Piglet Pokey

Bizarro is brought to you today by The Magic of Ham.

Today's post features two old cartoons from the late 1900s, which I came across while searching for something else. I really like both of these cartoons because they take well-known topics and combine them in new, thought-provoking ways. Neither of them really mean anything, although they kind of seem like they might.

This is also the trick to great song lyrics. Take a song like "Losing My Religion" (or almost anything by REM) and try to figure out exactly what it means. It's relative nonsense, but you relate to it somehow and twist it into a personal meaning, almost subconsciously.

I'm not saying these cartoons take on a personal meaning for anybody, most people don't dwell on cartoons long enough, but it's fun to play with that edge. For me, that's what creativity is all about.

Even now, I'm not entirely sure what I mean by what I've just written, but it seems like it means something. I should also say that I don't eat animals anymore, I've been vegan since 2002, but at the time I wrote this Piglet cartoon the vegetarian message was not on my radar at all. It can have a hidden animal rights message if you want to apply one, but I was actually still a corpse eater when I drew it.

Regarding the Hokey Pokey Stew cartoon, I was not vegan when I wrote this cartoon, either, but was still not in the habit of eating human feet. So, no, this was not intended as an anti-cannibalism message, although you can turn it into one now if you wish. Whatever that means.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these rambling paragraphs eight times more than I have enjoyed typing them. Until tomorrow, my friend...

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Not My Leak

WTF? First, I am accused of throwing a cable guy off my roof (see yesterday's post) now the WikiLeaking thing. The spelling is different, though.

(click pic to enlarge)


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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 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
4 (-). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
5 (-). Dilbert: 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar
6 (+5). 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
7 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
8 (+1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
9 (-2). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
10 (+2). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
11 (+2). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
12 (+2). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
13 (R). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
14 (-4). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
15 (+6). The Walking Dead, Book 1
16 (-). Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
17 (-9). Walking Dead Volume 13
18 (-). Big Nate: From the Top
19 (+7). Fables Vol. 14: Witches *
20 (-). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
21 (-2). The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
22 (-5). Superman: Earth One
23 (-). The Walking Dead, Book 6
24 (-2). The Walking Dead Book 2
25 (+5). The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us
26 (R). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
27 (+7). The Walking Dead Book 5
28 (-13). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
29 (+11). The Indispensable Calvin And Hobbes
30 (+13). Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (Calvin & Hobbes)
31 (+1). The Walking Dead Book 3
32 (-4). The Complete Peanuts Boxed Set 1975-1978 (Vol. 13-14)
33 (-). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
34 (+7). The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars
35 (-8). The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future
36 (-5). Walking Dead Volume 12
37 (R). The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition
38 (+11). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
39 (R). Picture This: The Near-sighted Monkey Book
40 (-16). Odd Is on Our Side
41 (R). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes
42 (-6). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
43 (R). Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
44 (-19). The Complete Far Side 1980-1994
45 (N). Brightest Day, Vol. 1
46 (-11). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
47 (R). It's A Magical World: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection
48 (-18). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight
49 (-12). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
50 (R). The Cloud Searchers (Amulet)


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 slips to #4 on the overall bestseller chart. It looks like his dreams of being #1 are not to be, foiled for weeks by George W. Bush.

* Suddenly and without warning, Amazon once again decides to classify the fifth Scott Pilgrim volume as a comic, and it returns to the charts. It's a Christmas miracle!

* 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective continues its steady climb up the charts and lands in the top ten for the first time this week.

* The only debut this week is the first Brightest Day collection, way down at #45.

* Marvel is completely shut out of the Amazon Top 50 this week.

* Dead Watch: Most of the titles slip just a bit, but there's still fourteen Walking Dead collections in the top fifty this week.

* The bottom of the top fifty list is #1,852 on the overall rankings this week.

Christmas Covers - December 10

We learn where Santa gets his funding on the cover to Richie Rich Holiday Digest Magazine #1 (1980).

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Holiday-related comic book cover. (Click on the image to get a larger version.)

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


Just 15 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2009: Pondus - Julen 2003)
(2008: Battle Vixens vol. 9)
(2007: The Bakers Meet Jingle Belle)
(2006: A Distant Soil #26)
(2005: Classics Illustrated #15)
(2004: Action Comics #93)

(Polite Dissent's 2010 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(2010 Comics Should Be Good Advent Calendar)
(Bully the Little Stuffed Bull's Riverdale Christmas)
(The Comics Cube's Christmas Countdown)  
(Brendan McKillip's Comic Advent Calendar 2010)