Sick and Funny

Bizarro is brought to you today by Showbiz.

Thursday night was the big Comedy for Karma show at Gotham Comedy Club in NYC and it was a big success. According to all reports and reviews, everyone had a great time with the exception of me, and here's why.

A few hours before the show, on Thursday afternoon, I started to come down with a deadly illness of some kind. I felt feverish, nauseous, a little dizzy, achy all over, and weak. Yay! Just how you want to feel when trying to make a roomful of people laugh.

I managed to make it through the show – adrenaline will prop you up on those situations – but by the time I got home that night, I felt like death and passed out like a freshman on Spring Break. About 3 in the morning, the barfing began and I spent the next 24 hours in hell. We all know the feeling. This morning, Saturday, I woke up feeling normal again and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. All in all, about a 40-hour bug.

Here are some shots from the show, my picture from the show is beneath the "Showbiz" link in the first line of this post, and yes, I brought my clothes to the show wadded up in a tiny sack.

Opening the show, Myq Kaplan, a relative newcomer but fast-rising star. Funny, smart, won Best Standup NYC competition last year, has his own Comedy Central special premiering on Apr 30. He's also vegan and has some very smart/funny/not-preachy material about it.

Next, Wyatt Cenac of The Daily Show. Smart, funny, Emmy Award winner, made people laugh openly and without remorse.

Lizz Winstead, creator of The Daily Show and Air America Radio, renowned standup comic, producer, performer extraordinaire. She talked a lot about her dog's habit of eating poop, hilarity ensued.

Gary Gulman, three-time veteran of our show, his Comedy Central special was called "Boyish Man," always a huge hit. Even I was laughing while trying to keep down my lunch.

Dave Atell finished the show in his inimitable, ear-burning style. He's been on every TV network, performed in every comedy club in America, is the quintessential pro, and never has a bad night. Atell killed, as he always does. There were a lot of bodies to clean up, but it was worth it.

Wait a minute! No picture of Louis C.K.? Indeed, he had a business emergency come up and had to cancel at the last minute. Very sad, but I explained to everyone that he's really not very funny and I think that made it better.

NOTE: Many readers have asked that we video tape the show for folks to watch online, but with so many performers, each with their own agents and contractual obligations, it is impossible to get anyone to allow a benefit show like this to be taped, unless it's being broadcast. Except for cartoonists, almost no one will give their work away on a large scale for free. Sorry, gang.

Poor Poo

Watch as Poo ascends to the Pearly Gates of... Heaven?

Thanks to everyone who voted on the right!

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (+2). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
4 (-3). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
5 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
6 (+1). Kick-Ass
7 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
8 (+4). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat
9 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
10 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
11 (+2). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
12 (-2). Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
13 (+11). The Boys Volume 6 SC
14 (-3). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
15 (N). Rough Justice: The DC Comics Sketches of Alex Ross
16 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5 *
17 (+23). Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
18 (N). The Complete Peanuts 1975-1976 (Vol. 13)
19 (-4). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour *
20 (+10). Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
21 (N). Female Force: Ellen DeGeneres
22 (-1). Captain America: Reborn *
23 (-1). Hellboy Volume 9: The Wild Hunt
24 (-10). Warriors: Ravenpaw's Path #2: A Clan in Need
25 (-6). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
26 (+5). Watchmen
27 (+17). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
28 (-1). Irredeemable Vol 2
29 (R). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
30 (N). 50,000,000 Pearls Fans Can't Be Wrong: A Pearls Before Swine Collection *
31 (-11). Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn *
32 (R). Asterios Polyp
33 (-16). Planetary Vol. 4: Spacetime Archaeology
34 (N). A Zits Guide to Living With Your Teenager *
35 (+12). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
36 (R). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
37 (-8). Tales from the Crypt #8: Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid
38 (-15). V for Vendetta
39 (+6). The Losers: Book One (Vols. 1 & 2)
40 (-1). The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis
41 (-4). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
42 (R). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
43 (-18). The Complete Persepolis
44 (N). Northlanders Vol. 3: Blood in the Snow
45 (N). FoxTrot Sundaes: A FoxTrot Collection *
46 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
47 (-1). Mercy Thompson: Homecoming
48 (+1). Batman: Year One
49 (-31). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
50 (-16). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)



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:

* After a week in the shadow of the power of the Wimpy Kid movie, Twilight resumes it place at the top of the comics list (#46 overall).

* Scott Pilgrim remains strong for a second week. Can it keep its strength through the movie's opening in August?

* A good week for strip collections; the latest Complete Peanuts debuts at #18, while collections of Pearls Before Swine, FoxTrot, and Zits also debut.

Fly Crimes and Misdemeanors

Bizarro is brought to you today by Olympic Athletes of Other Worlds.

