January 22nd, 2012

Happy Party Funny Thing

by Wayno & Piraro

Bizarro is brought to you today by a GAZILLION cartoons.

It occurred to me yesterday that today is the 27th anniversary of Bizarro. The first Bizarro cartoon ran in seven newspapers on January 21, 1985. So that means I’ve been writing and drawing a cartoon-a-day for 27 years! What the hell?

In the photo at left, I am asking myself, “How did this happen?” It seems like just last week that I began this strange journey (okay, it hasn’t been that strange, really; in the end it is just a job that you do every day and somebody sends you a paycheck), but in fact, it was more than a quarter of a century ago.  Does this make me old? (Yes!)  No, of course not, but it would if I had been an adult when I started, which I wasn’t. I was only an infant. The picture below was taken the day I signed my first syndication contract. Look how proud my mother is.

So happy anniversary to me and to Bizarro. Here is a brief list of highlights from my career:

1985––got syndicated

1990––still syndicated

2000––syndicated some more

2010––can’t afford to quit

2012––more cartoons? Are you kidding?

It’s been a wild and wonderful ride and I have my dozens of loyal readers to thank! I wish I could thank each and every one of you personally, but I’m too important and arrogant to remember all 26 of your names. So thank you, one and all.