A warm Bizarro welcome to our new subscribers. I’m grateful for all of you, newcomers and veterans alike.
I’m still learning the ins and outs of Substack, but I can already see that it’s more stable and easier to use than the old blog platform.
This newsletter will no doubt evolve, but whatever else we add to the mix, there will always be a weekly Bizarro recap with commentary, and those editions will always be free.
Today’s pipe pic was an item I saw offered for sale online a couple of years ago. The seller described it as a “1950s windup Japanese bearmouse toy.” I had no desire to buy it, but definitely wanted to save a copy of the photo.
It falls somewhere between cute and creepy, and I hope whoever bought it didn’t intend to give it to a child. It could easily be the stuff of nightmares.
Creepy, cute, or otherwise, here are the week’s cartoons for your amusement.
Why was he sitting up there in the first place?
I modeled the characters on Sir John Tenniel’s iconic illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. It’s always fun to do a Humpty Dumpty gag, because the commentariat will inevitably climb over each other to add, “Actually, Humpty Dumpty was never really identified as an egg.”
Tuesday’s panel reveals a secret of the fortune-telling trade.
You might have to read the caption twice. In fact, it almost slipped past me as I was composing this newsletter.
This was one of my favorites of the week, depicting the landmark court case where a bird sued a figure of speech.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is one of history’s most recognizable images. The original drawing was meant to represent a human’s ideal proportions, but we make no such claims for the Bizarro version.
To quote Warren Zevon, “I’d like to meet his tailor.”
Law enforcement never knows where this gang will strike next because the gang themselves don’t know.
Career Opportunities
In response to last week’s “Potato Chimps” comic, longtime Bizarro buddy Steve D. sends this 1937 magazine ad. I’d love to see the “free facts” would-be potato chip tycoons received when responding to the ad.
The Exquisite Corpse Returns
Last month, I had a breakfast meetup with my brother (identified above as M) and my great-nephews E and RR. M and I were lucky to get on the boys’ schedules. They do more work over the summer than I did in an entire school year at their age.
We have a tradition of ignoring our phones for a while and making some exquisite corpse drawings, one of which turned out to be a snail-head/fluoroscope/Erector Set/birthday cake combo.
Bonus Track
Martin Denny: “Quiet Village”
from Exotica
Liberty Records LP, 1957
A tropical number for your enjoyment, from the first of at least a dozen Martin Denny albums to feature a photo of Sandra Warner on the cover.
Thanks for subscribing and supporting human cartoonists.
Your comments, questions, and suggestions are heartily encouraged.
Best regards,
Wayno
Copyright © 2026 by Wayno®
The Obligatory Links
If you enjoy what we do and appreciate that it’s free, we encourage you to explore our other outposts.
CK Bizarro Shop (Get your t-shirts here!)
Wayno’s Tip Jar (One-time or recurring)
Dan’s Tip Jar (One-time or recurring)
Dan Piraro on BlueSky
Wayno on BlueSky
@WaynoCartoons on Instagram
Dan Piraro’s Bizarro Blog
Subscribe to The Naked Cartoonist
Dan “Diego” Piraro’s Peyote Cowboy Graphic Novel
Random lines from Warren Zevon songs would be great inspiration for at least a week's worth of panel ideas!
Anybody buying in on that "home business' ad would be a potato chump.