Bloom County, a 1980s cartoon-comic strip that dealt with socio-political issues as seen through the eyes of highly exaggerated characters (e.g. Bill the Cat and Opus the Penguin) and humorous analogies.
Creator Berkeley Breathed's first regularly published strip, Academia Waltz, appeared in the Daily Texan in 1978. The strip attracted notice from the editors of the Washington Post who recruited him to do a nationally syndicated strip. On December 8, 1980, Bloom County made its debut and featured some of the characters from Academia Waltz, including former frat-boy Steve Dallas and the paraplegic Vietnam War veteran Cutter John.
Bloom County earned Berkeley the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987. The strip eventually appeared in over 1,200 newspapers around the world until he retired the daily strip in 1989, stating, "A good comic strip is no more eternal than a ripe melon. The ugly truth is that in most cases, comics age less gracefully than their creators". The comic continues in recirculation on GoComics!
© Berkeley Breathed - All Rights Reserved.
Bliss by Harry Bliss
Bo Nanas by John Kovaleski
Comments (25) (Please sign in to comment)
Brian K
said, 7 months ago
All opus is hearing is CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH
Sisyphos said, 7 months ago
On the advice of attorney, client Opus the Penguin is not commenting on any questions regarding so-called PENGUIN LUST!
TheSkulker
said, 7 months ago
Love the ’do. Trump would be envious.
masterskrain said, 7 months ago
Well, that’s just the way ANY religious fanaticism works;
Innuendo, vague suspicions, hearsay, distortions, half-truths, and outright fabrications!
No wonder I don’t believe in ANY religion.
They were created by men, maybe with good intentions at first, but now they are nothing but an excuse to start wars, steal from gullible, and frightened idiots, and generally screw up life!
Judson Fredrickson said, 7 months ago
It is much easier to believe in nothing and be the center of your own little universe than to believe in something and remember you are a marvelous creation. Many people have co-opted religous beliefs to their own ends and they will pay the price for it; but to assume that there can be nothing more intelligent and creative than humans is arrogance that defies expression.
zoidknight said, 7 months ago
But I do see a very intolerant Bible thumping televangelist who needs to take part in a witch burning as the witch.
MrSulusBrain said, 7 months ago
@Judson Fredrickson
Ack!
Pigman said, 7 months ago
@TheSkulker
Funny you should say that because eventually Trump does join the strip, in its last year.
Omnius said, 7 months ago
Berkeley wasn’t making fun of Trump the Chump’s hair but the overly teased look of the megapastors from the 80’s.
mightaswellbe said, 7 months ago
@Judson Fredrickson
Magic my friend is just smoke and mirrors and slight of hand. The Godly would have me believe that gods operate by magic and that is just so silly. I believe a lot of things and I have faith in a lot of things but I don’t waste either on gods or about what’s beyond death. Arrogance is telling folks they are so special that it took a guy in a beard and bed sheet to say Allahkazam presto changO and there you have MAN. It is rather humbling to know that we are the end product of a few billion years of continuos life from the primordial ooze to a walking talking human.
einarbt7 said, 7 months ago
Get ready for a fight Opus – a big one.
Vonne Anton said, 7 months ago
@masterskrain
A truer religion would reject war, provide for the needy, motivate its adherents with love, and make lives better and happier. If such a religion existed, would you still reject it?
Vonne Anton said, 7 months ago
@mightaswellbe
You do have faith if you believe in evolution. Right at its foundation (and throughout the process), it demands magic over and over again to do what its claimed to do.
Redkaycei Repoc said, 7 months ago
@Vonne Anton
Science you are unable to understand will always appear to be magic, to paraphrase A Clarke
mightaswellbe said, 7 months ago
@Vonne Anton
Not magic, just an understanding of the process. I don’t claim that evolution as the theory stands now has all the answers or links but it’s a better bet than a creation myth.