''Bloom County'' is an American
comic strip by
Berkeley Breathed
Guy Berkeley "Berke" Breathed (; born June 21, 1957) is an American cartoonist, children's book author, director, and screenwriter, known for his comic strips ''Bloom County'', '' Outland'', and '' Opus''. ''Bloom County'' earned Breathed the Pu ...
which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in
Middle America, where children often have adult personalities and vocabularies and where animals can talk.
On July 12, 2015, Breathed started drawing ''Bloom County'' again. The first revived strip was published via Facebook on July 13, 2015.
Publication history and production
''Bloom County'' originated from a comic strip known as ''
The Academia Waltz
''The Academia Waltz'' was Berkeley Breathed's first comic strip, published daily from 1978 to 1979 in ''The Daily Texan'' at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was a student. The strip focused primarily on college life, although it som ...
'', which Breathed produced for ''
The Daily Texan
''The Daily Texan'' is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of roughly 12,000 during the fall and spring semesters, and it is among ...
'', the student newspaper of the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. The comic strip attracted the notice of the editors of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', who recruited him to do a nationally syndicated strip. On December 8, 1980, ''Bloom County'', syndicated by
The Washington Post Writers Group
''The Washington Post'' Writers Group (WPWG), a division of The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate, is a press syndication service composed of opinion journalists, editorial cartoonists, comic strips and columnists. The service is operated ...
, made its debut and featured some of the characters from ''Academia Waltz,'' including former frat-boy
Steve Dallas and the
paraplegic Vietnam war
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
veteran
Cutter John
Cutter John is a fictional character in the 1980s comic strip ''Bloom County'' by Berke Breathed.
Cutter, a Vietnam War veteran using a wheelchair due to paraplegia from a war injury, was one of the county's most well-liked citizens. Despite ...
.
Breathed set ''Bloom County'' in a small town. Breathed said he made the choice because he had followed a girlfriend to
Iowa City,
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
; Breathed commented, "You draw—literally—from your life if you’re going to write anything with some juice to it. I did just that."
[ICv2 Interview: Berkeley Breathed]
" '' ICv2''. September 17, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
Breathed's hand-printed signature on his strips was usually presented in mirror image, i.e. right to left.
Breathed was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize in
editorial cartooning
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curren ...
in 1987 for ''Bloom County''.
Because the cartoon appeared on the comics page, and not on the editorial page, the win was disapproved of by many members of
Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) is a professional association concerned with promoting the interests of staff, freelance and student editorial cartoonists in the United States, Canada and Mexico. With nearly 200 members, it ...
.
Breathed cited the controversy over the release of ''
Go Set a Watchman
''Go Set a Watchman'' is a novel written by Harper Lee before her Pulitzer Prize-winning ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1960), her only other published novel. Although ''Go Set a Watchman'' was initially promoted as a sequel by its publisher, it i ...
'' as the factor that led him to resume ''Bloom County''.
Characters
Core characters
At the very beginning of the strip (December 1980), the central setting was the Bloom boarding house run by the grandparents of Milo Bloom. As the strip continued, various boarders (and/or pets) moved into the boarding house. In the order the characters debuted:
*
Milo Bloom
Milo Bloom is a fictional character in the American comic strip ''Bloom County''. He was originally the main character, but was soon overshadowed by his best friend Michael Binkley and later on by Opus the penguin.
In ''Bloom County''
Milo i ...
, introduced in December 1980, is a 10-year-old newspaper reporter and probably the most worldly-wise of the bunch. Milo was the original protagonist of ''Bloom County'', and much of the strip's action during its first year takes place at the
boarding house owned by his family. Initially presented as an innocent-yet-precocious ten-year-old grappling bizarrely with the hallmarks of his impending puberty (to the extent of developing an intense infatuation with
Betty Crocker), Milo's 'offscreen' appointment to a journalist position for the local Bloom Beacon newspaper in January 1982 gradually modified his role to that of a 'straight man', with a number of his more absurdist earlier traits re-allocated to then-ascendant protagonist Opus. In the very earliest strips, Milo's grandfather ("The Major") was a central character; after the first year, the Major's role diminished and he eventually ceased to appear as a regular at the end of 1982, vanishing altogether after his final appearance in a July 1983 Sunday strip.
