Shoe to Box

I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic. Each week, I post my Sunday Bizarro comic, then a short essay, then the past week’s Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics written and drawn by my partner, Wayno whose weekly blog post can be seen here. I highly recommend it.

Here’s the ANSWER KEY to this week’s Sunday comic, above.

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Aloha, Jazz Pickles! 

I’m not writing to you from Hawaii, I just enjoy showing off my knowledge of languages. I don’t mean to boast, but I know over two dozen words from languages other than my mother tongue! It doesn’t make me a polyglot exactly, maybe more of a “polyutterer”.

Regarding today’s Sunday comic, above, some years ago I began to experience weird children’s poems popping into my head. I wrote them down with the intention of illustrating them and trying to get them published. I never got around to that so I’ve converted a few into Bizarro comics. The comic above, based on a famous nursery rhyme, is one of them and though it verges on political or social commentary, I don't think any of the rest of them do. There are three more such comics coming on Sundays in March. I’d still love to get back to that project one day and turn it into a book, but I’m currently working on three other books. 

One is my graphic novel, Peyote Cowboy, which I’ve finished writing but am in the midst of illustrating. It’s a long story and will take a few more years to finish illustrating but I’m posting it online as I do so I don’t have to wait to share it. A new episode was just posted last week.

The other two books I’m working on are completely different projects that will not be illustrated. 

One is a spiritual autobiography which is mostly finished and is now in the hands of an editor for proofreading as well as style and content suggestions. I don’t know if it will get published but I hope so. I have been an outspoken atheist for most of my adulthood but some strange things happened to me a few years ago that sent me spinning off into uncharted territory. I’m still not at all what you might call “religious” but I no longer believe we are accidental arrangements of chemicals, as I once did. There’s more going on here than meets the eye.

The other book I mentioned is a novel. It is based on an idea that popped into my head back in the 90s but that I’ve never had the time or the mental bandwidth to tackle. It’s a dark comedy based on the characters from an old, well-known TV sitcom. I’d almost forgotten about it, but it popped into my head again last year, and I was compelled to start writing it. Again, I have no idea if it will be published but I have high hopes, and it is nearly impossible to convey how much fun I’ve had writing it. I’m very happy with how it is shaping up and if it were up to me, it would win several major book awards; not because I think it is deserving, but because that kind of thing guarantees sales and then I’d be able to afford to write another. Fingers crossed! 

When I say that these ideas “popped into my head,” I mean that literally. For me, that’s how creativity works; ideas just come to me and I decide whether or not to act on them. I’ll sheepishly admit I used to think I was some kind of special genius but now I am convinced these things come from elsewhere. I’m just a receiver—a person who has learned how to listen. (My wife might adamantly disagree with that because I am a terrible listener when it comes to people who are talking to me. The poor woman has to repeat herself more often than an airport security recording. I’m working on learning to listen in that way, too.)

But the muse talks all day every day and I can’t ignore it. I describe this other-worldly process in depth in my spiritual autobiography and I attempt to convince the reader that I’m not the only one who can do this; anyone can. You may already be doing it to some degree and you can undoubtedly get better at it, no matter who you are. You don’t have to believe anything, just stop believing it is impossible and then listen. For more on that, read the book if it ever gets published!

For now, let’s see what Bizarro cartoons have popped into Wayno’s head lately…

Remember the barrows we had before we invented the wheel?

I sometimes wear a toupee made of bright orange fun fur, which I attach with an elastic strap beneath my chin.

The Super Bowl is today and I’m a Chiefs fan. I’m not the sort to let it ruin my life if they lose but I hope they don’t!

This is harder to pronounce than you’d think it would be.

One of the side effects of DNA testing is that it killed the art of criminal collage.

Time for an online petition! That’ll get their attention!

And the curtain comes down on our cartoon puppet show for the week. Thanks for sticking around until we’ve shoved the dummies screaming back into their puppet luggage. If you’re enjoying that we post our cartoons for free without pop-ups or clickbait, please help us to keep it that way via one of the links below! We’ll make our marionettes sing and dance in your honor.

Until next week, remember that dancing with hot coffee is a dangerous hobby.

BIZARRO SHOP Fun and cheap!

COMICS KINGDOM SHOP (now with Bizarro products!)

… Bizarro TIP JAR One-time or repeating. Your choice!

Wayno TIP JAR

Signed, numbered, limited edition prints and original Bizarro panels  

PEYOTE COWBOY WEBSITE

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Peyote Cowboy Instagram

DIEGO PIRARO FINE ART

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