Music Comedy

Oh yeah, Oh yeah...

I'm doing a variety show thing in NYC this coming Sunday night, September 19, 2010. There will be music and comedy by several performers, two of whom will be me. I'll do a ten-minute set of comedy, then later in the show I'll be performing one of my original songs (not a comedy song) about Brooklyn. It's called "Brooklyn."

The show is hosted by my buddy, Matthew Diffee, famed cartoonist of The New Yorker and fellow former Texan. Please come by if you're in the area, please send your area friends if you're not.

Tickets are $10 at the door or $7 in advance at www.nuyorican.org TICKETS AND INFO

September 19th 7:00pm
Nuyorican Poets Cafe
236 E. 3rd Street (between ave B and C)
New York, NY

Hope to see you there.


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Earth Hat

Bizarro is brought to you today by Vegan Chicken Strips.

Just got back from my two comedy things in Santa Rosa, California, home of the Charles Schulz Museum and am happy to report they both went well and we had a great time. Thanks to those of you who came to the shows, it was fun meeting you. (Except for you, Hoyt. Never contact me again.)

The first cartoon shown here is a take on the cliche, "Let me through I'm a doctor" deal. In this case, the cartoony-looking guy has slipped on a banana peel and only a cartoonist will do. In my continuing habit of honoring Alfred Hitchcock, I appear as the cartoonist. My good friend and colleague, Wayno, came up with this idea. We had different ideas about this cartoon which we didn't discover until I published it and we got to chatting. He explains here why his original victim was a wealthy dandy, whereas I always think of the fallen slapstick victim as a blue-collar dude, like the moving guy who gets crushed by the piano.

This second cartoon is fairly odd even for me, which is what I like about it. I often notice bored couples in restaurants who seem not to say a word during their entire dining experience, even while waiting for the food. CHNW talks so much (even when she's alone) that I doubt that will ever happen to us. It always makes me sad to see this, but I could be assuming too much. Maybe they're as happy as anyone else, they just don't like to gab about it all the time.

Cartoon three is from the archives of Bizarro Headquarters. Keith Rust is an actual friend of mine. I didn't choose him for any particular reason, just thought he'd be a good subject for this gag. This is the sort of classically surreal gag that I really love and don't come up with nearly often enough.

More tomorrow, don't be late!

5 Days to Die #4 (of 05)

5 Days to Die #4 (of 05)
Sep 2010 | 27 pages | CBR | 20.7 MB
Download MIRROR #1

Download MIRROR #2

Monkey Covers

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

Ken Hale jumps into action on Leonard Kirk's cover to Gorilla-Man #2 (2010).

(Standard disclaimer about double gun-toting man-gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Friday Night Fights: Batman vs. The Hulk

From Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk (DC Special Series v. 5 #27). Art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez & Dick Giordano. Story by Len Wein. Colors by Glynis Wein. Letters by John Costanza.

DC vs. Marvel? It's a Free For All!

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth *
2 (-). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
3 (+2). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
4 (-). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
5 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
6 (-3). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
7 (-). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
8 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
9 (-3). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
10 (-2). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
11 (+1). The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future
12 (+10). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books *
13 (-3). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
14 (+5). Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill
15 (-1). Walking Dead Volume 12
16 (-5). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
17 (-2). The Cloud Searchers (Amulet)
18 (+5). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight *
19 (+1). Watchmen
20 (-7). Kick-Ass
21 (+3). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
22 (-4). American Born Chinese (paperback)
23 (+10). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
24 (+18). Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3
25 (R). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
26 (+4). Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows
27 (-11). Blackest Night
28 (-11). Lost at Sea
29 (+3). The Walking Dead, Book 2
30 (+6). Batman: The Killing Joke
31 (-). Green Lantern: Blackest Night
32 (-3). V for Vendetta
33 (-8). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
34 (-7). The Complete Peanuts Boxed Set 1975-1978 (Vol. 13-14) *
35 (R). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
35 (N). The Complete Peanuts 1977-1978 (Vol. 14) *
36 (R). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
37 (R). Warriors: Ravenpaw's Path #3: The Heart of a Warrior
38 (N). Empowered Volume 6 *
39 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
40 (N). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale *
41 (-2). Hetalia Axis Powers Volume 1 *
42 (R). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
43 (R). Batman: Hush
44 (R). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
45 (-19). The Walking Dead, Book 1
46 (-5). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
47 (-9). Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat
48 (-11). The Walking Dead Book 5
49 (-2). Batman: Year One
50 (-29). The Arrival


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 Wimpy Kid book 5 retains the top spot, followed by five Scott Pilgrim volumes. SP vol. 4 returns to the graphic novel category, while vol. 5 remains mysteriously absent.

* On the overall list, Wimpy Kid moves up to #10, while the Scott Pilgrim volumes slip to #75, #83, #89, #100 & #107. Persepolis is at #352, while the last book in the top 50 is at #4,457 on the overall list. (This is again a rise from last week's #5,185.)

* Only two new books this week: the latest volume of Empowered and a Serenity OGN, both in pre-order.

Ant Vamps

Bizarro is brought to you today by Wrong Babysitter.

This is the second ant cartoon I've done in the past couple of weeks. A friend of mine said, "Do an ant cartoon," and I started thinking about it. Maybe I'll come up with more, dunno.

While researching pictures of ants online, I saw these ones with the big scary jaws and that's what gave me the idea of adding vampire fangs. Not very scary.


Today's dusty mummy cartoon from the archive is from 1998. For those of you who are familiar with the laws of perspective, you'll enjoy this view from the advanced principles course.

Finally, I'm on my way to the San Francisco Bay Area for a couple of appearances (I'll be at the Schulz Museum Saturday from 1pm to 4:30pm) so I won't be posting again until next Tuesday, Sept 14. Hope to see you then.

By the way, I'll be doing a short comedy set and singing an original song at a dandy variety show in NYC on Sunday, Sept 19th. If you're in the area, drop by, golldernit. Famed cartoonist from The New Yorker, Matthew Diffee, will be backing me up on banjo. For reals.

The Steam Powered Hour
Sept 19th, 7 pm
at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe
236 East 3rd St.
between Ave B and C
212-505-8183

Tickets haven't gone on sale yet, I'll announce it again next week with a link.
Have a great weekend.


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