I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic. Each week, I post my Sunday Bizarro comic, a short essay, and then the past week’s Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics written and drawn by my partner Wayno, whose weekly blog post I highly recommend.

And here’s this week’s ANSWER KEY to my Sunday comic’s Secret Symbols.

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Welcome, pickle friends. We have a few important things to cover this week!

First, the yearly convention of the National Cartoonists Society took place over the last few days. This industry event includes cartoonists, editors, publishers and their guests hanging out at a hotel or resort for a few days, eating, drinking, partying, and watching a few of their colleagues deliver presentations about their careers. 

The finale is a formal dinner and awards ceremony complete with tuxedos, evening gowns, engraved plaques, and a heavy statue. It’s just like the Oscars, but without anyone whose face you’d recognize. 

This year, our own ink monkey and my talented partner in comedy Wayno won the NCS award for Best Newspaper Panel! Woohoo!

All of us here at Bizarro Industries are super proud, and it could not have happened to a nicer guy. Thanks for a job well done, amigo!

A few days ago I made a special midweek post about some new T-shirts now available in the King Features online shop. Wayno and I designed them and we encourage you to order dozens in each color.

Find these three shirts and other Bizarro products here.

Changing directions, I watched some of the speeches from the DNC convention last week and was impressed. I prefer not to talk about politics here, but current circumstances warrant making an exception.

I could not be more excited about the change of direction for the Dems. In my estimation, Harris and Walz are the perfect combination for this very dangerous moment in America’s history. 

When I’ve brought up politics here before, a handful of conservative readers always remind me that they come here for humor, not my political opinions. I get that, and I try to stay away from it for that reason.

If this election were about subtle differences of opinion or governing styles, I’d let it be. But it is not. I think all of us have a patriotic responsibility to stand up and say the (would-be) Emperor has no clothes.

It’s no secret that the GOP has been taken over by extremists in recent years, and does not even vaguely resemble the Republicans of Reagan’s era, or any other candidate since the Civil War. Their nominee is toxic and emotionally and mentally unfit for office.

He lost the popular vote twice and doubtless will again, and no matter how the election turns out, he will doubtless attempt to stage another coup, as he did on January 6, 2021. It will be challenged all the way to the Supreme Court, which he has in his pocket. Still, a landslide victory for the Dems across the ballot is the best defense against such a coup.

As Maya Angelou said, “When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time.” He has told us who he is daily for years.

Making a similar point in a different way, when a presidential candidate loses consecutive elections by a landslide in their hometown, where they were born, have spent their entire life, and done business for decades, there’s a powerful reason: he is known.

I lived in NYC for ten years and among New Yorkers, he has been widely known for decades to be a con man without a moral compass.

I’m not a fan of internet memes but I think the one below sums it up pretty well. Feel free to forward or post it wherever you like. 

I will doubtless lose some readers and subscribers over this single post, but better that than lose our democracy. It’s up to us all to preserve it.

Now let’s see what our homegrown King of Kartoons Wayno has for us in this week’s Bizarro cartoons…

Is that a banana under your skin or are you just glad to see me?

And by “my” he means “everyone’s.”

I’m still wondering how to pronounce “K2ISPEE.”

I’m right there with you, dude.

I’ve been told that too.

That concludes today’s cartoon physical, Jazz pickles. Thanks for helping us put our pants back on. If you enjoy these posts and hope we keep offering them for free, please consider helping us keep it that way via these links. We’ll love you for it.

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