Eating Our Way to Extinction
I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic, and this is my weekly blog post. The large Sunday comic above is mine, as are all of the below-cartoon comments to follow.
Since January 2018, the Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics have been written and drawn by my comics 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.
Thanks for stopping by, Jazz Pickles. It’s always nice to see you sense your presence.
The title and topic of today’s post will doubtless turn off some readers. Most of you regular visitors know who I am and read my stuff because you like how I think and what I say about it.
But that’s not true for everyone. Judging by the comments I still occasionally get, some readers just come here for a light-hearted laugh and wish I’d leave topics like politics out of it.
That’s what Garfield is for. Here at Bizarro, Wayno and I often give you lighthearted fun with no difficult thoughts attached, but occasionally we express an opinion or truth that makes some readers uncomfortable.
We think that’s a good thing, as the image and quote by James Baldwin below express rather poignantly.
Image by Carlos Barberena
I understand the sentiment; the world is overwhelming, and comics are an escape. Accordingly, polite suggestions are understood and appreciated, but when someone objects in a less-than-polite manner, I tell them, “If someone is forcing you to read our work, tell your parents or a trusted teacher.”
Regarding the seaside comic above. Scientists report that up to 75% of large fish are gone from the ocean as a result of overfishing and other causes, and many fish populations are on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, certain politicians are more concerned with bringing back “all-you-can-eat shrimp night” at Red Lobster.
Additionally, in the late 1950s, the average American adult looked like the fisherman on the left in my cartoon above, while the average American today is overweight or obese.
As our behavior threatens our food supply on numerous fronts (over-fishing, climate change, right-wing political policies for short-term profit, etc.), obesity among Americans is becoming epidemic, while farms are failing right and left. What’s wrong with this picture?
Yesterday was our nation’s 250th birthday. What should have been a grand celebration of the American Experiment from sea to shining sea was extinguished like a campfire in a tsunami by unrelenting, textbook fascism and grifting over the past 18 months.
A certain malignant narcissist who would be king has frantically attempted to cement his place in history in embarrassing ways, including attempting to build gawdy monuments to himself that no one but his own ego has asked for.
He had a huge chance yesterday, on the 4th of July, to ensure that his name would forever appear alongside Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
They both died within hours of each other on July 4th, 1826, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. If Trump had done yesterday what they did exactly 200 years ago, he’d have secured his place in history, at least on a Wikipedia page about political coincidences. And what could’ve been a better anniversary gift to America than that?
But once again, he missed his chance of being remembered for something other than being the person who made the most tragically convincing proof of reincarnation who ever lived. Or, maybe it is just a coincidence that he was born a mere 13 months after Hitler committed suicide and has used Adolf’s biography like a cookbook recipe for (temporarily) destroying a republic.
Oh well. His place in our nation’s history will definitely be cemented, but not for the reasons he hopes.
In better news, as promised in last week’s post, we’ve got the new V-neck ladies’ style shirts posted on Comics Kingdom’s Bizarro swag shop! Treat your neck to some V-freedom now! (All of the latest products are available on those two pages, not just V-necks.)
Let’s cleanse our hearts and minds now with some chuckles from Wayno’s Bizarro comics from the week!
That hand would also be quite handy while driving, although with a different finger extended.
Wayno already made a joke about applying for a job at Monster(dot)com, so I’ve got nothin.’
I don’t even wanna know where a zombie baby came from or what you’d feed it.
For those of you who love oddball indie films, I highly recommend “Listers,” available for free on YouTube. It’s a charmingly hilarious documentary about a couple of brothers who are real-life characters like “the Dude” in The Big Lebowski deciding to take up bird watching. So fun.
This is one of my very favorite bits of punnery from Wayno and a perfect example of the aphorism, “Comedy equals tragedy plus time.”
It could also be “couples massage” if they hired that guy to let them massage him together.
That’s douses this week’s comedy campfire, Jazz Pickles. Thanks for stopping by for some s’mores. If you enjoy that we do this for free every week, please consider helping to feed the Bizarro Bunny via the links below. Our income from newspapers has gone the way of civil political discourse in recent years. Either way, we appreciate you pointing your seeballs at us.
The Naked Cartoonist…My every-other-week creative-writing subscription service.
Limited edition, signed & numbered prints of BIZARRO CARTOONS, and some ORIGINALS!
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.
Super fun BIZARRO SWAG from ComicsKingdom, including our 2026 Bizarro wall calendar. (ALL the comics are still funny, no matter what month it is now!)