Opus by Berkeley Breathed

Tags: final, 11.2.2008, farewell-friend, Opus, printed, panel, mockingbird, Ending, Steve Dallas, dies?, My, favorite, comics, Opus Memorial, animal shelter, goodnight moon, end, goodnight, goodbye. Add Tags

Comments (117) Jump to Comments Form

FlowerChio said, 8 months ago

Let me be the first to comment on this one… the moment I saw the link I was bursting into tears.. it was sooo beautiful… I’m sad to see that Opus goes away, it was one of the familiar things that you have in your life. But he went to a beautiful place. Be sure to check out the goodbye message that berkeley breathed has on his website. I know I wont be the only one to get a little teary-eyed. I stayed up a little late just to see this… Screaming “obsessed”? :P
ejcapulet said, 8 months ago

WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Sniff, sniff! I just read that last panel at the Humane society site and the “final words”, waaaaaaaah! Sob, sob, sob!
forrest11 said, 8 months ago

Goodnight Opus
Goodnight Air
Goodnight noises everywhere

sigh live well little buddy
fishbulb said, 8 months ago

Definitely the Twilight Zone. In more than one episode of that venerated TV series a character ended up in movie or TV program. Where they wanted to be. Just like Opus. Of course, if one was expecting to actually see Pudgepot alive and well one is certainly disappointed. Can’t imagine how anyone could predict this surreal ending to the strip. Who was actually donating the grant money? Breathed? The Humane Society?
I have been trying all day just to download BB’s final message of his website, finally got it. Yes, someone got the money for an animal shelter in Tampa Bay Florida. I won’t quote the entire short, bittersweet message from BB, just on phrase about Opus.
“Please don’t mourn him”.
Too late.
WickedCrazy said, 8 months ago

I noticed Opus’s face is reflected in the glasses. Goodnight Opus.
Ronald St James said, 8 months ago

Outstanding!
doctortoon said, 8 months ago

“sniff”
WOW
dberanek said, 8 months ago

I am speechless and in tears. Goodnight Opus. We all love you.
Bluedyscotty said, 8 months ago

Thanks for all of the years of giving us Opus, Berkeley. I will miss him terribly but I will always have him in my quiet little resting place of my memory. I like this ending much more than the Maxfield Parrish dreamland I was thinking. This is more fitting.
thedoomsong said, 8 months ago

Absolutely beautiful ending…sleep well. sniff
cleokaya said, 8 months ago

Through tears of sadness I say thank you for providing us all with the thought that even with a world in turmoil we still have a moment to curl our toes in the daisys and to watch the clouds float by. I will miss you Opus.
straymutt117 said, 8 months ago

This is the first time I ever cried reading a comic. So sad yet beautiful, like all the others i’d like to say goodnight little buddy,we’ll miss you.
Nick Blazanovic said, 8 months ago

The End
forrest11 said, 8 months ago

We’ll miss you Opus deeply!
Burgundy2 said, 8 months ago

I don’t know which is more moving, the comic strip or the comments here. sniff.
bubbie7 said, 8 months ago

Goodbye my dear little friend. I’m hugging my opus doll and crying a lot.
Poms said, 8 months ago

Oh, such sweet memories. I am glad I have all the books!
Will sincerely miss Opus.

sniff, sniff, (teardrops falling)
Poms said, 8 months ago

Note the bow tie in Dallas’ hand, the Carmen Miranda hat, the underwear…. Sweet Dreams little buddy.
jwhuzzlepiz said, 8 months ago

Goodnight Moon always gave me the creeps. Being stuck in for eternity would be a nightmare.
wndrwrthg said, 8 months ago

Dammit, I’m an old man, I should not be sitting here with tears in my eyes. It’s a cartoon, it’s only a cartoon, and I have lost a friend. Sweet dreams little one.
Burgundy2 said, 8 months ago

I think it’s Dallas’ expression that makes it sadder. Have we ever seen such an expression? Ever seen his eyes, for that matter? Chills. I’ve got chills.
Allen said, 8 months ago

Good night Opus…So long old friend. You stumbled, you fell, and yet you persevered. And when you triumphed so did we. Though you were not human, in many ways you were the most human of us all.

I will miss you terribly.

Goodnight Steve. I hope that you find your paradise, populated with Sorority girls with small noses, like those you’ve been seeking since the days of the Academia Waltz.
Otto Pebworth said, 8 months ago

My wife and I are sitting here all weepy, knowing that Opus truly is where he is safe, warm and secure. How appropriate for All Saints Day (Nov 1) and All Souls Day (Nov 2)…
elfinelvin said, 8 months ago

This is soooo touching. Good bye little friend, I’ll miss you.
runner63 said, 8 months ago

But wait, is it possible that Opus is just sleeping like sleeping beauty and some time in the future a princess charming will come and give him a kiss and awaken him and he will be back among us?

