Tuesday 30 November 2010

Christmas Covers - December 1


It's time once again for our annual Christmas Covers event: twenty-five more comic covers with a holiday theme!

We begin our 2010 season with Archie and Veronica bringing home a freshly cut Christmas tree on Stan Goldberg & Bob Smith's cover for Archie's Holiday Fun Digest #6 (2002)

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.

Just 24 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2009: Holiday Comics #8)
(2008: Christmas Carnival)
(2007: Comic Cavalcade #5)
(2006: Justice League Unlimited #16)
(2005: Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #3)
(2004: Limited Collectors' Edition #C-34)

(Also see: Polite Dissent's 2010 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar

Sunday 28 November 2010

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Toby Tyler's friend is a monkey on the photo cover to Dell's Four Color #1092 (1960).

(Standard disclaimer about chimpanzees dressed up for the circus not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Cliche Discussion











(If you, like me, would like to see this picture bigger, click on the cartoon man's right eyelid.)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Mysterious Explanations.

My favorite cartoons have always been single-panel magazine cartoons, the likes of which could once be found in National Lampoon and just about every other magazine in America, and which can now be found in The New Yorker and almost nowhere else. Within that genre is a canon of cartoon cliches that have been done millions of times in millions of ways: the psychiatrist's couch, the fish crawling out of the water and growing legs, the ascent of man, the guy stuck on a desert island, the cat and the mousehole, the guy crawling through a desert. This Sunday cartoon is particularly fun for me because I combined two of the oeuvre in one panel.

I love coming up with new versions of those standards, and especially doing satires of the standards themselves. Here is an example of one such satire from 1995, taken from my book, Life is Strange and So Are You – A Bizarro Sunday Treasury. The character in the water is mine, all the rest are borrowed from some of my favorite cartoonists (and one that I'm not a fan of at all but is highly recognizable.) See if you can figure out who is who. If you want to jump ahead, here is a diagram of which characters belong to which famous cartoonists. Most of you can guess which one I included not because I'm a fan but because of his recognizability alone.

Thanks for dropping by today, I've enjoyed pretending to talk to you.

.

Saturday 27 November 2010

Bedtime Stories For Impressionable Children Vol.1 #1


Bedtime Stories For Impressionable Children Vol.1 #1
CBR | English | 30 pages | 15.1 MB
A brand new horror anthology in the spirit of the classics! Meet Alonzo Del Vecchio, a former construction work forced by the tough economic times to become, much to just about everyone's regret, a babysitter. Modern horror masters James Kuhoric, Robert Tinnell, Mark Wheatley and J.C. Vaughn provide a series of terrifying tales the babysitter probably should have left at home.
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Batman - Streets of Gotham #1 to #17


Batman: Streets of Gotham #1 to #17
CBR | DC Comics | Released 2009-2010 | 406.7 MB
Batman: Streets of Gotham is an American comic book ongoing series written by Paul Dini, with art by Dustin Nguyen. The series will star Dick Grayson as the new Batman and will tie into Grant Morrison's overarching "Batman: Reborn" story and possibly the new Gotham City Sirens monthly. The first issue was released in June 2009.

Streets of Gotham features Batman as the main character, but from a "street level" with other characters providing the main narrative. When asked about the style of Streets of Gotham, Batman group editor Mike Marts explained, "...these are Batman stories told through the point of view of other characters in Gotham City. So it could be Commissioner Gordon telling the story, it could be a villain, or it could be a supporting character telling the story."
The series also includes a Manhunter co-feature written by Marc Andreyko and illustrated by Georges Jeanty. The co-feature was replaced by another co-feature that spins-off of the end of the Manhunter one starring Two-Face.
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Friday 26 November 2010

Bruce Wayne - The Road Home - Ra's al Ghul #1


Bruce Wayne - The Road Home - Ra's al Ghul #1
Dec 2010 | 25 pages | CBR | 11 MB
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Justice League - Generation Lost #12


Justice League - Generation Lost #12
Dec 2010 | 25 pages | CBR | 13.2 MB
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Action Comics #894


Action Comics #894
Dec 2010 | 33 pages | CBR | 19.1 MB
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Bruce Wayne The Road Home Oracle #1


Bruce Wayne The Road Home Oracle #1
Dec 2010 | 25 pages | CBR | 9.7 MB
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Justice Society Of America #44


Justice Society Of America #44
Dec 2010 | 24 pages | CBR | 13.2 MB
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Supergirl Annual #2


Supergirl Annual #2
Dec 2010 | 57 pages | CBR | 29.9 MB
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Wonder Woman #604


Wonder Woman #604
Dec 2010 | 25 pages | CBR | 14.2 MB
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Detective Comics #870


Detective Comics #870
Dec 2010 | 32 pages | CBR | 17.1 MB
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2000AD #1708


2000AD #1708
2010 | 33 pages | CBR | 18.5 MB
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Charmed #2