*
Steve Dallas, introduced in May 1981, was (like Cutter John) originally a featured character in ''The Academia Waltz''. Steve is Bloom County's sole defense attorney. A machoistic and irresponsible chain smoker and former "
frat boy
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradu ...
", Dallas spends most of his free time either trying to seduce women or concocting get-rich-quick schemes, including forming and managing a
heavy metal band,
Billy and the Boingers (previously known as
Deathtöngue
''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, whe ...
). While initially introduced as a foil to Bobbi Harlow, the latter's eventual hookup with Cutter John increasingly expanded the flexibility of Dallas's role, rendering him the strip's sole major adult human character by the mid-80s.
*
Michael Binkley
Michael Binkley is a fictional character in Berke Breathed's cartoon strip ''Bloom County''.
Michael, known to all simply as 'Binkley,' is a 10-year-old boy who lives at the Bloom County Boarding House with his father Tom (his mother, Margret, ...
was also introduced in May 1981. Binkley was a schoolmate of Milo's who lived with his father, Tom Binkley, rather than in the boarding house. Binkley is wishy-washy and overly reflective (in the mold of
Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip '' Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American a ...
), when not contemplating the lives of famous figures in
pop culture, often at his father's bedside in the middle of the night. His "anxiety closet", first appearing in January 1983, has been a staple of many storylines.
*
Opus
''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.).
Opus or OPUS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
is a large-nosed penguin (occasionally mistaken for a
puffin) with a
herring addiction who lost track of his mother during the
Falklands War (they were later reunited in a closing storyline at the end of the strip's first incarnation). He was originally introduced as the more realistically designed pet penguin of Michael Binkley ("A boy and his penguin!" "A penguin and his boy!") in June 1981, although he was only seen in three strips that month. He was re-introduced as a full-time cast member in January 1982; by mid-1982, Opus had ceased to be Binkley's pet and he eventually became a boarder at the Bloom house, with his design likewise evolving into its more stylized trademark form (thus identifying him less strongly as a penguin) by the end of 1983. Opus' hopeless naïveté and optimism made him a fan favorite, and he quickly became the center of the strip, as well as the subject of two "sequel" strips (''
Outland'' and ''
Opus
''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.).
Opus or OPUS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
''), three children's books, and a television special entitled ''
A Wish for Wings That Work''.
*
Cutter John
Cutter John is a fictional character in the 1980s comic strip ''Bloom County'' by Berke Breathed.
Cutter, a Vietnam War veteran using a wheelchair due to paraplegia from a war injury, was one of the county's most well-liked citizens. Despite ...
, introduced in November 1981, is a wheelchair-using
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that h ...
, noted for indulging in ''
Star Trek'' fantasies with the meadow animals (Hodge-Podge, Portnoy and Opus), as well as
anti-war protests. He is not a womanizer like Steve Dallas, but he is more popular with the ladies. His visage is nearly identical to that of Breathed himself. The character had previously appeared in Breathed's earlier comic strip, ''The Academia Waltz'', where he had been known as 'Saigon John'.
*
Bill the Cat is a filthy, scraggly, flea-bitten, orange tabby cat, introduced in June 1982 as a parody of the comic character
Garfield
''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...
. The humor of the character was the antithesis of Garfield: whereas the famous fat-cat was a marketing bonanza, ''Bloom County'' humorously tried desperately to present Bill in the same manner, despite his disgusting and unappealing appearance. After serving over a year as a relatively minor character largely existing 'outside' of the strip's main continuity and cast of characters (beyond sporadic appearances and background references to his merchandise), Breathed temporarily retired the character via alluding to his 'offscreen' death in September 1983 (allegedly from
acne
Acne, also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term skin condition that occurs when dead skin cells and oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include blackheads or whiteheads, pimples, oily skin, and ...
