Monkey Covers

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

Dr. Zaius will not let the humans escape with the ape's secret on the cover to Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #5 (1977) by Rich Buckler & Klaus Janson.

(Standard disclaimer about militaristic apes of the future not really being monkeys applies.)


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

Super Saturday!

(For the bigness that this cartoon has to offer, click the dang thing.)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Baggy Pants Fashion.

Remember that famous photo of Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate with her skirt blowing up? Sadly, that never actually happens in New York but the scene above happens every day. And subway grates aren't the only problem. We don't get a lot of windy thunderstorms here, but on the rare occasion that we do, several young men in clown-sized clothing go missing. Sometimes they show up in Jersey or Connecticut, sometimes they are whisked out to sea, only to wash up on the shore a week later as a fashionably-dressed bloated corpse.

I've participated in some stupid fashions in my day, but none of them lasted as long as the giant-pants fad has. As long as I live, I will never understand it.

On the plus side, it's a guaranteed laugh every time I leave the house.

PLUS!!!

Since it is SuperSaturday, here are a couple of bonus cartoons based on ideas from my buddy, Cliff. He wrote a cool emoticon gag for me a year-or-so ago that ran in Parade Magazine. By using your eyes, you may see it below.










And since I am cartoon rich and cash poor, here is one more bonus cartoon. This one was written by Cliff's son, Nicco, who is 9 or 11 or something like that. Kids say the darnedest things. (And why shouldn't they? The darnedest things happen!!!!)

Wearable MYTHFITS

I'm not going to write a bunch of dazzling words to sell shirts, but if you'd like to see the designs for MYTHFITS, Check them out here. More shirt designs will be hatched soon, and if there are requests, just call Miss sunshine on her cell. She may or may not pick up, depending on the gossip of the day. Thanks for stopping by. [ ^_^ ]

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3 *
2 (+2). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
3 (+1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
4 (+2). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour *
5 (-3). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
6 (+1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
7 (+11). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
8 (-5). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5 *
9 (-1). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
10 (+4). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
11 (+1). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
12 (+9). Watchmen
13 (+3). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
14 (-5). Wednesday Comics
15 (N). Hellboy Volume 10: The Crooked Man and Others *
16 (+7). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
17 (R). Odd Is on Our Side *
18 (-5). Kick-Ass
19 (+6). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
20 (N). Chew Volume 2: International Flavor *
21 (+14). Blackest Night *
22 (-7). Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984
23 (-13). Instructions
24 (-2). The Walking Dead Book 5
25 (-6). Walking Dead Volume 12 *
26 (-6). Naruto, Vol. 48
27 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
28 (+1). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
29 (-12). Mass Effect Volume 1: Redemption
30 (R). Green Lantern: Blackest Night *
31 (N). Legends: The Enchanted *
32 (R). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
33 (+3). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
34 (R). V for Vendetta
35 (R). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
36 (+8). Batman: The Killing Joke
37 (+9). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
38 (R). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
39 (-28). Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl (Dork Diaries)
40 (+7). Justice League of America: Cry for Justice
41 (+4). Blacksad *
42 (-6). Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
43 (-1). Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn
44 (-20). The Flash: Rebirth
45 (-18). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
46 (R). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
47 (-21). The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies Volume 1: 1936-1938
48 (N). Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps *
49 (N). The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya *
50 (-20). Wilson


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:

* A new Scott Pilgrim trailer gives several of the comics a boost above the Wimpy Kid. They still can't top Janet Evanovich though.

* I still have no explanation for the recent surge in interest in Persepolis. Has there been some sort of recent media notice?

* The highest debut belongs to a new Hellboy volume, followed by Chew & Legends: The Enchanted.

* Interest in the Blackest Night hardcovers increases as their July release looms closer.

Knowledge is Power

I just found these two videos this morning and they are truly amazing.

This first one describes in scientific terms the anthropological history of human empathy and how some of us have extended our compassion to other species and the planet.



The second one describes the psychological and social nature of different time zones and cities and how it affects our mentality and health.



Each is ten minutes long but will fly by because of the revolutionary way in which they are presented with visual and verbal information in an easy-to-absorb formula. A brilliant way to appeal to both verbal and visual learners simultaneously.

Do yourself a favor and watch them both. If you dig these half as much as I did, you'll be halfway to China.

Robot Muscles

Bizarro is brought to you today Roadside Robots.

Two more cartoons today, what a week it has been for more than one cartoon! First is the robot cartoon that comments on our species' regrettable ability to destroy everything we touch, usually for important reasons like personal comfort, sensory pleasure, and convenience. It's not like it's ever going to stop, but then neither will I stop complaining about it so maybe that evens out.

Next is a joke about exercising only a single part of your body. I've explored this theme at least a couple of times before, once with a guy who's right side is totally lumpy like a weightlifter and the other side is skinny. The other appears in my book, "Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro," and is posted below.

Theoretically, it seems it should be possible to work certain facial muscles to the point that they bulge. I wonder if this will ever become a fad.

Click the image to enlarge it so you can read the caption from the book. That book is out of print now, but can still be bought here. You'll love it and I'll have more room in my garage. Seriously.

Fancy

Bizarro is brought to you today by Superstition.

Here are two cartoons again, since I'm still playing catchup. The first one means nothing, I just wanted to play with the term "fancy pants." Lately I've been playing with comics that are just silly, not particularly clever or witty. It's fun sometimes.

The next cartoon is about politics in general and wasn't really meant as a defense of Obama per se, but it was taken that way by at least one angry genius. Here is the email I received from him:

It must be hard to write a comic strip while holding obama's PECKER in your mouth. I don't remember you taking up for bush. Maybe you should make a comic about a hypocrite cartoonist who can't leave politics out of the funny papers. Never mind, you already do that. Idiot.

And my response:
Thanks for the note. You're right, I never took up for Bush, he was a retarded cowboy who could scarcely finish a sentence, much less lead a country. Obama is a brilliant man with a great deal of dignity, compassion, and respect for our constitution. Though I don't agree with many of his policies, at least he is not utterly destroying America at home and abroad, as "W" most certainly did. Not a matter of opinion, a matter of historical record.

By the way, I'm not required to leave politics out of the funny papers. You seem confused about that point, as well as the meaning of the word "hypocrite."

I rarely answer emails like this one in anger, but this guy seemed to need a slap in the face. I know he didn't care but it made me feel better to write it. I'm only human.