was funny, which is not a bad thing, it was aware of the comics, which is a cool self-referential thing, and I thought it showed understanding. I can't even see why anyone would get angry.
That said, your horrible dreadful disgusting comparison if the beloved brilliant C&H to Tigger and Piglet is unacceptable. Please prepare for dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of appropriate, yet profanity filled, comments. And not just once, but as soon as I deal with my ADHD I plan on attacking you every day for this transgression.
Oh, wait, a shiny thing. How pretty.
What were we talking about?
Oh, yeah, that ostrich was awesome.
The ostrich made me laugh so hard, just like, "How does he think of these things?" The out-click with the skulls and relaxing skeletons FREAKED ME OUT!
I love how the pigeons look so big! It's hilarious! I think a big pigeon would be cute.
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