October 16th, 2013

Garbage and Crap

by Wayno & Piraro

Bizarro is brought to you today by Wholesomeness.

As I’ve discussed on this blog before, no matter how long I’m in the syndicated cartoon business, I never cease to be amazed by the kinds of things that are and are not accepted for publication on newspaper funny pages. This cartoon is another example; the original version had “Crap” on the menu and the waiter was saying, “May I recommend the crap?” The childish crudeness of the term made this a funnier gag, in my opinion. But I was told that “crap” could not be used (because it is such a powerful, pernicious, society-corrupting word?) so I opted for the next best thing. The gag is the same, I guess, and America is still safe for women and children so it’s a happy ending. WHEW!

BIZARROVERS: As proven above, smutty words are not allowed on the funny pages of newspapers but you can always get away with “cartoon cursing.” This cartoon from 2000 exhibits a prisoner in solitary confinement making lemons out of lemonade. Mmmm, delicious and refreshing.