Friday, February 19, 2010

Cartoon Bullets











(To enlarge this image, click on the Calvin Klein umbrella.)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Gifts.

It used to be that when I would see an old man dressed particularly badly I would wonder if I would one day be that man. Now I think it is more likely that he never cared about the way he looked in the first place, or just has lousy taste. People don't change all that much when they get old. But on many occasions I have pointed at strangers and asked my wife to shoot me if I become that guy.

Here's a bit of oddness: The day after this cartoon appeared in papers, I received the following email.

"I dont like how you put guns in your comics, espically on Valentines Day

- (man's name) for my daughter who is 11"

That was the whole thing. I usually answer all of the mail I get, positive or negative, but this one stumped me. I have no idea what to say to this man and his daughter. I want to ask so many questions.
  • How about knives, can I show a person chopping onions with a knife?
  • Are sticks okay?
  • Is there a day other than Valentine's Day when a cartoon gun would be less offensive?
  • Have you ever heard of words like "humor," "satire," "hyperbole," "unrealistic desires to control a world which is essentially a festival of random chaos heading downhill without brakes," "choose your battles"?

My sincere apologies to anyone who finds ink strokes in the shape of a gun in a cartoon offensive. Next time, I'll use a potato.

"If I ever try to leave the house dressed like that, point a harmless tuber at me."

21 comments:

Jaac Rabbit said...

Maybe she knew someone affected by the Saint Valentine's Day massacre.

Jaac Rabbit said...

I personally am offended by the use of a potato in the name of humor, I lost relatives in the Great Potato Famine.

David Franks said...

I am that guy. My lovely wife has not yet shot me for it.

Your correspondent sounds like the sort who promotes Zero Tolerance because it's easier than thinking. Under ZT, even having a picture of a gun can get you suspended. (See http://www.thisistrue.com/s-zero-tolerance.html)

It's a shame his daughter has also been sucked into the ZT mentality.

behrmark said...

I think too many people in this world were born without a sense of humor. It's rather discouraging and frightening.

doug nicodemus said...

the thing that makes this one pick me up off the floor funny is that she actually IS going to shoot him

cathy laughed too

JMT said...

That's just excellent. The things people come up with to start an argument...

Allan Koay said...

i'm sorry, but i have to agree with that reader. i've always said, we need cartoon-gun control! no one has the right to bear cartoon-arms! look at how many cartoon deaths we've had because of cartoon shootings!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

My dad never dressed right when he was younger and he still doesn't dress up right today.

Unknown said...

I've always wondered what LOL felt like. Thanks to this cartoon, I now know! Thank you!

ojeano said...

I concur with the assessment of JMT in the comments (and somewhat with Jaac R., as my peeps were also affected by the potato famine, but that's beside the point at the moment. Back to the cartoon: look how much she loves him! She remembered what he asked her all those years ago. I think it's rather sweet - sweet successful, satirical toljaso!

Dan the deal man said...

hey dan check your email if you can!

ya i definitely say things like this all the time. mine are more like: "if i ever start complaining about things like my aunt u can shoot me" usually things i dislike about my relatives.

Patrick Tinkham, FCD said...

I have always loved Bizarro! I found out about your blog via the Bad Astronomer. Keep up the good work.

Skwishy said...

This one really hit home at our house. I have it pasted inside my husbands closet door as a warning!

Anonymous said...

You're switching to a tuber / to appease some random goober?

mamalamadingdong said...

I was just sayin' this very thing to my husband the other day.....

Prospero said...

I've said the same thing to my friends about me with a comb-over. Only I said "If you ever see me walking down the street with a comb-over, hire a cartoonist to draw a picture of you shooting me, so it pisses off some loser without a sense of humor."

Anonymous said...

I'm that guy too -- except I really wouldn't be caught dead in plaid shorts. Now I'm going to feel really self-concious.

Unknown said...

I agree with Allan Koay- consider, for example, the tragedy of the Roadrunner cartoons. Those should be banned.

Oh, who am I kidding, I loved it! I re-posted it tagging my coworkers, because we have a similar pact, and it made them crack up.

Really, though, one of the best parts is the letter and the resulting use of the phrase "harmless tuber". Brilliant.

Garrett Williams said...

There was a Dilbert comic where the editor asked Scott to remove the gun, because they aren't allowed in comics. As a compromise, Scott replaced the gun with a donut. That shoots bullets. With no explanation to the readers.
(link goes to an archived version of the old blog post, which lost some styling information, so the blog post is further down the page.)

Karen Karn said...

When I first saw this cartoon, I thought it was hysterical, because it's true. Then I clicked on it to see it enlarged and saw that she was holding a gun, which I couldn't make out before. It's even funnier with the gun.