Monkey Covers

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

Haven't you always wanted to see an ape fight a giant squid? Bab Larkin has you covered on Planet of the Apes #15 (1975).

(Standard disclaimer about underwater apes not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Gag Trance

(You want to view this bigger, you can click it)
Bizarro is brought to you today by Wedding Tragedy.

Here is a weird little idea that came from who-knows-where. I like this kind of gag because it is unconventional, affords some interesting visuals, touches on a modern social issue, and makes me smile. It's hard to write cartoons that do all of those things at once, so when I am blessed with one, I'm happy.

Writing cartoons is an odd activity. Since I don't have regular characters or story lines, I start with a completely blank page each time and nothing to build on. I search the web for pictures or info or ideas that spark something in me, then let my mind wander. To the casual observer, I'm doing nothing, just sitting at my desk staring into space like a cat. It resembles catalepsy. But inside my head, an entire road crew is shoveling, digging, hammering, rearranging, paving, destroying, building, and sweating like wrestlers in the hot sun.

On another topic, does anyone know how to build a disintegrator ray? There is a car parked across the street from my building whose car alarm has been going off every thirty minutes since last night. Nothing will wake you from a catatonic cartoon-writing state like a car alarm.

Stress Can Kill

Bizarro is brought to you today by Early Parasailing.

Here's my shot at advocating organ donation. When you die, you won't be using your organs anymore, why not donate them to a church whose choir is forced sing a cappella?

Speaking of potatoes, I like doing Mr. Potato Head gags, as do many other cartoonists, but I am troubled by the fact that this kind of gag requires me to draw the potatoes so enormous. Technically, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head should be the size of actual potatoes. It's quite a dilemma and causes me great anxiety.

This is what passes for work-related stress for me. Pretty sad.

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (+2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (-2). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
5 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
6 (+22). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
7 (-). Kick-Ass
8 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
9 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
10 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
11 (R). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
12 (-6). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat
13 (-5). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
14 (+2). Warriors: Ravenpaw's Path #2: A Clan in Need
15 (N). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour *
16 (-3). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5 *
17 (-6). Planetary Vol. 4: Spacetime Archaeology
18 (+1). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
19 (-4). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
20 (N). Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn *
21 (N). Captain America: Reborn *
22 (-12). Hellboy Volume 9: The Wild Hunt
23 (-). V for Vendetta
24 (+24). The Boys Volume 6 SC *
25 (-1). The Complete Persepolis
26 (-16). Invincible Iron Man Omnibus, Vol. 1
27 (-13). Irredeemable Vol 2 *
28 (+2). Gunnerkrigg Court, Vol. 2: Research
29 (-17). Tales from the Crypt #8: Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid
30 (+6). Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
31 (-14). Watchmen
32 (N). I Kill Giants Titan Edition Signed & Numbered
33 (+10). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
34 (+7). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)
35 (R). The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack
36 (-18). Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
37 (-16). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
38 (R). Wolverine: Old Man Logan
39 (N). The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis *
40 (-18). Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
41 (N). Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984 *
42 (N). xxxHOLiC 15
43 (-8). Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
44 (-17). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
45 (N). The Losers: Book One (Vols. 1 & 2)
46 (R). Mercy Thompson: Homecoming
47 (-22). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
48 (+2). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
49 (-16). Batman: Year One
50 (-18). Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities



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 power of the Twilight manga proved to be no match for the power of the Wimpy Kid movie push. Twilight is at #42 on the overall chart, but two of the WK volumes pushed even higher (though not by much; The Last Straw is at #35 and Dog Days is at #39).

* Need more proof about the power of movies on Amazon comic sales? The trailer for Scott Pilgrim debuted on the Internet yesterday, causing an instant surge in demand for the SP comics. Will interest remain high until the film's release in August? Kick-Ass also remains strong just three weeks before its movie is released.

* And when the movie is just a memory? Check out Watchmen, which dips all the way down to #31...

Smart Apes

Bizarro is brought to you today by Ebony and Ivory.

Is there nothing to see here? Really?

One might have thought that there was nothing much left of racism in America until recently. Racism is a very primitive impulse, at one time in our distant past, it was beneficial to distrust those not from your "tribe." And while most of us have evolved to see the foolishness in that kind of thinking in modern society, there are still plenty of us who operate from the primitive parts of our brains. This kind of grunting, chest-beating throwback to our hairier ancestors rises and falls throughout history and so I suspect that this current wave, too, shall pass. Let's hope no serious casualties result in the meantime.

I often wish that "intelligent design" were true, so that our species might behave more intelligently.

This cartoon has nothing to do with racism, of course, it's just been on my mind lately. Tomorrow, a funnier post.

AMAZING COMEDY

One week from today, April 1st, I'll be appearing in a terrific comedy show in NYC benefiting Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. We have an amazing lineup (myself notwithstanding) and have just added Lizz Winstead, a true hero in the comedy world.

Lizz co-created The Daily Show, served as head writer, and hired such talents as Stephen Colbert and Lewis Black. She's also a well-known, national headlining comedian appearing on HBO, and in The Aspen Comedy Festival.

You won't get a lineup of headliners like this (myself notwithstanding) in any other single comedy show, I guarantee. And all the money goes to a great cause.

Get tickets here or suffer the consequences!

Robot's in TROUBLE!