Switcharoony
Today’s big Sunday cartoon (above) isn’t the sort of “joke” that one typically finds in newspaper comics. I pride myself in that difference but I also sometimes shoot myself in the foot with it by creating something most people don’t get. I think this one falls on the cusp of that divide so I thought it might be fun if I deconstruct and critique my own cartoon today.
A brief aside: Since January of 2018, I’ve been doing only the Sunday Bizarro cartoons while my partner, Wayno, has been writing and drawing the Monday - Saturday ones. (The rest of the week I’m busy illustrating my graphic novel, Peyote Cowboy, which is only a few days away from a new episode, by the way.) Next weekend begins Wayno’s fifth year of doing the daily Bizarros and I just want to publicly acknowledge what a great job he’s doing. Turning any part of your 30+ year career over to someone can be harrowing, to say the least, but he’s done a wonderful job with the quality of both the art and the humor, and, MY GOD you cannot imagine an easier person to work with. What a joy our collaboration has been!
And now to my critique of the comic above.
I think that surprise is the key to most humor and so I enjoy finding ways to surprise the reader by leading their mind in one direction, then pulling it in a different direction altogether.
Being fooled in this way always makes me chuckle. The above cartoon does this by making the reader think that this is a couple who are breaking up. Everything about the setting points to it—the open door, the body language, the dialogue—but the real key is the luggage. If he didn’t have luggage, you might not go there as quickly. Then, just when you think you know what’s going on, you read the caption at the bottom and realize it is simply a failed sales call. This much of the cartoon is successful, I think, but whether or not the bait-and-switch makes you chuckle is an individual matter.
I think the biggest failing of this joke is that no one sells things door-to-door anymore. This gag would’ve worked a hundred times better in the 1950s, during the heyday of door-to-door salesmen. Back then, you could buy everything from cosmetics and cleaning supplies to a John Deere tractor through the convenience of your front door. But that entire industry has pretty much disappeared from the U.S. for two reasons: Jeff Bezos (one of the five omnipotent owners of the world) enables you to buy anything on earth without ever leaving your couch, and far too many fearful Americans full of propaganda about how dangerous the world is own guns and regularly fantasize about using them.
These days, a door-to-door salesman would be lucky to make it two weeks without being gunned down by a fearful white woman, a macho and fearful white man, or a white teenaged boy raised by fearful white people. Come to think of it, it’s a wonder there are any Jehovah’s Witnesses left.
And if it happened in Wisconsin or one of the other similarly medieval states, the killer would be acquitted because they were “made to feel unsafe” by a person ringing their doorbell.
But I digress. This cartoon has nothing to do with the enormous arms problem that the U.S. has or the impending civil war. Not one thing. Nor is it about the 1950s—although one thing you can say in favor of that decade is that back then, the NRA and its members were actually powerful advocates for stricter gun control because they didn’t want every lunatic in America to become heavily armed and turn the country into a violent wasteland, thus making it necessary to outlaw guns entirely. When you think about it, it makes rational sense for a gun enthusiast to take this position to keep nutjobs from ruining it for responsible people. But the more rational gun enthusiasts of that era lost that battle eventually and, well, here we are. No more Avon ladies.
No, this cartoon is only about how you think it’s going to be one thing but it ends up being another. Sometimes that can make you smile. And sometimes it doesn’t.
And now, looking for more smiles, let’s dive into Wayno’s Bizarro cartoons for the penultimate week of the year!…
Well, whatcha guano do? (Yeah, I know. Sorry.)
We have a holiday tradition in our family to read weather reports from previous holidays. Yes, it is boring but it keeps people from visiting more than once.
People who have been department store Santas for 10 consecutive years or more are automatically inducted into the Iron Lap Club.
We got a couple of complaints from people who were offended by this cartoon basically for no other reason than their belief that Jesus should be off-limits for any form of humor. To my mind, humor is the greatest gift the human animal has been given. Without it, the world would be unbearable. I question the logic of believing in a God who would bestow such a gift but resent being used as a part of it.
You may wish to pop over to Wayno’s weekly blog to see his holiday post. It’s fun and, in the end, Kinky.
A few of our readers for whom English is not their first language had trouble with this one. To say something is “on the fritz” is an expression that means it isn’t working properly. Not unlike my attempt to explain this joke.
That signals the end of our cartoon railroad, Jazz Pickles. Thanks for helping us empty the bar car. If you appreciate our work and that we offer it for free, without ads or paywalls, please consider helping us continue to do so via the links below. We’ll sit on the couch and do the wave in your name if you do.
Until next week, make your end-of-year resolutions now, then give them up next weekend.
BIZARRO SHOP Fun and cheap!
… Bizarro TIP JAR One-time or repeating. Your choice!
…Signed, numbered, limited edition prints and original Bizarro panels