Mobs and Monsters
I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic. Each week, I post my Sunday Bizarro comic, then a short essay, then the past week’s Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics written and drawn by my partner, Wayno whose weekly blog post is highly recommended.
Here’s the ANSWER KEY to this week’s Sunday comic, above.
——————————————————
Happy (nearly) Halloween and Day of the Dead, Jazz Pickles. Though they are related, there are fundamental differences between the U.S. holiday of Halloween and that of Dia de Los Muertos in México.
In short, at one time, American Halloween was about indulging in the scary aspects of life, but it has evolved into exploring all aspects of fantasy in general. That’s why we typically see costumes ranging from monsters, ghosts, and zombies, to sexy nurses, princesses, and superheroes. In the U.S., any costume that isn’t your “normal” look is acceptable for Halloween.
In México, by contrast, the holiday is much more spiritual. Though we occasionally see a few elements of American-style Halloween around this time of year, the intent of Dia de Los Muertos is not to frighten, but to honor our dead ancestors, so the costumes tend to be almost exclusively folks dressed as skeletons in old-fashioned clothing. People also create small altars in their homes and on the streets (see photo below) which typically include lots of bright orange marigolds (the traditional flower of the Day of the Dead) along with photos of deceased loved ones and often mementos from their life and perhaps a few of their favorite foods or drinks. It isn’t a sad holiday at all, but one of rejoicing in your memories of those who have gone before.
On the actual Day of the Dead, crowds descend by the thousands upon the cemeteries, decorating the graves of their loved ones with all manner of things, and spending the day with food, music, and memories. To visit a cemetery on that day can be both entertaining and very moving.
Me, my daughter, my son-in-law, my other daughter, Olive Oyl (Photo by Don Gooch, my other son-in-law at the time.)
The photo above was taken in 2017 when my daughters and their husbands came to visit us on DotD. It’s one of my favorites.
This shot of Olive Oyl and yours truly was taken a year later. She’s taller than I (hence my pet name for her) but I’m hunkering down here to fit my big hat into the frame. Readers of my graphic novel, Peyote Cowboy, will notice a resemblance between my costume and that of the mysterious skeleton guy in my story. I did that intentionally but what’s interesting is that tall, skinny top hats are common in traditional DotD costumes in Mexico, which I did not know when I designed my skeleton character for PeyCow.
On a different topic, we went to an art show last night and came across the amazing paintings of Yui Sakamoto. (@groovygnome on Instagram) I’d marveled at his work before but had no idea until last night that not only does he reside in this town, he lives about two blocks from our house! In fact, we’ve walked our dogs past his place every morning for over five years and have seen him, his wife, and several kids coming and going countless times. They’re hard to miss, being the only Japanese family we’ve ever seen in this Mexican residential area where we live.
He’s a super friendly guy, as you may be able to deduce from the photo of him and Olive Oyl below.
And, as you can see below, his work is right down my alley. He has an international following and I’m sure it will grow exponentially in the coming years. Until he moves, we’ll be proud to have him in our barrio!
This is a crappy photo of a big painting of his that I really love, taken in haste before the crowd stepped back in front of it. No shortage of secret symbols here!
Below is a detail from another of his large works. I wanted to ask him if he takes psychedelics but he was swamped with fans and I didn’t want to take up too much of his time. He doesn’t speak English so we had to converse in Spanish which slows me down considerably.
Finally, on the topic of psychedelics, here’s a story I got from a reader as a result of my previous post last week about psychedelics that I thought worth sharing.
“For my 80th birthday last month, I asked for my 1st Magic Mushroom trip. My daughter was my trip advisor and it was an amazing experience…
…This was a true gift, and I realize it came to me when I needed this connection to the Universe. Thanks for sharing your stories with me.”
With that lovely story in mind, let’s point our peepers at Wayno’s Bizarro cartoons from the week…
Wayno got a bit of weird, angry mail about this cartoon, which he posted on his blog this week.
When dressed as the Devil, it’s probably better to make extra certain that you don’t die.
Here’s a cartoon of mine from a while back that is on a similar theme.
As a person with a big mustache, should I be offended that people with big mustaches are always cast as the villain? I think I’ll save my energy.
Parts of him are okay but other parts I just can’t stand.
For those having trouble understanding this one, we recommend you add a Y.
Sadly, Mexicans eat even more sugar than Americans and obesity and diabetes are nearly epidemic. Accordingly, instead of handing out candy on Halloween night, we’re giving out cigarettes.
That’s the end of this year’s comedy costume party, Jazz Pickles. I hope your mask didn’t get uncomfortable. If you dig our crazy vibe and that we offer it for free, please consider helping us keep it that way via one of the links below. You’ll feel good for giving and we’ll feel good about you!
Until next time, make sure your bedsheet ghost costume is short enough that you can run like hell if bigger kids try to steal your candy. (When I was 11, my buddy, Doug’s, was not and he got caught and roughed up a bit.)
BIZARRO SHOP Fun and cheap!
… Bizarro TIP JAR One-time or repeating. Your choice!
…Signed, numbered, limited edition prints and original Bizarro panels