Saturday, 9 January 2010

Pun For The Whole Pamily











(If you want to see some big cartoon in front of your face, click the chocolate head's pipe)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Awesome Possibilities.

Here's the third in a continuing series of puns. I like unusual puns but don't often think of them, so the vast majority of the ones you see in this series are donated from friends or readers. If you think of an original pun, send it to me via email (found on Bizarro.com) or as a comment on my blog. If I think it might make a fun gag, you may experience the ecstasy of seeing your idea in the Sunday comics. But keep in mind, that's the only compensation you'll get. It's not a paying gig, it's just for giggles.

The most challenging thing about the ones above was rendering the college professors in chocolate. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be. I wanted to make them dark enough to look like chocolate, but not so dark that they looked like globs of motor oil. Also, without the mortarboard caps, there would be nothing to identify them as academia so I had to include that on each one, which crowds the box and adds a level of confusion that wouldn't have been there otherwise. In the end, I think it works well enough.

Drawing feet from a jillion different angles was no picnic either, but I've always been pretty good with anatomy, so it wasn't a nightmare.

Until Monday, "Keep a song in your heart and a dagger in your teeth." --Doris Day

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: Dog Days
2 (-). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
3 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
6 (+6). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
7 (+1). Watchmen
8 (+12). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
9 (+8). The Complete Persepolis
10 (-4). Dilbert: 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar
11 (-4). Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
12 (+21). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
13 (+8). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
14 (+10). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
15 (-5). Asterios Polyp
16 (+13). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
17 (-8). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters *
18 (-3). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
19 (-8). Dilbert: 2010 Wall Calendar
20 (-7). Footnotes in Gaza: A Graphic Novel
21 (+1). V for Vendetta
22 (-6). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
23 (+19). American Born Chinese
24 (-10). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)
25 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
26 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
27 (R). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
28 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
29 (R). The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale
30 (-4). Simon's Cat
31 (+8). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat *
32 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
33 (N). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
34 (-6). Stitches: A Memoir
35 (R). Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
36 (+11). Stephen King's The Stand Vol. 2: American Nightmares *
37 (-10). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
38 (R). The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists
39 (+10). Incognito
40 (-6). Blankets
41 (-). The Arrival
42 (-24). Marvel Encyclopedia
43 (N). Invincible Iron Man, Vol. 3: World's Most Wanted, Book 2
44 (-9). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1974 (Box Set) (Vol. 11-12)
45 (R). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
46 (+4). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
47 (-16). The Boys Volume 5: Herogasm
48 (N). Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
49 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
50 (-2). Batman: Battle for the Cowl


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:

* I forgot to do this list on Friday, so here it is on Saturday morning. I may decide to move this feature to Saturdays for 2010. Or not. I have six days to decide, I guess...

* With the start of a new semester, the University Effect is in full swing, with titles like Maus & Persepolis popping up into the top 10.

* Recent publicity about the upcoming Scott Pilgrim movie seems to be the impetus for all five Scott Pilgrim volumes suddenly showing up in the middle of the list. Will this be sustainable (at least until the movie comes out)? Oddly, volume 4 never showed up on the top 50 list last year.

* Also oddly Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth never appeared on the list last year either. The only true new item this week is the latest Invincible Iron Man collection.

* That promised 2009 Amazon best sellers mega list and commentary will hopefully be posted sometime next week...