Muted Nation
I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic, and this is my weekly blog post. The large Sunday Bizarro comic above is mine, as are the comments below. The past week’s Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics that follow were written and drawn by my partner Wayno. For more fun, check out Wayno’s weekly blog post.
And here’s this week’s ANSWER KEY to my Sunday comic’s Secret Symbols.
Welcome, Jazz Pickles. We’re glad you dropped by.
My Sunday cartoon above is a revision of one that I did a few years ago. It was a simpler joke about a news network that pantomimed the stories. But because the current fascist administration has been consistently attempting to crush free speech—suing news networks that say things about him he doesn’t like, pressuring networks to cancel the shows of comedians who tell jokes about him, ridiculing, then banning journalists who ask him questions he doesn’t want to answer, etc.—it seemed time to revise this cartoon and republish it.
This version was submitted weeks ago, but just this past week, after some venerated military veterans who are democratically elected public servants reminded military personnel of what our Constitution says about members of the armed forces being legally required to refuse illegal orders, the Tangerine Tumor called it sedition and treason, and called for their execution. Why would he object to this message if he were not planning to issue illegal orders?
Legal and constitutional experts everywhere (even on FOX “News”) cried foul by reminding us that stating a law is in no way either sedition or treason, and the White House social media account reversed the statement the next day.
A few days before, the Narcissist in Chief also shamed a journalist for doing what she is trained to do, ask a question, by sternly saying, “Quiet! Quiet, piggy!” He then went on to ridicule her personally and professionally.
This is how free speech is squashed in an authoritarian regime. As fate would have it, the comic above could not be more timely.
The character on the far left is the economics reporter depicting how American farmers are being bankrupted by the irrational and outdated tariff policies, the other four reporters are describing other examples of gross malfeasance. The good news is that this administration’s ratings are plummeting, as well they should.
Enough of that. If you’re still reading and you like our work, you may want to start your rapidly approaching new year with an attractive and humorous Bizarro wall calendar. It will assure you at least 16 chuckles in 2026; one from each month, two from the front cover, and two more on the back!
(BTW: International shipping is an expensive pain these days, so I suspect the Comics Kingdom shop doesn’t ship outside the US. You can check with them to be sure.)
Also, today, Sunday, November 23, is the last day of an auction supporting a non-profit organization I admire for its work in spreading Buddhist principles. I’ve donated an autographed, archival-quality color print. You can bid for it here, but only till tonight.
That’s it for this part. I encourage you all to enjoy your lives and not despair. The house of cards with the red hat on top is showing signs of collapsing.
Showing signs of making us chuckle are Wayno’s Bizarro cartoons from the week. And not a moment too soon.
I can only imagine how creepy that would be.
I’ve been accused of worse.
Role reversal can be as exciting as roll reversal. Whatever that is.
If you’re wondering why the pharmaceutical industry fought against legalizing weed…
How are leeks any more embarrassing than other bulb vegetables?
Judging from my experience, that isn’t much baggage.
That’s the end of this week’s tiresome rant. Thanks for sticking around. If you’d like to help me keep this site free and full of comics each week, please do so via one of the links below. We’ll think it’s the best pre-Christmas season ever!
The Naked Cartoonist…My every-other-week subscription creative writing and comics service.
Bizarro TIP JAR …One-time or repeating. Your choice!
WAYNO’S TIP JAR …One-time or repeating. Your choice!
My (free) graphic novel in progress, PEYOTE COWBOY
Watch my pitch video and become a supporter of Peyote Cowboy here.
A bunch of fun Bizarro swag from ComicsKingdom. (If you’re outside the US, don’t even bother browsing. Because greedy capitalist assholes have taken over the world, international shipping costs are absurd.)