Charmed #2
Aug 2010 | 34 pages | CBR | 31.4 MB
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Donald Duck and Friends #359


Donald Duck and Friends #359
Oct 2010 | 25 pages | CBZ | 22.1 MB
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Batman Beyond #5 (of 6)


Batman Beyond #5 (of 6)
Dec 2010 | 25 pages | CBR | 16.6 MB
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2000AD #1707


2000AD #1707
2010 | 32 pages | CBR | 18.3 MB
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Star Wars - Knight Errant #1


Star Wars - Knight Errant #1
Oct 2010 | 28 pages | CBR | 25 MB
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Secret Six #26


Secret Six #26
Dec 2010 | 26 pages | CBR | 28.3 MB
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Green Arrow #30


Green Arrow #30
Apr 2010 | 30 pages | CBR | 34 MB
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Darkwing Duck #5


Darkwing Duck #5
Oct 2010 | 25 pages | CBZ | 22.9 MB
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Holiday Breakdown

Bizarro is brought to you today by Favorite Holiday Memories.

If you're reading this post then you, like me, survived yesterday's holiday here in the U.S. We call it Thanksgiving Day and it's a mixed bag in my book. There are things I both enjoy and despise about TGiving, which I have listed below for your future use and quick reference.

Likes:
a. Not a religious holiday. This keeps it low-key and guilt-free with no official services to attend to keep your mom from getting upset, no melodramatic speeches by TV pundits about how "our make-believe is being eroded by some other culture's make-believe".

b. Mostly just about food and who doesn't like to eat? (other than super models) Lift food to mouth, open, insert, close, chew. Any moron can do it.

c. Mindless activities like watching football on TV and taking a nap are actually an integral part of the tradition.

d. Somehow, merchants have not commandeered this holiday as they have Xmas, so gifts are not mandatory. What a money saver!

e. Miraculously, TGiving has escaped the hideous novelty songs with which Xmas is plagued for weeks. Ah, the sound of silence!

Dislikes:
a. People use it to get sappy about what they're thankful for. I dislike this because I think one should be aware of these things daily. Those of us who are, don't need a national holiday to remind us of what is a fundamental part of our consciousness, and those who do need to be reminded are probably not moved in any substantive manner anyway. To me, it's like having a national holiday to remind us to brush our teeth. If you have to be reminded, it's probably too late anyway.

b. People make it religious by thanking "god" for what they have. Okay, fine, thanking the gods for food, shelter, good weather, a successful massacre of your enemy, etc. is a common human behavior that predates language and any of our modern gods, but I'd like to see us grow out of this superstition eventually. You can be thankful without being thankful to invisible magic people. This country could use a lot more rational thought and a lot less superstitious fear and persecution, God knows.

c. Americans celebrate warm and fuzzy thankfulness by wreaking a grisly holocaust on 45 million innocent birds (in a single day). I get it, it's tradition, it will never change, blah blah. But those of us who have come to see members of other species as someone instead of something lament the needless and cruel slaughter. It goes on 365 days a year, of course (300 million turkeys annually), but on TGiving the slaughter itself is celebrated as part of the experience, complete with goofy, cartoon images of the victims in pilgrim hats.

I'm sure I've missed something, but I'm still reeling from my food hangover. I ate waaaaay too much last night and won't eat again soon. In the final tally, looks like I have 5 likes and 3 dislikes, so all in all, the holiday gets a thumbs up.

Here now, from the cartoon dungeon's archives, is an old Sunday comic I did years ago. (click it to see it bigger) I went through a period around the turn of the century during which I was writing oddball children's poems for an unspecified reason. Eventually, I turned some of them into cartoons.

More later, have a black, black Black Friday.


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Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this morning. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
4 (+2). Walking Dead Volume 13
5 (-). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
6 (+3). Dilbert: 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar
7 (-3). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
8 (-). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
9 (+7). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
10 (-). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
11 (-4). Superman: Earth One
12 (-). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
13 (+1). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
14 (-3). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
15 (1). Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
16 (-3). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
17 (+6). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
18 (-). Big Nate: From the Top
19 (-2). 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
20 (-1). The Walking Dead, Book 6
21 (-). Walking Dead Volume 12
22 (-). Batman and Robin, Vol. 2: Batman vs. Robin
23 (+1). Odd Is on Our Side
24 (+1). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
25 (+9). The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
26 (-). The Walking Dead, Book 1
27 (+6). The Walking Dead Book 5
28 (-1). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
29 (+2). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight
30 (+5). The Walking Dead Book 2
31 (R). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
32 (+4). V for Vendetta
33 (+6). Fables Vol. 14: Witches *
34 (R). Tales from the Crypt #8: Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid
35 (-6). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
36 (N). Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories
37 (R). Blackest Night
38 (N). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
39 (+5). Batman: The Killing Joke
40 (R). The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us
41 (-21). The Complete Peanuts Boxed Set 1975-1978 (Vol. 13-14)
42 (+1). The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars
43 (-5). Stephen King's N.
44 (R). Kick-Ass
45 (R). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
46 (-4). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
47 (R). The Indispensable Calvin And Hobbes
48 (R). The Walking Dead Book 3
49 (-21). X'ed Out
50 (R). Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn


Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* The Wimpy Kid holds the top 3 spots on the comics chart, but still cannot crack #1 on the overall chart; he sits at #2 behind former president Bush. (Yes, this is the same bullet point text as last week!)

