Sounds of Weather

Bizarro is brought to you today by Inappropriate Times to Sing.

This is not so much a cartoon as a historical illustration. Few people realize that today's doppler radar is named after Edgar J. Doppler, a Utah frontiersman who took it upon himself to warn locals of impending storms in just this fashion. He was observed doing this in 1842 by Austrian journalist, Christian Andreas Delppor, who described it in his widely read chronicles of his experiences on the American frontier, Austrian Among the Savages.

Edgar was killed in 1851 by a lightening strike from a storm he did not see coming as he napped beneath a tree in the center of what is now Salt Lake City. Taken as a sign that this is where God wanted them to build their temple, the local faithful erected the famous Morman Tabernacle.

To this day, some Mormon sects will not gaze upon radar images or listen to forecasts, believing that man is not meant to be warned of God's wrath. For more on Edgar Doppler, read here.

Wayno World

Bizarro is brought to you today by The Family That Drinks Together...

Today's cartoon was written by a Pittsburgh colleague of mine who signs his cartoons "Wayno." He sent me a bunch of cartoons of his recently and I offered to showcase a few and give him some plugs. I like his work a lot and it's been fun collaborating with him. He asked me to direct you to this page to see more of his work. There are a few more of our collaborations coming up in the next few weeks.

Truth be told, I like his illustration style better than mine, but I'm more-or-less locked into this look for Bizarro and it has served me well, so there you go. I use other styles for other kinds of projects. Here is one I like a lot which appears as a full page in Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro.

Buy 100 copies today!

Quick Reviews: Awesome Batman Comics

While the regular in-continuity Batman titles take a rest for the 3-month-long "Battle for the Cowl" angst-fest, a couple of out-of-continuity Batman titles are giving us all the Caped Crusader awesomeness we need.

Batman Confidential #28 is the conclusion of "A New Dawn," the three-part story that features the first comics-based appearance of King Tut, the villain from the 60s Batman TV show. Writers Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir give us Batman teaming up with his old foe The Riddler to try to unravel Tut's scheme. Their Egyptology seems to be on the money, or at least good enough to fool me in fiction. The real awesomeness of the story however lies with legendary penciller José Luis García-López, who hasn't lost a step and can draw dynamic scenes of talking and fluid scenes of action like nobody's business. His art meshes surprisingly well with the inks of Kevin Nowlan. The only thing missing art-wise is the yellow oval around the bat-insignia, because: a) the grey-and-blue coloring for the costume looks odd without the yellow oval; and b) this is totally the kind of story that needs the yellow oval.

Even more awesome? Batman: The Brave and the Bold #3--story by Matt Wayne & art by Andy Suriano & Dan Davis--guest starring Green Arrow in the story "President Batman!" (exclamation point in the original, and mandatory.) How awesome is it? In just the first few pages: Green Arrow lands the Arrow Plane on the lawn of the White House; to foil a kidnapping plot, Batman assumes the identity of the President with the help of a holographic image projector; Batman & Green Arrow break up a floor fight in Congress while disguised as the President and a Secret Service agent--with their fists!; I could go on, but won't save to mention that the baddie is a Golden Age Superman villain with an albino gorilla sidekick. Batman + Gorillas = great comics!

Looking forward to the new Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely Batman and Robin comic, which will surely also be awesome even if it only comes out three times per year. But in the meantime, there's plenty of great Batman stories hiding out there if you know where to look!

Rating for both: 4 (of 5).

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). Watchmen
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
3 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
4 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-). Star Trek: Countdown TPB *
6 (-). V for Vendetta
7 (+9). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
8 (-). Batman: The Killing Joke
9 (-2). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
10 (+4). Blueberry Girl
11 (+2). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
12 (+20). The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle
13 (+16). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
14 (+11). Ignorance, Thy Name Is Bucky: A Get Fuzzy Collection *
15 (N). The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, 39th Edition
16 (-6). Naruto, Volume 43
17 (+7). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
18 (-6). Naruto, Volume 42
19 (+11). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4) *
20 (-3). Naruto, Volume 44
21 (+5). Batman: R.I.P.
22 (+5). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
23 (N). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
24 (-5). Watchmen (Absolute Edition)
25 (-3). The Joker
26 (N). Batman: Heart of Hush
27 (+6). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
28 (-7). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
29 (+9). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972 *
30 (N). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
31 (+14). Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
32 (+5). Fruits Basket, Vol. 22
33 (N). Junjo Romantica Volume 9
34 (+13). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
35 (-). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
36 (+7). Bone: One Volume Edition
37 (N). My Bad: A Zits Treasury
38 (+3). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
39 (-16). Batman: Year One
40 (N). Spike: After The Fall HC
41 (-23). Dark Tower: Treachery *
42 (N). Final Crisis *
43 (N). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
44 (-4). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
45 (N). Absolute Death *
46 (-12). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
47 (N). Angel: After the Fall: First Night Volume 2
48 (N). The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House
49 (N). Eerie Archives Volume 1
50 (N). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe



