''Bizarro'' is a single-

panel Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts * Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image *Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...

cartoon written and drawn by cartoonist Dan Piraro and later by cartoonist Wayne "Wayno" Honath.

Publication history

Launched January 21, 1985, the panel appears daily in 350 markets throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Initially syndicated by

Chronicle Features Chronicle Features was the syndication arm of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Syndicating comic strips, newspaper columns, and editorial features, it operated from 1962 to c. 1998. The syndicate was known for the offbeat comic strips it championed ...

, it moved to the

Universal Press Syndicate Universal Press Syndicate (UPS), a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, was an independent press syndicate. It distributed lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roger Ebe ...

in 1995 and then King Features Syndicate in 2003. On January 1, 2018, Piraro's friend and colleague Wayne "Wayno" Honath took over creative duties on the daily strip, with Piraro continuing to do the Sunday strip. Wayno had been collaborating on writing the strip since 2009 and had drawn the strip for a few previous stretches.

Characters and story

''Bizarro'' gives an eccentric, exaggerated and, as the name implies, bizarre look at everyday life. Piraro has described it as "about the incredibly surreal things that happen to all of us in our so-called 'normal' lives." The situations are surreal, yet often plausible. Some cartoons involve celebrities, such as Sheryl Crow and

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller. The duo has been featured ...

, while others make

reference Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a '' name'' ...

to themselves or characters from comics or animation, such as Superman and

Gumby ''Gumby'' is an American clay animation franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. Gumby stars in two television series, the feature-length '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other media. He im ...

. Comics critic Tom Heintjes described ''Bizarros themes, cryptic aspects and expansion into performance art: :Piraro has taken his panel in directions simultaneously surreal and topical. In a comic universe where world-weary talking dogs exist alongside nihilistic housewives, Piraro gives his cartoons heft by skewering his own ''bêtes noires'': wasteful consumerism, environmental destruction, corporate greed and sheeplike people, to name a few. (He also espouses animal rights in his work, for which the Humane Society honored him in January with its Genesis Award.) Though his humor is never didactic, Piraro's work is remarkable in its unwillingness to pander, even when the occasional panel borders on the inscrutable. (For example, he once used the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

as a punchline; if you skipped history class that day, tough.) The 54-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, native has also begun participating in the nascent vaudeville revival with his one-man ''Bizarro Bologna Show'', an entertainment potpourri into which he incorporates puppetry, song, ventriloquism, mind reading and drawing (not to mention slides of ''Bizarro'' cartoons too blue for newspaper publication). Creatively restive, Piraro also produces fine art, some of which uses the Catholic imagery that he was exposed to at parochial school.

Hidden symbols

Most ''Bizarro'' cartoons since 1995 include one or more of these devices hidden somewhere in the cartoon: * an eyeball (the Eyeball of Observation), * a piece of pie (the Pie of Opportunity), * a rabbit (the Bunny of Exuberance), * an alien in a spaceship (the Flying Saucer of Possibility), * the abbreviation "K2" (referring to Piraro's children Kaitlin and Killian), * a crown (the Crown of Power), * a stick of dynamite (the Dynamite of Unintended Consequences), * a shoe (the Lost Loafer), * an arrow (The Arrow of Vulnerability), * a fish tail (The Fish of Humility) * an upside down bird (the Inverted Bird) *

Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed '' Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was ...

, or the abbreviation "O2" (the Mighty Oyl) (first occurrences in May 2017) * a smoker's pipe (the Pipe of Ambiguity), added 01/01/2021 As of 2008, Piraro indicates how many symbols are hidden in each strip with a number above his signature.Lana Berkowitz, "Dan Piraro's symbols: What do they mean?" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'', May 26, 2008.

Awards

The strip and its creator have been recognized with several awards, including the National Cartoonists Society's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award (in 1999, 2000 and 2001). Nominated for the NCS

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 ...

each year from 2002 to 2010, it finally won in 2010. In 2005, Piraro was seen in the 75th anniversary in '' Blondie''.

Veganism

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. ...

. The effects of that lifestyle change are visible in his work, as Piraro often incorporates vegan and animal cruelty themes into his cartoons. He garnered kudos from the "cruelty-free" activist community for being a visible supporter of its cause, while others, including fans of his older work, see his new output as overtly preachy, viewing his cartoons as conveying more message than humor. 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 working to end the systematic abuse of animals used for food.

References

External links

* * * * {{Italic title American comic strips 1985 comics debuts Gag-a-day comics Gag cartoon comics