* Scott Pilgrim sales stay about the same, though the boxset moves up into the top ten.

* The holiday shopping season is upon us. We're just on the cusp of it this morning, but expect to see some major changes in the chart over the next few weeks.

* The top debut this week is Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories, which actually came out a few weeks ago but is just now making the top fifty. The only other debut is the kindle edition of Dork Diaries.

* The bottom of the chart is rather healthy #1,560 this week on the overall chart.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!


Those of us here at YACB wish you a Happy Thanksgiving (and hope that yours goes better than Shaggy & Scooby's!)
(Cover to Scooby-Doo #114 by Robert Pope, courtesy of the GCD.)

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Catching Up

Bizarro is brought to you today by Before and After.

Gosh dern, it's good to be getting caught up with the blog posts. Much to discuss, let's get started.

Our first cartoon today is another collaboration between my friend and colleague, Wayno. We kicked this one around quite a bit before deciding on this approach. Here's Wayno's account of the whole story. I remain mystified by people's obsessions with virtual lives as opposed to their own. I've never done any of these kinds of things and am, frankly, afraid of them. They tap into some natural tendency of humans or they wouldn't be so popular. I stay away from them because I'm pretty sure I'd be hooked and not get anything done in the real world. It's the same reason I've never owned any video gaming system. Too tempting. Surfing the web is addictive enough.

Next stop, weight loss. Almost all of us could maintain a healthy weight if we ate natural foods and exercised, but it's just too tempting to eat delicious, readily-accessible, inexpensive junk food and watch TV instead of exercise. I fall prey to this, too, in my vegan way. It's the world we live in, waddyagonnado?

The early hands-free phone is an idea from my friend Michael Capozzola. It's an opportunity for a fun pic. Check out some of Capo's stand-up comedy. His routine on "cougars" is terrific.

These last two gags are about females who eat their mates and a male that probably should have been eaten long ago. Hope you get a smile.

As soon as I get some pics and video of my shows in Tulsa, I'll share them here. They both went really well and were more-or-less sold out. Always fun to do comedy in the hometown. One show included a Piraro impersonator.

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Not Really Back


















Sorry I've been away from my blog for so long, I've been performing in Tulsa and visiting family. I'm catching up on deadlines today but will back tomorrow blogging like a mofo. Come back and have an ogle!

Monday 22 November 2010

Visions of The B-Team

You may recall that back during our 24 Hour Comics Day event at the library, I did an awesome little comic called The B-Team Returns.

In the wee hours of the morning, the talented Adam Buttrick took time out from drawing his own comic to draw a few scenes from mine! Here then are a few images from my comic drawn by Adam:





(Some of the scenes seems a bit more violent when not drawn as stick figures...)

Finally, here's a group shot of some of the characters the comic that Adam drew:

Go visit Adam's blog, where you can see more of his drawings, including his own 24 Hour Comics Day comic: Tim Tadabrucki and the Stealing Trick.

Sunday 21 November 2010

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Yes, that's a monkey riding on the back of a gorilla on the cover of Tibor #27 (2003), which is about as hardcore awesome as you can get on a monkey cover without involving a jetpack or Kryptonite.

(Standard disclaimer about gorillas running away from arrows not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Simpsons Comics #171


Simpsons Comics #171
Dec 2010 | 27 pages | CBR | 13.5 MB
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer #37


Buffy the Vampire Slayer #37
Oc t 2010 | 29 pages | CBZ | 27.5 MB
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Tiny Titans #33


Tiny Titans #33
Dec 2010 | 24 pages | CBZ | 16.8 MB
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Michael Turners Soulfire Vol.2 #8


Michael Turners Soulfire Vol.2 #8
Nov 2010 | 32 pages | CBR | 18 MB
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DV8 - Gods and Monsters #7


DV8 - Gods and Monsters #7
Dec 2010 | 29 pages | CBR | 15.7 MB
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DMZ #58


DMZ #58
Dec 2010 | 30 pages | CBR | 15.6 MB
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Fables #99


Fables #98
Dec 2010 | 30 pages | CBR | 16.6 MB
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Victorian Undead - Sherlock Holmes vs Jekyll and Hyde


Victorian Undead - Sherlock Holmes vs Jekyll and Hyde
Dec 2010 | 35 pages | CBR | 15.1 MB
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The Spirit #7


The Spirit #7
Dec 2010 | 33 pages | CBR | 13.3 MB
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Quest For Tomorrow #1


Quest For Tomorrow #1
Sep 2010 | 37 pages | CBR | 14.7 MB
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