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 (22) (Please sign in to comment)
dukedoug said, 2 months ago
Mmmmm … naked mermaids …
TheSkulker
said, 2 months ago
Ah yes. The “New” Coke. Only to be quickly replaced when the corporate bean counters finally got the message that no one liked or was buying the new.
What a marketing disaster! I remember it well.
KennyVon said, 2 months ago
Ummm… even the current Coke is Very different… It tastes Nothing like the “Old Coke” it use to be made with Real sugar.
You have to go to Europe to get the Real Coke today.
hariseldon59 said, 2 months ago
@KennyVon
Or Mexico.
hariseldon59 said, 2 months ago
Back when Tom Hanks was young and Daryl Hannah was hot.
Sisyphos said, 2 months ago
There is a metatextual irony in defunct comic strip characters philosophizing about being unchanging, always the same forever….
Thirdguy said, 2 months ago
@Sisyphos
I was just going to say that!
Teresa said, 2 months ago
@KennyVon
I like Coke Zero, but it’s still not the same as the (years ago) original Coke when I pour some peanuts into it.
“New Coke” was awful, or rather, way too different to be called Coke.
.
Sprite Zero works! Not for peanuts in it, but for light-tasting refreshment!
.
Also, love those My Coke Reward points!
James
said, 2 months ago
Everything changes. Bloom County ends. Even Opus ends.
Omnius said, 2 months ago
Ah yes New Coke, so funny how it didn’t last long.
specinss said, 2 months ago
There will always be repeat strips.
cjl-3 said, 2 months ago
As a Pepsi drinker, I liked new Coke.
James Hamilton said, 2 months ago
@KennyVon
The True Old Coke had cocaine and kola for a marvelous tonic pick-you-up. Nothing they’ve done since then with cinnamon comes close to that yummy original.
MEPace said, 2 months ago
28 years later and you are still 10 years old and romping among the daisies.
Night-Gaunt49 said, 2 months ago
@TheSkulker
A fine example of mindless change for change’s sake. No brains. even so it never tasted the same because they still changed the formula a bit.