We must keep all possible hope alive.
dberanek said, 8 months ago

Can anyone else get into berkleybreathed.com? I can’t and I want to read his comments. I am so going to miss Opus.
yankeepenny said, 8 months ago

Good Night, Opus.
Burgundy2 said, 8 months ago

dberanek - I can’t get on the site, and nor can others I’ve asked. I imagine it’s a case of too many people trying to get on. Tomorrow, it should probably be easier. I hope.
dberanek said, 8 months ago

Thank you Burgundy2. I thought it was just me. I will try tomorrow. I cannot believe this is the end of Opus. How sad.
homer_wnm said, 8 months ago

Farewell from a friend from the beginning. I will miss you Opus!
Sisyphos said, 8 months ago

A cat, ‘tis said, has nine lives;
a cartoon penguin, ‘twould seem, only three.
Ave atque vale, wry observer: Bloom County,
Outland, Opus. At least I have some of the
books to remember you by, and all your strange friends (as, Bill the Cat), and your gentle, quizzical satire. Little Don Quixote….
Sniff…, sob…, BAWWLLLLLL….
jbrabander said, 8 months ago

I agree with an earlier question…have we ever seen Steve’s eyes? That’s really some beautiful artwork though. Such attention to the details. Such a content, happy, and peaceful look on Steve. This was a really nice ending for Opus. Poor little guy deserved some peace from politics, craziness, and all his anxieties.
steer47 said, 8 months ago

In his final letter, Berkley asks that we not mourn Opus. We can always revisit him here.
Skulker said, 8 months ago

I felt a great deal of sadness last year when Tumbleweeds ended but nowhere near the sadness and tears that I feel now. Just as Farley had endeared himself into the hearts of us all, so too did Opus and their passing are great losses. I cried for Farley. I cry for Opus.

Yes, in theory it’s “just a cartoon” and yes Opus is “just a cartoon character” but in reality I think he is much more. I think we identified in Opus those parts of ourselves that longs to be free of restraints, that longs to feel his unbridled passion, enthusiasm and exuberance for life, the part that hopes and dreams, that tries to achieve those dreams, and his courage to struggle on in spite of all his fears and anxieties. I think Opus embodied those qualities and emotions that we have been taught to suppress and constrain - he was our avatar, our alter ego. As silly as it may seem I feel that we have been fulfilling some of our own longings through Opus. Our society does not seems to encourage spontaneity and exuberance. One is supposed to “grow up”! The sadness we feel for the loss of Opus is a reflection of the loss we feel for the part within ourselves that lived vicariously through Opus.

Although Opus may not have been made of flesh and blood, to many of us Opus seemed quite real. He was imbued with so many human foibles and characteristics. In this age of multimedia, where our only exposure to some “real people” is from drawings, pictures, TV, etc is our exposure to Opus any different? We watched him struggle and grow. Cheered him on. Commiserated with his disappointments. Grew to love him. And now we grieve for his passing.

He was my friend. I will miss him.
DocNuke said, 8 months ago

I noticed on the final panel at the Humane Society site a little entry next to Breathed’s name “-30-“. That’s an old news wire line meaning “End of Story.” I knew this was the end of this fantastic character that I’ve grown up with, but the -30- really put a lump in my throat. Thank you, Mr. Breathed, for making us all fall in love with nothing more than ink on paper imbued with your wonderful imagination.
wormdirt8 said, 8 months ago

I have a stuffed animal Opus from when Bloom County came out. It sits on my shelf and I see him everyday. He gets kissed everytime I dust and I tell him HI. I will miss Opus and all of his goofy and weird friends. They will all be in my heart forever. Thank you Berkeley for the wonderful comic that the world has loved for all these years, from a true and loyal fan.
ejcapulet said, 8 months ago

wndrwrthg, don’t feel bad. I’m a high school teacher, I’m supposed to be tough and grown-up and this made me cry, too! I read it the moment it showed up and it made me cry, and I’m reading it again and it still makes me cry.
philwithbeard said, 8 months ago

From the days of Bloom County, Outland and Opus, the character Dallas (or is it Steve) wore sunglasses. Today now we see his face up close, and without the sunglasses. Notice the glasses are Opus colored glasses, and the size and shape of the nose.

Dallas (or is it Steve) no longer needs to view the world through Opus.

Goodnight, Opus. Sleep without fear of closet or whom might be in there.
TiggerLeBounce said, 8 months ago

Rest well, Noble Penguin.
CathyAkers said, 8 months ago

Sleep well, little buddy. We all hope Berkeley will change his mind and wake you up again.
BirishB said, 8 months ago

Best. Ending. Ever. If ever there could be a “best ending ever.”
The Old Wolf said, 8 months ago

A very gentle, human ending for a beautiful romp through the foibles of the human condition.

sniff

Argh. Must be some dust in my eye…

You chose well, Opus. Good night, little buddy.

Sob!
pibfanbrux said, 8 months ago

aww Opus, I feel like a part of my life has just ended. I’ve loved you since Bloom County. I even still have a copy of one of the strips from all those years ago tacked to my bulletin board….I still don’t want to admit to growing up.
Gweedo Murray said, 8 months ago

Once again have tried to get ‘last words’, to no avail.

It appears that Berkeley has
Breathed his last.

At this point I would like to ask that any one who has read those words; could you please reprint them verbatim, in this column ?
Gweedo Murray said, 8 months ago

Skulker and cc- You guys are author extraordinaire where ever you go.
Coffee-Turtle said, 8 months ago

I don’t think I’m ready to say good-bye to yet another cartoon strip that I’ve known all my life (in this case, in several incarnations).

Brekeley Breathed, you did great work and I thank you!
Llywus said, 8 months ago

Sadness!
I will miss you, old friend.
The best ending of a great narrative since Calvin sledded of into the distance.
forrest11 said, 8 months ago

Llywus you are right there!
It was sad to see calvin and hobbes go and sad to see Opus go. Let’s just hope there’s another great comic coming soon! I know there will be :)
robertolopez144 said, 8 months ago

Pudgebutt!!!!!!!!!! Perfect. Thank you Mr. Breathed
wmarkowitz said, 8 months ago

Its not fair. You can’t take him away. I have spent countless hours enjoying his escapades. Now to have him simply fade into a dream is not fun.
Opus, you will be missed by many, and I will miss you.

Sleep well and pleasant dreams.