Comic Statues & Busts: Bizarro from DC Heroes Villains

There's a new genre rising from the underground. Its name: BIZARRO. For years, readers have been asking for a category of fiction dedicated to the weird, crazy, cult side of storytelling that has become a staple in the film industry (with directors such as David Lynch, Takashi Miike, Tim Burton, and even Lloyd Kaufman) but has been largely ignored in the literary world, until now. The Bizarro Starter Kit features short novels and story collections by ten of the leading authors in the bizarro genre: D. Harlan Wilson, Carlton Mellick III, Jeremy Robert Johnson, Kevin L Donihe, Gina Ranalli, Andre Duza, VIncent W. Sakowski, Steve Beard, John Edward Lawson, and Bruce Taylor.

This is a great collection and I was delighted with the pieces I was familiar with just as much as the ones I wasn't.

You may not like bizarro. It may not be your cup of tea. I decided to read the two bizarro starter kits after having read a small dosage of it in a few other forms and wanted to be immersed in it, to really understand what it is all about. After reading both kits, I have decided that trying to extract a particular logic or style of writing from the various authors who participated in these books is a futile effort. Bizarro may not make sense on a traditional level of thinking, but I think the main thing is that it makes sense in whatever realm or universe the story that is created inhabits.

I have seen some bizarro that seems to be heavy with symbolism while other tales perhaps don't have any more depth than a lark the author decided to take off on, but some of it is quite beautiful and obscene at the same time. I probably haven't read enough of this style of writing to be an honest judge of it, and haven't read enough of what influences its authors, which is conveniently posted in the bio of each of them in both of the starter kits, but I know that I can go from enraptured to repulsed within the same tale with more frequency in bizarro than anywhere else. And I think that is a key element of this type of work-it is something that doesn't allow you to relax, or rest as you breeze through passages that are interconnected with regular, everyday logic. Instead, you are forced to remain vigilant, observant of every word, every phrase, because within may lie a totally different experience, a different exposure to something unique and strange.

If you have ever felt that the books you read are too boring, too mainstream, not weird enough and not fun enough to read, or if you think authors in general just take themselves way too seriously, then you should try bizarro fiction. Bizarro is like literature's equivalent to the cult section of your video store. They are absurd, surreal, funny, gory, over the top craziness.

If you are a fan of cult films you should definitely check this genre out. If you are expecting experimental/subversive "literary" fiction then look elsewhere, because these stories are more cinematic than they are literary. These authors weren't inspired by William Faulkner or James Joyce, they were inspired by movies such as Time Bandits, Pink Flamingos, Videodrome, Six String Samurai, Brazil, Eraserhead, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Conspirators of Pleasure, The Toxic Avenger... (the list goes on).

There is much variety in this genre. Some authors write darker surreal works, some write very comical campy/pulpy fiction. Some bizarro is intellectually stimulating art, some of it is just for entertainment value alone. It's all very weird but each author is weird in their own way. Check out all of the Bizarro Starter Kits to introduce yourselves to some of the top bizarro authors working in the scene.

I recommend this to people who always preferred movies to books because they thought always though books were supposed to be boring.

These stories work well in concept like fi the author were telling you about the story they had just written and you got to imagine it on your own. This stuff is sub-community writing club. Its just really bad.

Wow...not only a fun romp through the absurd, but also a great introduction to a previously unknown (for me) genre.

So, imagine all of the great (and not-so-great) cult films influencing a generation of authors to do exactly what those movies did: shock, awe, and inspire a new way of looking at how you perceive a story.

Many of the authors in this collection admit to enjoying the visual works of David Lynch and the authorial extrapolations of Kafka.

I think while reading this collection, many readers may have to stop and realize that what is going on in these stories is just how their world works--it is beyond Magical Realism. This collection is a landscape that covers unexplored areas of the avant-garde.

The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is simply because two of the stories I did not like all that much. One just seemed like a visceral version of Who Censored Roger Rabbit? In addition, the other story had no organization whatsoever.

I have the other collection (Blue) and I can hardly wait to start reading the many surprises it will have to offer.

This version of Bizarro looks as if he may be slightly more ashen than the original DC Superheroes version. The figure also includes a diorama. Bizarro is distinguished by his slightly soupy off-kilter colors and his justice-inverted reverse â??Sâ? insignia. Bizarro boasts a typically tattered cape and a tattered snarl. As is typical of this line, heâ?TMs highly articulated and well-detailed. Though Bizarro has occurred in varying incarnations complete with different or revised origins, the quintessential Bizarro is simply an imperfect Superman clone. He possesses powers either like those of Superman or else twisted and reversed versions of Supermanâ?TMs powers---an arsenal usually left to creative interpretation. Even hip-deep amidst murder and mass-destruction Bizarro remains essentially innocent because these things can sometimes constitute heroism in the text of the inverted Bizarro logic.

I am a comic book geek who likes to collect figures that are original or just well sculpted. This is both and worth making a part of any collection. One of my favorite figures.

What goes on in the head of Dan Piraro-stand-up comedian, fine artist, animal rights activist, and creator of the award-winning syndicated comic strip Bizarro? This wildly inventive compendium of cartoons, never-before-seen sketches, photographs, and paintings-along with Piraro's own hilarious and thought-provoking insights into his life and the world at large-takes readers inside the mind of the mad genius with a nationwide following. Much more than just a collection of cartoons, this is the first comprehensive book incorporating all of Piraro's work in a variety of media, interwoven with autobiographical passages that shed light on the evolution of the artist's left-leaning worldview. It's a must-have for Bizarro fans and a terrific introduction for the uninitiated.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1R1X3A7IFW7R4 This book was so good I read it all in one seating.

