Comics Kingdom | Bizarro by Wayno & Piraro

Wayno & Piraro

About

Bizarro is a comic panel where UFOs hover, dynamite sizzles, birds perch upside-down, and a slice of pie hides in every corner. Bizarro is the stage where cartoonists Wayno (one name only, please) and Dan Piraro present their eccentric worldview, sprinkled with cryptic secret symbols. Highly praised for its artwork and off-the-wall humor, Bizarro appeals to literate audiences who enjoy offbeat humor.

Bizarro takes a surreal and satirical look at our idiosyncratic world. Observing simple everyday things with a twisted sensibility, the comic panel offers a reliably weird rectangle of absurdity on the comics page, in print and in pixels.

After almost 35 years of writing and drawing a joke every single day, Dan has given himself a much-deserved break, and now only creates the Sunday cartoons. Beginning on January 1, 2018, the Monday-through-Saturday cartoons are now all drawn and written by Dan’s good friend and longtime colleague, Wayno, although they collaborate on many of the ideas and discuss how to make each one the best it can be.

Piraro won The National Cartoonists Society’s "Best Newspaper Cartoon Panel" an unprecedented three years in a row (2000, 2001 and 2002). He also received nominations again in 2006 and 2007. Piraro won the prestigious Reuben Award for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year” from the National Cartoonists Society in 2010.

Wayno began writing gags for Bizarro in 2009, assisted as Piraro's colorist for three years, and twice served as guest artist before joining as the daily cartoonist.

Awards and Distinctions:

-An unprecedented three consecutive “Best Newspaper Panel” awards from the National Cartoonists Society (2000, 2001, 2002), with additional nominations in 2006 and 2007, and a fourth award in 2015.

-The National Cartoonists Society’s highest award, “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year,” in 2010.

-Five “Genesis Awards” from the Humane Society of the United States.

-Harvey Award nomination for “Best Newspaper Cartoon.”

-20 collections of Bizarro published.

-Live, staged comedy show, “The Bizarro Baloney Show” was awarded “Best Solo Show” at the New York International Fringe Festival.

Authors

Wayno®

Wayno is a cartoonist, illustrator, writer, and musician based in Pittsburgh, PA.

He's worked in underground and alternative comics, and has enjoyed a long career as a humorous illustrator, working with such clients as The New Yorker, Nickelodeon Magazine, Rhino Records, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian and The New York Times.

His comics panel WaynoVision ran online from 2014 through 2017. As a writer, Wayno created more than 150 gags for Bizarro, and filled in twice as Bizarro's guest cartoonist. He's also written many gags for Hilary Price's Rhymes With Orange, and served as Hilary's guest cartoonist for a week in 2012.

He has mounted several one-man exhibits of his cartoon pop paintings and illustration art. Wayno also performs on harmonica, ukulele, and vocals with The Red Beans & Rice Combo, a trio that includes fellow cartoonist Dave Klug on drums and pianist Tom Roberts.

Wayno is a member of the United Cartoon Workers of America, the National Cartoonists Society, and the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators. His rumored association with the enigmatic Bushmiller Society has never been definitively confirmed.
Visit Wayno's blog at http://waynocartoons.blogspot.com/

Dan Piraro

Bizarro by Dan Piraro was first syndicated in 1985 and continues to be the highest-rated comic among his close friends and family.

Piraro has published around 18 or 20 books of cartoons, art, and humor. When he is not failing to remember the exact number of books he’s published, he paints, composes and performs music, does stand-up comedy, and shouts at idiots on his television. In 2014, Piraro became one of those idiots as the on-screen host and narrator of the most expensive prime-time reality show produced to that date, Fox TV’s Utopia. The show was awful and justifiably canceled after only three months. Sources close to the network assured Piraro it was not his fault. (Whatever. He can’t stand reality TV, anyway.)

Bizarro won an unprecedented three consecutive Reuben Awards for “Best Cartoon Panel” from the National Cartoonists Society in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, was nominated again in 2006 and 2007, and won again in 2015. In 2010, Piraro won the NCS’s highest award, “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.”

In 2016, Piraro moved to central Mexico and on Jan 1, 2018, announced his semi-retirement from cartooning and is now only doing the weekly Sunday cartoon. Since then, the Monday-Saturday Bizarro cartoons are the handiwork of Dan’s longtime friend, colleague, and occasional collaborator, Wayno. Piraro now paints (almost) full time under the name Diego Piraro. His fine art can be seen on diegopiraro.com and on IG @diegopiraro.

Dan comments weekly on both his and Wayno’s cartoons from his blog at Bizarro.com.

Arctic Circle