Daniel Charles Piraro (born 1958) is a painter, illustrator, and cartoonist best known for his syndicated cartoon panel ''

Bizarro Bizarro () is a supervillain/anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in '' Superboy'' #68 ( ...

''. Piraro's cartoons have been reprinted in 16 book collections (as of 2012). He has also written three books of prose.

Biography

Piraro was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and his family moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma when he was 4 years old. When he was in junior high school his family moved to

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, where he graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1976. He dropped out of Washington University in St. Louis.John Marshall
"A moment with... Dan Piraro, 'Bizarro' cartoonist"
''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'', May 1, 2006. He lived in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and New York City for many years. He had two daughters with his first wife, and later married Ashley Lou Smith. After they divorced, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California. On October 30, 2016 he announced that he and his partner 'Olive Oyl' (or "O2") had purchased a house in Mexico and would be residing there beginning December 2016. Syndicated since 1985, ''Bizarro'' was appearing in 250 papers by 2006. In 2013, Piraro coined the

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...

"New Artists" to represent those cartoonists who distribute their work directly onto the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

, without the use of a syndicate or a business intermediary. In 2014, he hosted the Fox reality television show ''Utopia''.

Political views

Piraro describes himself as "liberal and progressive politically" and identifies as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. This being apparent in his work has garnered occasional complaints, as in 2005 when he offered newspapers a politics-free version of a comic supporting gay rights. A glitch however meant that papers printing in color received the political version while those in black and white received its tamer counterpart. In 2002, Piraro became a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

. His activism is visible in ''Bizarro'', often incorporating vegan and animal cruelty themes into his cartoons. In an interview, he stated, "If you look at my strip over the years, I’ve always had a form of animal sympathy and animal rights." Piraro has also incorporated an entire section devoted to veganism on his website, detailing his reasons for becoming a vegan, and other vegan-related information. In 2007, Piraro designed a limited edition T-shirt for endangeredwear.com to raise money for the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, a non-profit organization committed to ending the systematic abuse of animals used for food. In a 2011 interview with

This Land Press This Land Press is a media and merchandising company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that produces and sells Oklahoma-themed apparel and gifts, produces a quarterly print magazine, publishes books, and operates a retail store. It was founded by Michae ...

, Piraro discussed his challenges as a liberal growing up in Tulsa, OK.

Awards

Since 2001, Piraro has toured the U.S. with his one-man comedy show, ''The Bizarro Baloney Show'', which won the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival's award for Best Solo Show. He played the full show for the final time in 2008, although he has performed bits from the show a few times since then. Piraro received the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

's Panel Cartoon Award for 1999, 2000 and 2001. Beginning in 2002, Piraro was nominated every year for the

’s

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

, as Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, and he finally was given a Reuben Award in 2010. Editorial cartoonist-illustrator Steve Greenberg commented:

Books

* ''Bizarro'' (1986) * ''Too Bizarro'' (1988) * ''Mondo Bizarro'' (1989) * ''Sumo Bizarro'' (1990) * ''Glasnost Bizarro'' (1990) * ''The Book of Lame Excuses'' (1991) * ''Post-Modern Bizarro'' (1991) * ''Best of Bizarro'' (1992) * ''Best of Bizarro II'' (1994) * ''Bizarro #9'' (1995) * ''Bizarro #10'' (1996) * ''Bizarro Among the Savages: A Relatively Famous Guy's Experiences on the Road and in the Homes of Strangers'' (1997) * ''Life Is Strange and So Are You: A Bizarro Sunday Treasury'' (2001) * ''The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House'' (2004) * ''Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro'' (2006) * ''Bizarro Buccaneers: Nuttin' but Pirate Cartoons'' (2008) * ''Bizarro Heroes'' (2011) * ''Creative Haven Bizarro Land Coloring Book'' (2016)

Audiobook narrator

* Author –

Daniel J. Levitin Daniel Joseph Levitin, FRSC (born December 27, 1957) is an American-Canadian cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, writer, musician, and record producer. He is the author of four ''New York Times'' best-selling books, including '' This Is You ...

(2016). ''

A Field Guide to Lies ''A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age'' is a bestselling book written by Daniel J. Levitin and originally published in 2016 by Dutton (Penguin Random House). It was published in 2017 in paperback with a revised introd ...

'' (aka, ''Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era''); , ,

References

External links

* *

(NCS) ** ** ** * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Piraro, Dan 1958 births American comic strip cartoonists 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century male artists Booker T. Washington High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni Living people People from Dallas Artists from Tulsa, Oklahoma Washington University in St. Louis alumni Reuben Award winners Artists from Kansas City, Missouri