Contest #14

This week is a little harder, I think, because I flipped one of the images. But, THE REVERSAL OF THE ENTIRE IMAGE IS NOT ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES! (UNLESS one individual thing is NOT reversed as it should be. hint hint)

RULES, ETC:
As usual, two images are posted below, one is the original cartoon, the warped image beneath it has been changed in subtle ways. Your mission, if you have the right stuff, find them first and post the list in the comments.

1. There are 15 differences between the two cartoons.
2. NONE of the differences have to do with the warped nature of the second image OR THE REVERSAL OF IT.
3. ALL of the differences are something missing, added, or moved, not just "bent" from the distortion. The differences will not be too subtle, so once you spot one you should be relatively certain you've found it. (As opposed to something like, "I think that guy has one extra whisker. Hmmm.")
4. FIRST PERSON to correctly list the 15 differences in the comments section of the contest post wins this fabulous Cuisinart blender! of , mailed by me personally from Bizarro International Headquarters in Brooklyn. I'll even lick the stamp, unless it's self adhesive. SECOND AND THIRD persons with correct answers will each get 2 packs of Bizarro Trading Cards!
5. Put your email address on your comment so I can contact you if you win. I won't post it or keep it or file it or sell it or mount a Broadway musical about it.
6. If you live outside the U.S./Canada, I may not be able to send you a prize. Depends. Canada is probably fine, Antarctica, probably not.

Click on the image below to ENLARGE and PLAY!

Contest TODAY!!!

As promised, the winner of today's Bizarro Giveaway Puzzle Contest Scramble Competition Game will get a brand new Cuisinart blender, from this site, shown here.

At 8pm NYC time tonight, December 10, 2009, I'll post the two pieces of art with which to compete. Hope to see you then! If you've never played this game before, check out last week's contest.

P.S. I haven't checked with the company donating the prize, but there is some possibility you can't win if you're outside of North America. Sorry, Finland.

HUGE Contest News!

Tomorrow is my usual Thursday Bizarro Puzzle Game Contest Seek-n-Find Competition Thing but this week something will be different!

Assuming some of you are tired of competing for Bizarro Trading Cards (perish the thought!) I figured it might be fun to give away a REAL prize worth ACTUAL money. Accordingly, a company has agreed to award this Cuisinart machine object to the winner of tomorrow's contest!

Check out the price, dudes and dudettes! It's worth over a hundred bucks! That's class!

They sell tons of stuff online, like this thing, counter stools, and some of my favorite modern furniture. Check them out and get all purchasy. By the way, if you want to give something nice to your favorite cartoonist, this would be an excellent choice. (Note the free shipping!)

Meanwhile, spread the word that tomorrow's contest is for REAL! I'm so excited, I'm going to drink the pink stuff in this blender I'm giving away.

BY THE WAY, THIS IS NOT A JOKE, I REALLY AM GIVING AWAY THIS BLENDER.

Playing With Your Food

Bizarro is brought to you today by Bill Maher.

As a lot of you know, like my friend Bill Maher, I'm an ethical vegan. (As opposed to someone who is vegan purely for his own health.) I occasionally think of cartoons that have to do with this topic and its related issues – nutrition, cruelty, health, the environment – and I toss them into the mix. I have been guilty of being pretty preachy about it in the past, it is difficult not to be when you are fighting against the suffering of those unable to speak for themselves, but I try very hard not to be and I hope I'm getting better.

I think this is a fairly successful cartoon in that regard. It evokes the subject of food choices without being overt. To me, there is something inherently funny about a little girl expected to slaughter a live chicken at her school lunch table.

Lots of people are concerned about environmental issues these days, so they choose local foods to save the pollution caused by shipping foods across country. If you're doing this but still buying meat, you're undoing your efforts many times over. Animal agriculture is responsible for far more greenhouse gases than all transportation combined.

Many people insist on organic meats to protect their family from harmful chemicals. Animal protein, in and of itself, feeds cancer and heart disease as fast as the hormones and chemicals you fear. Organic meat is a bit like organic bullets. It misses the larger point.

Many people become angry and defensive when they hear these things and I understand that. Attacking a person's diet is like attacking their religion, ethnicity, traditions, and family. Sorry about that. I'm the sort of person who is more than willing to toss a tradition overboard if it serves no purpose, harms me, or depends on the victimization of someone else. Like cheap sneakers made by orphans, I can do without them. It's just how I roll, homey.

Tears of a Clown Shoe

Bizarro is brought to you today by Footwear Violence.

Here's one of those stories you'll only hear if you read this blog. (And only "hear" if you read it aloud.)

I originally wrote this joke as the black and white version below shows. When I submitted it, I knew there might be some discussion over whether it was wise to submit it to my client papers and I was right. After a conversation with my editor and friend, whom we'll call "Choppy the Editor" for reasons of anonymity, it was decided that matters of erection might raise some eyebrows in many of my smaller-town markets.

You might say I should forge ahead and ignore the priggish ways of the powers that be, but in this economy, newspapers are looking for ways to save money and one of their routine practices is to cancel a comic. Giving them an excuse isn't wise, so I changed the gag.

I'm glad it happened this way, because the clown picture is much funnier anyway.

By the way, the Washington Post Express canceled Bizarro recently, a client that I really cherished. No idea why, probably just financial concerns. If this bothers you, please contact them (you can likely find an email address pretty easily) and tell them you have tears in your eyes and can barely get through the day. You'll be my new best friend.

Obsessive Compulsive Cartooning (OCC)

Bizarro is brought to you today by The Magically Aging Man.

Whenever I do cartoons about disabilities or diseases, I get complaints from people who think it is insensitive to make fun of people with problems. I did a cartoon a few years ago about a band called the "A.D.D.s" in which all of the teenage musicians were scattered about the stage, busy doing something other than playing music. I got a ton of mail from angry parents of kids with A.D.D. Same thing happens if I do one on dyslexia or amputees.

In this case, I figured it was safe to make fun of this topic because I have a touch of OCD myself. Just as predicted, I got a ton of mail complaining about this cartoon. Although, perhaps not surprisingly, it was all from the same person.

NOTE: I think it bears mentioning that in each of these types of circumstances (and last week during the "Death With Dignity" controversy) I also get mail from people within these movements or suffering from these afflictions who really enjoy the humorous take on the subject at hand. Many people understand the healing properties of laughing at one's own hardships.

Pay or Play

(click the image to make it largerer so you can see it betterer.)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Make Music Not War.

Here is another odd topic, one which just crawled out of my head and onto my drawing board and refused to leave so I shipped it off for publication. Sometimes that's the only way to rid myself of these things.

A man is held up on the street, but has no money. The mugger then marches him into a music shop, steals a violin, marches him home, watches over him as he learns to play, then years later makes him perform on the street until someone tosses some money at him and – voila – the mugger gets what he wants.

Good old American ingenuity.

I'm off to D.C. this weekend to perform some comedy at a couple of charity holiday parties. I hope it is fun and not tragic and hideous, forever etching itself in my mind as that weekend I should have stayed home.

I hope, too, that you enjoy your weekend, whatever you have planned.