Drawn by artist Dan Piraro, Bizarro is a single-panel cartoon strip that has been going since 1985 and has been published in over 360 newspapers and magazines.
One of the old-school cartoonists, Piraro has made the transition into web-based comics, a completely different ballgame where the competition is fierce and most artists struggle to make even a basic living from their craft.
Piraro is a prolific artist who aims to make a new comic every day, 365 days a year. Residing somewhere in Mexico with his beloved wife (who he refers to as his ‘Olive Oyl’), his takes on the absurdity and mindlessness of modern life are designed to make you think, as well as laugh.
According to his bio, his single panel gems are a “unique concoction of surrealistic imagery, social commentary, and witty plays on words. Indeed, if Salvador Dali, Garry Trudeau and Oscar Wilde had an illegitimate child, that child would be Dan Piraro.”
While he has produced thousands of comics with a variety of topics and themes, this list deals exclusively with therapy. Piraro often includes his ‘secret symbols’ in his comics too, the number he has included is indicated right above his signature. Look out for an eyeball (the Eyeball of Observation), a piece of pie (the Pie of Opportunity), a rabbit (the Bunny of Exuberance), an alien in a spaceship (the Flying Saucer of Possibility), the abbreviation "K2" (referring to his children Krelspeth and Krapuzar), a crown (the Crown of Power), a stick of dynamite (the Dynamite of Unintended Consequences), a shoe (the Lost Loafer), an arrow (The Arrow of Vulnerability), a fish tail (The Fish of Humility) and an upside down bird (the Inverted Bird).
Can you find them all? Lay down on the couch, relax and scroll down below to check out some of Piraro’s classic comics, and don’t forget to upvote your favorites!
