Halloween Ha Ha

Bizarro is brought to you today by Eternal Crosswalks. "Bring a lunch and wear comfortable shoes."

Today's offering is from last year's Halloween week. I thought of this cartoon in the spring of '07 and hung onto it for months until it was seasonal. I don't always do that, but in this case, I really liked the gag and wanted to use it around Halloween. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was a favorite Halloween story of mine as a kid, little did I know that I would one day look not unlike Ichabod Crane.

I've also always really enjoyed pumpkin carving and got pretty good at it as an adult. Back in the early nineties, I won a national contest sponsored by TreeTop Apple Juice. The grand prize was an all-expense-paid trip for four to Disney World, which I took with my wife and two small kids. It was fun, except for the fact that the kids were there and became the typical buzzkills that overexcited/overtired children can be. The sacrifices parents make for their kids.

The next hear I won second prize, which was a small, digitial camera. Nowadays no one would consider a little pocket digital camera to be much of a prize, but back then they still carried some novelty value.

This cartoon is from Halloween day last year. I got some negative mail from straights and lesbians alike, the former thinking I was being pro-gay, the latter accusing me of gay bashing. My lesbian friends thought it was funny, however, especially the use of a golf club instead of a broom.

I never do cartoons that are knowingly anti-homosexual. GLBTs have enough trouble in our culture without my help. I poke fun at them occasionally, but only because I want to help normalize their place in our society, not because I want to disparage them.

I personally think that modern fear of and prejudice against homosexuality is as ill-informed as witch hunts of old. Who among us "chooses" our sexual proclivities? People are sexually attracted to every imaginable style, type, sound, smell, look, height, weight, costume, personality, and body part that you can name. These aren't things we choose. Some people are even attracted to people wearing stuffed animal costumes. Who "chooses" that consciously? As long as both partners are consenting adults, who am I to judge them?

Myself, I really go for chicks with small breasts.

Shameless Friend Promotion: G.T. Labs Blog

Pal & creator Jim Ottaviani has finally dove into the deep end and started a blog over at the G.T. Labs Website. It's a combination professional & personal blog, with some posts are about his comics work, while others are about other aspects of his life.

Four to Read for Tuesday, October 28

* Culture 11: Capes, Tights, and Kids (via Dirk)

* I Am NOT the Beastmaster: All Stars (also via Dirk)

* BeaucoupKevin: Morrison, Mamet, and storytelling in superhero comics.

* Dr. K's 100-Page Super Spectacular: Ask Dr. K (Superman & Spider-Man) (via Mike)

Aerial Magic

Today's Bizarro is brought to you by Invisible Planes Aerial Advertising Co.

Since I was a kid, I've always found skywriting and aerial banners fascinating. Especially skywriting – to this day I don't know how a pilot can figure out what he/she is doing when he/she can't step back and look at his/her work. (When are we going to come up with a permanent solution to the non-gender-specific pronoun for situations like this? Personally, I'd be happy to use "it," but then there would people who would be all like, "I'm not an "it"! God made me in His image. Is God an "it"?!" And I'd be all like, "Whatever, dude.")

Here is an unusual aerial banner that I just found. Who spends the money on a message like this? It's got some humor and shock value, but what's the point? There's no arguing that some people misuse Jesus, but it certainly isn't his fault. I see this as misplaced aggression. And what if Jesus had taken it seriously and objected?

Here is another one pulled by an invisible airplane. Clearly, this banner is the answer to a question, but what question? Who gave me herpes?

Here's another example of one that doesn't seem to be advertising anything. And where did they find this giant kid? Wish I'd seen this in person.

This shot is of a normal-sized child pulling a banner, but he can't seem to get off the ground. I have no interest in seeing this one in person.

A less expensive option if you can't afford a plane is this one, where you just wait for people to drive by and read the banner for themselves.

I hope you've enjoyed this exploration of the exciting world of aerial banners.

Childlike Wonder

Bizarro is brought to you today by Happy Little Angels.

I love children. When I'm feeling down about things or life's challenges are lining up against me, nothing picks me up like the effervescent smile of a child. There is something about their excitement for life, their spontaneous joy, their unprejudiced acceptance of each person or situation for what it is, without preconceptions, that makes me look at myself and say, "When did I lose that?"

All of us were children and we all agree that children are the future. So why can't we as individuals, as societies, as governments, be more childlike in our approach to the world, embracing it wholeheartedly, exploring it with childlike wonder, caressing it with love and tenderness?

Just to see what would happen, I ask each and every one of you who read this blog to get up right now, go to the nearest playground, hop on the merry-go-round, and make some new friends. You'll be glad you did.

So Many Things Wrong

(Click the cartoon to make a huge size of it)
Today' Bizarro is brought to you by You Betcha' Family Planning Clinic.

This cartoon is an old motif that I came up with in the 90s and have been meaning to get back to. It is a parody of the Whats-wrong-with-this-picture? games that I used to love so much in Highlights magazine as a kid. Except with my version, you can't possibly guess the answers.

It's always very tempting to get extremely political with this kind of image, but as Bizarro is not sold as a political strip, I have to refrain from taking real punches. I'm always tempted to put something like "Family in trailer thinks Fox News Channel is an actual news channel," or "Bowling ball has higher I.Q. than those who believe Obama is a muslim."

These two links are of a couple of the past ones I've done. Back in the 90s I used to do lots of puzzle and game parodies and would love to get back to it. Most of the ones I did back then are in my retrospective book, Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro.

Have I mentioned that this book makes an excellent gift for all occasions?

Saturday Night's for Fightin'

Saturday Night Live's political stuff has been stellar lately, this is one of the best of the best.