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 (57) (Please sign in to comment)
Kosaka Jinnai said, 6 months ago
I feel like the only one on this site who thinks the guy in the hunting cap and fluffy jacket vest has the right idea…
surfstuff55 said, 6 months ago
@Kosaka Jinnai
You are not alone
Brian K
said, 6 months ago
Bar Fight!
fstone said, 6 months ago
Entitlements. We paid into Social Security for 45 years. It is a TRUST. But everyone knows you can’t trust a politician. Meanwhile they get lifetime pension and health benefits for serving one term. Oh well, I will enjoy their services in Heaven. Senator, come here, I need to be wiped, then go slop the hogs.
starfighter441 said, 6 months ago
@
Actually I can recall 8 years of non stop whining from the Dems when Bush was in power, and before that 8 years by the Reps over Clinton, seems that you are all bad losers.
Sisyphos said, 6 months ago
I’m still stuck at “milk and herring juice, straight up.” Maybe that explains…something.
David Brown
said, 6 months ago
What year was this printed?
jbmlaw said, 6 months ago
The US is now Greece – the whining thieves, using the guns of government to procure their booty, now outnumber the productive.
jbmlaw said, 6 months ago
And yet, if we would only abolish our nonmilitary bureaucracy, the economy would roar back to a level that could cover most of the theft.
JackButler said, 6 months ago
@Kosaka Jinnai
Not at all, Karl.
skeeterhawk said, 6 months ago
‘Dis country is goin’ down da tubes.’ I’ve heard that one for 40+ years now. I’m sure others have heard it longer. But then again, I don’t see the U.S. lasting as long as the Roman Empire. Less than 20 years, and it’s half way though. (I know—blah blah)
sdebarr said, 6 months ago
What tubes?
saywhatwhat said, 6 months ago
@jbmlaw
A large part of Greece’s problems come from a failure to collect taxes from the people who can afford to pay and spending too much on their military. In that sense you are right.
elbeck said, 6 months ago
@David Brown – Judging by the way Opus is drawn, I’d say somewhere around 1984.
kea said, 6 months ago
@surfstuff55
I’ll second that.