Bizarro (comic strip)
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Bizarro is a single panel cartoon written and drawn by cartoonist Dan Piraro. It started in 1985.
Bizarro gives an eccentric, exaggerated and, as the name implies, bizarre look at our everyday life. The situations are surreal yet plausible. Many make reference to themselves or other cartoon characters. Most Bizarro cartoons include 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 his children Krelspeth and Krapuzar), a crown (the Crown of Power), a stick of dynamite (the Dynamite of Unintended Consequences), a shoe (the Lost Loafer), and/or an upside down bird (the Inverted Bird) hidden somewhere in the cartoon.
A recent addition to Bizarro is a small single numeral near the artist's signature. It appears to indicate the number of items hidden in the cartoon.
The strip and its creator have been recognized with several awards, including the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1999, 2000, and 2001, and a nomination for their Reuben Award for 2002. In 2005, Piraro was seen in Blondie and Dagwood's 75th anniversary in the comic strip Blondie.
[edit] Veganism
In 2002, Piraro became a vegan. The effects of this lifestyle change are visible in his work, as Piraro now often incorporates vegan and animal cruelty themes into his cartoons. He has gained applause from the "cruelty-free" activist community for being a visible supporter of their cause, while others, including fans of his older work, see his new output as overtly "preachy," viewing his cartoons as being more concerned with conveying a particular message than with humor.
In 2007, Dan designed a limited edition tshirt 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.
