Bizarro is brought to you today by Biblical Fashions.
Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear me. Happy birthday to me.(Sung to the tune of “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina”)
Just like the shooting pain in my chest and the numbness in my left arm, I usually ignore my birthday and hope it just goes away. But since the secret is out, I’ll admit that, yes, today is my birthday. Now that I am over 21, I am allowed to drink legally, marry without my parent’s permission, and drop out of high school. That’s some pretty heavy stuff.
And since you and I are best friends and I know I can trust you not to blab this all over the place, I’ll also admit that I’m having some financial problems. So if you’ve got a couple grand in cash lying around that you don’t want to just hand over to some snotty kid at an electronics store, drop it into my “Tips Jar” at right. I promise that I will use it responsibly and not one cent of it will go to some toothless meth-head holed up in a trailer in the woods. Just like PBS, I’ve been entertaining you commercial-free for years. Unlike PBS, your donation is not tax deductible, and you will receive no tote bag.
Something you may not know is that I often will pick a favorite gag to run on my birthday; sort of a tiny, secret gift to myself. It’s meaningless, I know, but so is much of what you learn in school and I did that for twelve years, so what the hell. This year, I chose the butler joke above. It’s sort of subtle, but once you figure it out I think the payoff is worth it.
This cartoon about Herschel the Pretend Pope is sort of an homage to my favorite cartoonist, B. Kliban. His cartoons, which I first came across during my sixteen weeks in college in 1976 (courtesy of my humor-savvy roommate, Richard) were what motivated me to be a cartoonist. He invented this much-imitated motif: someone doing something nonsensical with a caption describing it in a dry, humorous way. Here’s a fun one. And another. If you look at enough of his work, most of which was done in the sixties and early seventies, you’ll also see how much he influenced Gary Larson.
My favorite Kliban cartoons are “Gloria Has a Visible Organism” and “The Callous Sophisticates Laughed at Judy’s Tiny Head.”
Both great ones!
Merry Dan-mas!
Two Kliban comics that have stuck with me over the years are: an image of a bunch of characters – ostensibly in a novel – who have all clearly been murdered in various ways, and the caption is “Chapter One – Everybody Dies”; and an aroused-looking, possibly naked woman staring at a book (maybe an encyclopedia?) with the caption “Infomaniac”. Oh, and of course, the very straightforward “Birth of Advertising.”
IMHO, you are definitely a creative descendant of Kliban.
So many great Kliban cartoons. Thanks for the compliment, too!
Dan, thanks for the B. Kliban shout out. No matter how many times I look at his work I am thunderstruck. Funny? Fuggedaboudit. The Birth of Advertising — cheenius.
Birth of Advertising is maybe his most iconic cartoon. I agree.
Sorry to hear that you’re having money troubles. I gave what I can right now, hope it helps, as small as it is.
I’ve always considered Bizarro as one of the best single panel comics of my lifetime, right up there with The Far Side, and hope you’ll be able to continue sharing it with us for years to come.
Thanks, AJ!
Happy birthday, Dan, and many more!
Thanks, Jim!
Happy birthday to you! (Unless that was a joke too ;-) )
May you be around many more years to light up our dreary lives!
Thanks!
it’s my birthday too!
Happy to you!
Also unlike PBS, you provide actual intelligent creative stimulation with the pompous condescension and corporate cash-whoring.
Bah, I don’t need no goddamn’ tote bag, man. Aside from the phony liberal posturing and corporate sucking-up, I quit donating to PBS ages ago because all they had to offer was those frickin’ tote bags and boxed sets of Upstairs, Downstairs</i?. Y'know, just once, I’d like for PBS to offer the premium of an ounce of Humboldt stinky buds for a donation of $100 or more. Hell, I’d be on the phone like a shot.
Yeah, I know. Fat goddamn’ chance.
OK, maybe this is too stupid a question to ask, but my partner and I have a disagreement about the “It’s a long walk from the bar…” cartoon: did the drink evaporate during the journey? or did the butler drink it?
The beauty of a cartoon is that either reality can be believed because there is not reality at all. In my mind, he most definitely drank it. :o)
Happy Birthday to you,
I Love what you do,
Your comics are funny,
And so, Dan are you!!!!
Happy Happy Dan. More good on you this year.
One of my Kliban faves:
[A cat singing with guitar on a stool]
Love to eat them mousies …
Mousies what I love to eat!
Bite they little heads off,
Nibble on they tiny feet!
Ah yes, the mousie song. An instant classic!
I have seen the influence of Kliban on your work for years. He left us way too soon so it is nice to see the echoes and reflections in your work.
Am I too late, Am I Too Late?!?!?!….
the one day I think it won’t matter that I forget to check the webpage as soon as I get up and a few dozen times before I go to sleep. Anyways,
Belated Happy Birthday to you…
Be latedly to you…
Happy Birthday that was yesterday,
Happy Yesterday to you…
um… wth, Happy Weekend too!
Your Fan,
Dee Sh
P.S.: Incase I forget, in advance, Happy Birthday for 7th October, 2012!!! Have Fun!
Thanks! Never too late or too early. :o)
Happy birthday!!! xxx
Thank you!
I feel like I’m still missing something from the butler joke. So the butler drank the wine, is there something else? I feel like there must be something more that I’m overlooking, especially if this is a birthday favorite. Anyone care to dumb it down for me a little?
It’s just that the butler went to get a glass of cognac (or whatever) for his master and by the time he had walked all the way back, had drunk it. I thought it was funny. :o)
Happy belated birthday, Dan (or HBD, as the kids say)!
I’ve always wondered why nobody has published all of B. Kliban’s work as a collection yet. If I had the money, I’d do it!