Today's cartoon is a collaboration between my friend, Richard Cabeza and I. We were discussing how short fly's lives are and then came to the idea of appropriate jail terms. We didn't actually bother to look up the lifespan of the common housefly, of course, that would have been too much like work. One of the nice things about being a cartoonist is that nobody can really hold your feet to the flames about inaccuracies. "It's just a cartoon," is a pretty good defense in virtually any situation.

Tonight is the big comedy show in NYC. I'm a little edgy, as I always am before a show, and I can't keep myself from ad libbing punch lines and cracking wise. It's a subconscious thing as my mind prepares itself to think quickly, but it's obnoxious as hell and CHNW does her best to stay away from me and keep conversation down to a minimum until showtime. Hope to see some of you there.

Until tomorrow, be well, my friends, and keep your hands and feet inside the cockpit at all times.

Here Comes the April Fool!

New Library Comics: February 2010

Here's a list of the comics we added to our library collection in February :


Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888. Louisa May Alcott / Mount Horeb, Wis. : Eureka Productions, 2009.

ʻAlī, Nājī. A child in Palestine : the cartoons of Naji al-Ali / London ; New York : Verso Books, 2009.

Allbritton Taylor, C., 1967- One model nation / Berkeley, CA : Image Comics, c2009.

Apostolidès, Jean-Marie. The metamorphoses of Tintin, or, Tintin for adults / Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, c2010.

Azuma, Kiyohiko. Yotsuba&! v. 7 / New York, NY : Yen Press, 2009-

Baker, Kevin, 1958- Luna Park / New York : Vertigo/DC Comics, 2009.

Bashi, Parsua, 1966- Nylon road : a graphic memoir of coming of age in Iran / New York, N.Y. : St. Martin's Griffin, 2009.

Bell, Marc, 1971- Hot potatoe / Montréal : Drawn & Quarterly, c2009.

Brubaker, Ed. Criminal / New York : Marvel, 2009.

Buhle, Paul, 1944- Comics in Wisconsin / Madison, Wis. : Borderland Books, c2009.

Buzzati, Dino, 1906-1972. Poem strip / New York : New York Review Books, 2009.

Campbell, Eddie, 1955- Alec. "The years have pants" : (a life-sized omnibus) / Marietta, GA : Top Shelf Productions ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2009.

Campbell, Ross. Wet moon v. 2 : unseen feet / Portland, Or. : Oni Press, 2004-

Campbell, Ross. Wet moon v. 4 / Portland, Or. : Oni Press, 2004-

Casper the friendly ghost 60th anniversary special. / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2009.

Churilla, Brian. The engineer : "konstrukt" / Los Angeles, CA : Archaia Entertainment LLC, 2009.

Comtois, Pierre. Marvel Comics in the 1960s : an issue-by-issue field guide to a pop culture phenomenon / Raleigh, North Carolina : Twomorrows Publishing, 2009.

Cotter, Joshua W. Driven by lemons / Richmond, VA : Adhouse Books, 2009.

Crumb, R. The complete Crumb v. 12. Working with people : co-evolution quarterly winds of change American splendor zap comics / Seattle : Fantagraphics Books, [1987?]-

Dany&Dany (Writers) Anima / Las Vegas, Nev. : Yaoi ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2008.

Dany&Dany (Writers) I.D.O.L. / [Las Vegas, Nev.] : Yaoi Press, [2007]

Dany&Dany (Writers) The lily and the rose / Las Vegas, Nev. : Yaoi ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2007.

Dany&Dany (Writers) Wishing for the moon / Las Vegas, Nev. : Yaoi Press, [2007]

Davis, Eleanor, 1983- Stinky : a toon book / New York : Toon Books, c2008.

Ditko, Steve. The art of Ditko / San Diego, Calif. : IDW ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2009.

Drooker, Eric, 1958- Blood song : a silent ballad / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2009.

Duncan, Randy, 1958- The power of comics : history, form, and culture / New York : Continuum, 2009.

Eagle annual : the best of the 1960s comic / London : Orion, 2009.

East, Oliver. Proper go well high / London : Blank Slate Books, 2008.

Ellis, Warren. Transmetropolitan v.4 The new scum / New York : DC Comics, c2009-

Gamache, Line, 1956- Poof! / Montréal : Conundrum Press, c2009.

Goddin, Philippe. The art of Hergé, inventor of Tintin v. 2. 1937-1949 / San Francisco, Ca. : Last Gasp, c2008-

Godwin, Frank, 1889-1959. Connie : battle for titan predators of polaria. / Long Beach, CA : Pacific Comics Club, 2009.

