Today's Bizarro cartoon is brought to you by the League of Supper Heroes.Someone wrote to me when this cartoon appeared in the paper and said that I had Batman running in the wrong direction because the muscled side would be stronger and force the skinny side inward. I replied that she was completely correct, except that I was implying that the muscles were not real but only padding, so the weight and wind resistance of the padding would force the larger side inward.
Some cartoonists are aggravated by this kind of picayune argument from readers but I really like it. These are exactly the sorts of insignificant details I think of when I'm drawing the cartoon in the first place, so I always enjoy discussing my rationale. Usually my logic for the way I drew it is correct, but sometimes a reader proves me wrong and I'm always grateful for the education.
Back in the 80s, I got a very funny letter from a Canadian explaining why the angle of the cut of a tree I had draw would have caused the tree to fall the other direction. He argued that since he was Canadian, he should know. Since I don't know anything about lumberjacking, I wrote back and described my logic – if you cut it this way, it would fall that way – and I included a diagram. He wrote back with an apology and included a government pamphlet on how to properly fell a tree. Turned out I was right.
He and I became good friends after that, visiting each other in Toronto and Dallas, and I featured him and a few of his friends (The were the self-proclaimed "Bizarro International Fan Club and Motor Oil Company") on the back of one of my early books. I think it might have been "Post-Modern Bizarro," but I can't find a copy of it around my house right now.
On another note, check out how much this site wants for a different old book of mine. You can get the same book for $1.59 on Amazon.