The book is written in first person by Mr Dan Piraro himself. This book is about his life, career and comics. His write up is almost as hilarious as his comics. He seems to have a very interesting life, and the book tells it all.

Included are also some interesting and very unusual self portraits (photos). One is nude -- with the shadows hiding the crucial parts of course! Another amusing photo is one with him spotting a lion's mane hairstyle with his dad's face saying,"I'm determined to be proud of this kid in spite of the fact that he's well on his way to looking like a transvestite."

He writes from his birth, to childhood and schooling, to his band playing days, then his art and cartooning career and his move to New York City. There are lots of juicy and funny experiences he share, such as him asking people to provide lodging and take him around while he's on book tours.

Towards the end of the book, he talks more about his beliefs, which led him to be a vegan (one that consumes no animal products of any kind including eggs and dairy products). He's a huge supporter of animal rights, which is why animal rights themes sometimes appear in his comics.

This book is filled with freelance illustrations, oil paintings, comics and several discarded ideas (those deemed too saucy for general readers). Every one is captioned to explain the inspiration and the message he's trying to bring across. Oh, his oil paintings are as weird as his cartoons.

This book is not just Bizaro, it's the biography for Dan Piraro. It's wonderful and in depth. One that will constantly put a smile when read.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

One of the few good reasons to spend retirement years in America is the dependable presence of at least one laugh in your morning newspaper, aside from those sardonic guffaws you suppress with a sob when you look at the front page. Now, none of you techno-whippersnappers had better tell me that the comics are available on-line anywhere I wander, anywhere I roam, cuz looking at Bizarro on a computer screen is about as gratifying as staring at a photo of a snifter of cognac. It's the smell of the newsprint and the satisfaction of snatching the pertinent image from your lovey at her sudoku. Yes sir, that's livin'! Gets you all stirred up for tooling around Sun City in your golf cart.

Dan Piraro has been amassing a comprehensive dossier of my own particular world-view for many years, one frame at a time, but I've been abroad enough to have missed any number of his sharpest insights. But with this here book in my suitcase, I can face moving to "The Sequoias" with equanimity. What name for an assisted living facilty, eh? The Sequoias. Piraro would appreciate it.

Bizzaro is one of the best comic strips I have ever seen. Even on the all too numerous occasions when it is clear that my political etc. views are diametrically opposite to Mr. Piraro's I find his comic strips funny and very clever. I even have a reproduction of one his 'strips framed and hanging on a wall in my house. This collection is one of the funniest comic strip collections I have seen and it is also published in a very high quality (for a paperback) format- it is *not* your typical flimsily bound and poorly printed paperback collection. I also like the fact that he reveals where his ideas come from. This brings me to my second point: it's one thing to include your political and religious beliefs in your book. These illuminate the origin of many of his ideas, but it's another to have them constantly shoved down your throat in a very childish fashion. He writes with the style of an angry and idealistic high school student with no thought that anyone else with very differing views could have valid ideas or - gasp- could even be correct. It get's tiring to be constantly told that anyone with opposing views is "whacked out", to use a common phrase of his. He replaces his idealized wishful thinking for facts, and it gets annoying. Here's one example: he writes about how he admires the native American Indians for living in harmony with nature. Clearly he has not read much on this matter because, I am sorry to inform this vegan, it is pretty much accepted by anthropologists and other scientists involved that "native" Americans wiped out the pleistocene megafauna, just like the "native" New Zealanders pretty much wiped out thier megafauna. I point this out because I grew tired of his constant know-it-all attitude, and I am sure other readers will as well. I only write this because I think even this very personal book goes way overboard for a comic book collection in his attacks on people whose views he dislikes and I expect a little more restraint more from an adult author- even a cartoonist with a poor formal educational background. Still in all, I would highly recommend this book to any fan of the daily comics and plan on buying his new hardcover collection upon it's release.

Dan Piraro is undeniably one of today's most talented newspaper cartoonists, and there's much to enjoy in this overview, if you can get past the tiresome, unrelenting narcissism and vegan proselytizing. More art (there's room on the pages) and less smug self-righteousness would've served this book better (and I AGREE with most of Piraro's politics).

This book provides insight into Dan Piraro, the most consistently humorous cartoonist of our day. Buy this book!

Dan Piraro is a "triple-threat funnyman--in print, on stage, off stage." --Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Bizarro has been voted Best Single-Panel Cartoon by the National Cartoonists Society for an unprecedented three straight years. Bizarro Buccaneers is a collection of Piraro's favorite pirate-themed panels.

Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piraro presents a cartoon collection exclusively for wannabe plunderers and plankwalkers.

Pirate pilates and prosthetics abound as Piraro culls a veritable treasure chest of his favorite buccaneer sketches that dare to ponder such complexities as, "Can you get wine stains out of a parrot?"

Pirate cartoons are the foundation of this collection from the popular Bizarro cartoon series, offering a series of lively vignettes complete with 'find the unusual item' in each picture. Libraries interested in lively contemporary cartoon collections from popular one-panel strips, especially centered around a popular theme such as pirates, will find BIZARRO BUCCANEERS a winner.

I like Bizarro comics and this book is funny but I was through it pretty quickly but I would still recommend it