Godwin, Frank, 1889-1959. Connie : captives of the space pirates master of the Jovian moons. / Long Beach, CA : Pacific Comics Club, 2009.

Gould, Chester. The complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy v. 9. Dailies & Sundays, 1944-1945 / San Diego, Calif. : IDW Publishing, 2006-

Gray, Harold, 1894-1968. The complete Little Orphan Annie v. 4. A house divided (or will fate trick Trixie?), dailies and color Sundays 1932-33 / San Diego, Calif. : IDW Pub., 2008-

Green, Justin. Binky Brown meets the holy Virgin Mary / San Francisco : McSweeneys Books, 2009.

Grist, Paul. The eternal conflicts of the Cosmic Warrior. / Berkely, CA : Image Comics, Inc., 2009.

Hernandez, Gilbert. The troublemakers / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, 2009.

Huizenga, Kevin, 1977- Ganges no. 3 / Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, c2006-

Katsumata, Susumu, 1943-2007. Red snow / Montréal : Drawn & Quarterly, 2009.

Keane, Bil, 1922- The family circus : [daily and Sunday comic 1960-61] / San Diego, Calif. : IDW Publishing, c2009.

Kibuishi, Kazu, 1978- Copper / New York : Graphix, 2010.

Langridge, Roger. The treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson. / Los Angeles, CA : Boom! Studios, 2010.

Linthout, Willy, 1953- Years of the elephant / [Tarragona, Spain] : Fanfare/Ponent Mon, c2009.

Mangin, Valrie. Scourge of the gods v.2 : the fall / New York : Marvel ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2009.

Mann, Marvin Perry. Some new kind of slaughter, or, Lost in the flood (and how we found home again) : diluvian myths from around the world / Chicago : Archaia, c2007.

Marder, Larry. Beanworld bk. 3. Remember here when you are there! / Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Books, 2009-

Matsumoto, Taiyo, 1967- Gogo monster / San Francisco, CA : Viz, [2009]

Mawil. Sparky O'Hare : master electrician / London : Blank Slate Books, 2008.

McKean, Dave. Pictures that tick. Book one / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse, 2009.

McManus, George, 1884-1954. Bringing up father : "from sea to shining sea" : the cross-country tour of 1939-40 / San Diego, Calif. : IDW, 2009.

Mills, Pat. Underground and over the top / London : Titan, 2009.

Moore, Alan, 1953- Saga of the Swamp Thing v. 2 / New York : DC Comics, 2009-

Morrison, Grant. All-star Superman v. 1 / New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, c2007-

Motter, Dean. Electropolis : the infernal machine : a Menlo Park mystery / Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Books, 2009.

Murray, Doug. The 'Nam. v. 1 / New York : Marvel, 2009.

MySpace Dark Horse presents v. 4 / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Books, 2008-

Noir : a collection of crime comics / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2009.

Nowlan, Philip Francis. Buck Rogers in the 25th century : the complete newspaper dailies vol. 3. 1932-1934 / Neshannock, Pa. : Hermes Press, c2008-

Parkin, Lance. Alan Moore / Harpenden, Herts : Pocket Essentials, 2009.

Perker, M. K., 1972- Insomnia café : a graphic novel / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Books, 2009.

Pink is for girls / [Cambridge] : Sweatdrop Studios, c2005.

Rall, Ted. The year of loving dangerously / New York : NBM Comics Lit ; London : Turnaround [distributor], 2010.

Raymond, Alex, 1909-1956. Rip Kirby : the first modern detective : complete comic strips 1946-1948. / San Diego, Calif. : IDW, 2009.

Rilly, Ethan. Pope Hats. no. 1 / Toronto : Ethan Rilly, c2007.

Rosenberg, Jonathan. The corndog imperative / New York : Del Rey/Ballantine Books, c2009.

Sacco, Joe. Footnotes in Gaza / New York : Metropolitan Books, 2009.

Sakabashira, Imiri, 1964- The box man / Montréal : Drawn & Quarterly, c2009.

Sakai, Stan. Usagi Yojimbo : Yokai / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Books, 2009.

Sally, Zak. Like a dog / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, 2009.

Sánchez Abulí, E. Torpedo. v. 1 / San Diego, Calif. : IDW, 2010.

Schulz, Charles M. (Charles Monroe), 1922-2000. Celebrating Peanuts : 60 years / Kansas, Mo. : Andrews McMeel, 2009.

Scott, Jeremy R. PTA night / Berkeley, Calif. : Silverline Books/Image Comics, Inc., 2009.

Seth, 1962- George Sprott, 1894-1975 : a picture novella / Montreal : Drawn and Quarterly, 2009.

