Daniel Charles Piraro (born 1958) is a painter, illustrator, and cartoonist best known for his syndicated cartoon panel ''
Bizarro
Bizarro () is a supervillain/anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in ''Superboy'' #68 (1958 ...
''. Piraro's cartoons have been reprinted in 16 book collections (as of 2012). He has also written three books of prose.
Biography
Piraro was born in
Kansas City, Missouri, and his family moved to
Ponca City, Oklahoma
Ponca City ( iow, Chína Uhánⁿdhe) is a city in Kay County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The city was named after the Ponca tribe. Ponca City had a population of 25,387 at the time of the 2010 census- and a population of 24,424 in the 2020 ...
when he was 4 years old. When he was in junior high school his family moved to
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
, where he graduated from
Booker T. Washington High School in 1976.
He dropped out of
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
.
[John Marshall]
"A moment with... Dan Piraro, 'Bizarro' cartoonist"
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States.
The newspaper was f ...
'', May 1, 2006. He lived in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
and New York City for many years. He had two daughters with his first wife, and later married Ashley Lou Smith. After they divorced, he moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, California. On October 30, 2016 he announced that he and his partner 'Olive Oyl' (or "O2") had purchased a house in Mexico and would be residing there beginning December 2016. Syndicated since 1985, ''Bizarro'' was appearing in 250 papers by 2006.
In 2013, Piraro coined the
idiom "New Artists" to represent those cartoonists who distribute their work directly onto the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, without the use of a syndicate or a business intermediary.
In 2014, he hosted the Fox reality television show
''Utopia''.
Political views
Piraro describes himself as "liberal and progressive politically" and identifies as an
atheist.
This being apparent in his work has garnered occasional complaints, as in 2005 when he offered newspapers a politics-free version of a comic supporting gay rights. A glitch however meant that papers printing in color received the political version while those in black and white received its tamer counterpart.
In 2002, Piraro became a
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
. His activism is visible in ''Bizarro'', often incorporating vegan and animal cruelty themes into his cartoons. In an interview, he stated, "If you look at my strip over the years, I’ve always had a form of animal sympathy and animal rights." Piraro has also incorporated an entire section devoted to veganism on his website, detailing his reasons for becoming a vegan, and other vegan-related information.
[
In 2007, Piraro designed a limited edition T-shirt for endangeredwear.com to raise money for the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, a non-profit organization committed to ending the systematic abuse of animals used for food.
In a 2011 interview with This Land Press, Piraro discussed his challenges as a liberal growing up in Tulsa, OK.
]
Awards
Since 2001, Piraro has toured the U.S. with his one-man comedy show, ''The Bizarro Baloney Show'', which won the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across sev ...
's award for Best Solo Show. He played the full show for the final time in 2008, although he has performed bits from the show a few times since then.Reuben Award
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
, as Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, and he finally was given a Reuben Award in 2010.
Books
* ''Bizarro'' (1986)
* ''Too Bizarro'' (1988)
* ''Mondo Bizarro'' (1989)
* ''Sumo Bizarro'' (1990)
* ''Glasnost Bizarro'' (1990)
* ''The Book of Lame Excuses'' (1991)
* ''Post-Modern Bizarro'' (1991)
* ''Best of Bizarro'' (1992)
* ''Best of Bizarro II'' (1994)
* ''Bizarro #9'' (1995)
* ''Bizarro #10'' (1996)
* ''Bizarro Among the Savages: A Relatively Famous Guy's Experiences on the Road and in the Homes of Strangers'' (1997)
* ''Life Is Strange and So Are You: A Bizarro Sunday Treasury'' (2001)
* ''The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House'' (2004)
* ''Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro'' (2006)
* ''Bizarro Buccaneers: Nuttin' but Pirate Cartoons'' (2008)
* ''Bizarro Heroes'' (2011)
* ''Creative Haven Bizarro Land Coloring Book'' (2016)
Audiobook narrator
* Author – Daniel J. Levitin (2016). '' A Field Guide to Lies'' (aka, ''Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era''); , ,
References
External links
*
* National Cartoonists Society (NCS)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Piraro, Dan
1958 births
American comic strip cartoonists
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
21st-century male artists
Booker T. Washington High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni
Living people
People from Dallas
Artists from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Washington University in St. Louis alumni
Reuben Award winners
Artists from Kansas City, Missouri