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.

Saludos, Jazz Pickles. Thanks for pointing your peepers at this place.

I’ve lived with one or more dogs since I was a kid and currently have two big ones. And, because all of the women I’ve lived with have had cats, there have always been one or more in the mix. I like both cats and dogs but consider myself more of a dog person. (In some areas, I even prefer dogs over women, but I’m not foolish enough to write about that.)

Those of us who live with cats are familiar with their habit of staring off into other dimensions to which we have no access. You can get right behind them and look at exactly the same place and see nothing, but they’ll continue staring through your wall for a half-hour or more, twitching with subtle anticipation.

I have often wondered what they see. Is it a mystical vision of something they’d like to chase, or are they getting instructions from the planet of their origin? It’s impossible to know.

It was this common phenomenon that inspired the cartoon above; if I wonder what my cat is staring at, perhaps my dogs wonder what I’m staring at when I am reading.

But as good at fitting into the human world as dogs are, it is obvious that they only care about a couple of things: food and affection.

Okay, their attention to affection is probably because we are their food source and are more likely to continue to feed them if they are affectionate companions. So maybe they only care about one thing and don’t give a mouse turd about what or why I’m reading.

I’ve tried to get my dogs interested in books. I began reading a favorite novel aloud to them, but they fell asleep. I figured maybe the plot was too complex so I tried reading a children’s book. That put me to sleep and we all had a good nap. I thought some current events might do the trick, so I read the news to them. They ran away and hid, then fell asleep. Moments later, I joined them.

Out of curiosity, I also tried reading to our cat. She climbed onto the book and fell asleep. I suppose I should have seen that coming.

Time now to see what’s coming from Wayno’s Bizarro cartoons for the week…

Not pictured are Commander Fresh Breath and the Thinning Hair Avenger.

That old-school adrenaline rush of getting caught was much more intense.

The increasing popularity of non-human employees is due to their being more willing to work outside the home.

I guess she’s not into nanny cosplay.

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A BRIEF INTERMISSION to talk about the Bizarro T-shirts in King Feature’s Comics Kingdom Shop. If you nab one, take a pic of yourself and send it to Wayno (WaynoCartoons(at)gmail(dot)com) and he’ll post it on his weekly blog like he did with this guy…

Here’s Bizarro reader Marbel C. striking a heroic pose in his official Jazz Pickle tee as he says, "Great shirt! Thanks!" (From a recent edition of Wayno’s blog. His posts are worth reading, too!)

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The real Fred and Barney, before they were TV stars.

Stu au jus signals the end of our kitchen cartoon concoction this week. Thanks for licking your bowl clean. If you appreciate that we offer our efforts free of charge or ads, please consider helping us keep it this way via the links below. We’ll be as happy as a clam who escaped the chowder.

The Naked Cartoonist…My weekly subscription newsletter of humorous creative writing, photos, art, & more.

… Bizarro TIP JAR One-time or repeating. Your choice!

WAYNO’S TIP JAR One-time or repeating. Your choice!

My graphic novel PEYOTE COWBOY

…Signed, numbered, limited-edition prints and original Bizarro panels  

COMICS KINGDOM SHOP (now with Bizarro products!)

My wife, Olive Oyl’s, art, writing, and photography