Shanower, Eric. Little adventures in Oz v.1. Enchanted apples of Oz ; The king of Oz. / San Diego, Calif. : IDW ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2010-

Shaw, Dash. The unclothed man in the 35th century A.D. / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, 2009.

Stevens, Dave. The rocketeer : the complete adventures / San Diego, Calif. : IDW Publishing ; London : Diamond [distributor], c2009.

Swain, Carol. Crossing the empty quarter and other stories / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2009.

Takahashi, Rumiko, 1957- InuYasha vols. 42-44 / San Francisco, CA : Viz, LLC, c2003-

Taniguchi, Jirō. A distant neighborhood v. 2 / Wisbech, England : Fanfare ; [Rasquera, Spain?] : Ponent Mon, c2009-

The great anti-war cartoons / Seattle : Fantagraphics ; [N.Y.] : distributed in the U.S. by W.W. Norton, c2009.

Urasawa, Naoki, 1960- Pluto : Urasawa x Tezuka v. 6 / San Francisco, CA : VIZ Media, c2008-

Usui, Yoshito, 1958-2009. Crayon Shinchan v. 10 / La Jolla, CA : CMX, c2008-

Veitch, Rick. Abraxas and the Earthman / West Townshend, VT : King Hell Press, c2006.

Wilson, Gahan. Gahan Wilson : 50 years of Playboy cartoons. / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics ; London : Turnaround [distributor], 2009.

Piraro Meets Larson

Bizarro is brought to you today by Sex, Violence, and Illegal Aliens.

Here is a completely true story that I don't believe I've ever mentioned in a public way before.

In 1981, I was 23 and working as a rookie ad designer for Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Tx. (Their headquarters, believe it or not.) I was drawing cartoons simply to entertain myself during downtime and my coworkers encouraged me to get them published. I hadn't seen a comics section of the newspaper in years and thought there was no place for anything more surreal than Marmaduke. But one of them brought in a cartoon from a newcomer, Gary Larson, called "The Far Side". I'd never seen his work before and was surprised that newspapers were, in fact, publishing the sort of cartoons that previously had only been seen in magazines. So I decided to submit my work.

I sent work to the 8 or 10 cartoon syndicates whose addresses I could find at the public library (NO INTERNET!!) and got encouraging responses, but no "takers". One day, I got a phone call from an editor at Chronicle Features in San Francisco, the same syndicate that gave Larson his start. He said he liked my work a lot but since they were selling Larson's work and it was only just then starting to catch on with editors, they didn't feel they had the resources to push another feature in the same category. But he wanted me to keep submitting new work so he could see how I was progressing.

We kept in touch and I sent in new work every month or so. A couple of years later, in 1984, I got a call from them saying that Larson had jumped to another syndicate and that now they had room for me. I was ecstatic. This began a several-month period of my submitting work, them editing it, giving suggestions, and generally grooming me for a daily gig.

During this grooming period, I happened to see an ad in the paper saying that Gary Larson would be appearing for a book signing at a local shopping mall bookstore. I was extremely shy with strangers back then, but decided to go meet him and see what he could tell me about the syndicate he had just left and I was about to join.

When I arrived, it was one of those small, narrow bookstores you see in the typical suburban mega-mall, and at the entrance of the shop was an average looking guy with round, wire frame glasses sitting by himself at a folding table with a stack of books. No one was speaking to him. I introduced myself by saying something like, "I'm Dan Piraro, I've been hired by (editor's name) to replace you at Chronicle Features." He smiled at this and said, "replace me, huh?"

He was a very nice, soft spoken, quiet sort of guy and he answered my questions about syndication. He vouched for Chronicle Features and their editors and said he'd had no complaints about them at all, but that he decided that now that his work was starting to gain some momentum, a bigger syndicate with a larger sales force seemed like a good business move. His words were something to the effect of, "I have no idea how long this is going to last so I figure I have to make as much as I can while I am able."

He fully expected his popularity to wane and wanted to make the most of it, which seemed logical at the time, neither of us knowing what an epic career lay ahead for him. I chatted with him for perhaps half an hour, during which time he signed and sold maybe three books. He hated that first book tour so much that I believe he never did another. I've sat at lonely tables in bookstores, too, and I don't blame him.

I saw Gary only once more, about ten years later, at the funeral of one of our mutual editors. Afterward, we smiled and reminisced about the bookstore meeting and it turned out the "replace you" line was what he remembered most. By this time, he lived in a huge, gated property outside Seattle with attack dogs roaming the grounds like Mr. Burns of "The Simpsons". I was still in a normal house in a normal neighborhood in Dallas, of course. I had a Papillon that roamed the yard from time to time, but it wasn't really the same.

I hadn't thought of that incident in years until it sprang into my head last night like a ninja from the past. Just thought you might enjoy it.