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


Commentary:

* Watchmen falls to #30 on the overall charts, but maintains it's footing at #1 on the comics chart.

* The Beats: A Graphic History, which debuted way up at #9 last week, is completely absent this week. Flash-in-the-pan, or bizarre sales spikes and dips? We shall see in the coming weeks...

* Manga sales see Naruto volumes slipping slightly now that they're no longer pre-orders. Surprise debut at #33 of a volume of Junjo Romantica, a yaoi title I'd never heard of before.

* Highest debut this week is the Overstreet Price Guide at #15; rumor has it that this may be the last ever Overstreet.

* Also debuting down near the bottom of the list are DC's hardcovers for Final Crisis & Absolute Death; the Death volume doesn't street until October.

* Marvel's lone title, a pre-order for Dark Tower: Treachery, takes a drastic fall down twenty-three places.

Superman Science

Bizarro is brought to you today by Baby Man.

I always liked Superman's ability to turn back time by zipping around the earth real fast and reversing its rotation. It doesn't have the least bit of science behind it, but it's a cool trick.

The problem is, once that possibility has been introduced, it begs the question why he just doesn't do it all time and stop tragedies from happening in the first place? School bus heading over a cliff? Why catch it and put all those kids' families through unnecessary anxiety and lawsuits? Just turn time back a couple hours and report that drunken driver to the principal before the bus leaves campus.

And crime wouldn't be the only time this skill was useful. You could use it after your girlfriend breaks up with you or you get fired from your job. Turn the clock back one day, leave town, find a new job and a new girlfriend. Then return to town, break up with your girlfriend because you've found someone new and quit your job. Who's crying now, sucker?

Librarian Bait

Bizarro is brought to you today by Mixed Messages.

This cartoon is not funny per se, it is more poignant than anything. I think the average reader gets the meaning in a glance and says, "True. Who needs the library now that we have the Internet?" Or, if you're W, you might say, "Hah. They left the 'S' off of 'Internets and added an extra 'R' to 'libary.'"

Thinking further, you might realize that the cartoon doesn't actually make any sense. If a library were put out of business by the Internet, it would be a library museum, not an Internet museum. But that sign would confuse readers and not get the idea across. I think this may be the only time in my 25 year career that I've come across this kind of phenomenon.

In spite of this flaw in logic, a number of people who deal with libraries in various capacities have contacted me wanting to use this image for everything from fund raising to entertaining their local library's troops.

This drawing was a pain to execute, the strip version was even worse. Since I worked so hard on it, I've posted it here to get a little more mileage. Thank goodness for the Internet, I was able to find a wide variety of reference photos of the New York Public Library in a matter of seconds.

Click the image for a clearer view.

Shrink Me Please

Bizarro is brought to you today by Hairy Children.

Psychiatry is likely one of the top 10 most common gag cartoon topics. I've always liked them and have done who-knows-how-many dozens, maybe hundreds. I have always liked them, even before I ever visited a therapist.

I've never gone to a psychiatrist, but I've seen a few psychologists and other kinds of counselors and I really enjoy it. I only go when I'm in crisis mode or trying to figure out the solution to a specific problem like a romantic relationship issue, whether I should quit my day job and go for a movie career, what the furniture in my studio is trying to tell me when it screams incomprehensibly, etc.

I have an appointment later today, in fact, and am really looking forward to it. We (my therapist and I) are on the verge of a major breakthrough in the area of irrational outbursts of anger. Once we get past that, we may be able to get to my problems. (rim shot) Wish me luck!

I like my current therapist because he offers a lot of feedback and suggestions. I've had the kind that don't say anything, just lead me through my thoughts with questions that are meant to enable me to solve my own problems. That sort is little more than a really expensive bartender without liquor.