); following his resurrection in July of the following year, Bill rapidly increased in prominence to the point of assuming an ironically central role in numerous major storylines, thus solidifying him as one of the strip's most widely-known figures (alongside Opus). Following his resurrection, Bill's low intelligence and inability to articulate himself beyond his trademark responses, "Ack" and "Pbthhh" led to him becoming something of a blank slate around which various increasingly-absurd plots revolved. He has been a
cult member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
("
Bhagwan
Bhagavan ( sa, भगवान्, Bhagavān; pi, Bhagavā, italics=yes), also spelt Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is u ...
Bill"),
televangelist
Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-pr ...
("Fundamentally Oral Bill"), perennial
Presidential candidate (for the National Radical Meadow Party), heavy metal rock star ("Wild Bill Catt"), nuclear power plant operator at
Chernobyl
Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...
, and, in the last months of the series, had his brain surgically replaced with
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's, alongside allegedly conducting affairs with
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lo ...
,
Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
and
Socks the cat. He has been known to speak on occasion, most notably during the
Communist witch-hunt trials of which he has been a subject, when he remarked, "Say, you don't suppose the 'Jury Box' is anything like a litter box, do you?". Numerous strips indicated that his persistent near-
catatonic state was the result of drug use or brain damage resulting from once being legally dead and then revived after too long a period. In the Christmas special ''A Wish for Wings That Work'', implicitly set in a differing continuity from the strip, Opus alternately recounts having rescued Bill from a university science lab where they had replaced his brains with
Tater Tots
Tater tots are grated potatoes formed into small cylinders and deep-fried, often served as a side dish. The name "tater tot" is a registered trademark of the American frozen food company Ore-Ida, but is often used as a generic term. "Tater" ...
.
* is a rabbit (name unknown until April 1984) who is best friends with Portnoy and Cutter John. He is politically conservative and
fanatical
''Fanatical'' is a Canadian half-hour documentary television series produced by Peace Point Entertainment Group and currently airs on TVtropolis and DejaView. FANatical explores the motivations and activities of people involved with the fandom of ...
about various issues, despite the fact that he is extremely ignorant about those same issues. Both Hodge-Podge and Portnoy (below) started off in April 1982 as unnamed minor characters, and their roles gradually increased as the strip continued, coalescing into their final forms around 1984.
*
Portnoy is a groundhog, although his
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
was a mystery until October 1983. Before the revelation that he was a groundhog, he was portrayed as a squirrel, gopher, porcupine and possum, with his finalized groundhog design first emerging in March 1983. Portnoy was the grouchiest and most bigoted character by far and (in a few strips) was a bully to Opus.
*
Oliver Wendell Jones
Oliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in ''Bloom County'', '' Outland'' and ''Opus'', three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. The character was named for
United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, ...
is a schoolmate of Milo and Binkley, introduced in September 1983. He is a young
computer hacker
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
and gifted scientist. He once tried to bring an end to the
Cold War by introducing onto the front page of ''
Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'' the headline, "
Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Comm ...
Urges Disarmament: Total! Unilateral!", but faulty translation caused the headline to read, "Gorbachev Sings Tractors: Turnip! Buttocks!" He has a fairly extensive criminal record as a result of his numerous computer pranks. Oliver is African-American.
His mother
''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...
has dressed her son to resemble Michael Jackson, much to Oliver's chagrin.
Other characters
*
Bobbi Harlow
Bobbi Harlow is a fictional character in Berke Breathed's comic strip '' Bloom County''.
A schoolteacher, Bobbi is popular among her students, particularly Milo Bloom and Michael Binkley, who both harbored crushes on her. However, the conserva ...
is the feminist schoolteacher of Milo and Binkley and the love interest of both Steve and Cutter. She was a major character from her introduction in April 1981 until mid-1982, in which her role largely dissipates into that of Cutter John's sporadically appearing girlfriend, thus catalyzing her eventual disappearance by July 1983. She appears only once in the strip's later years, when Opus learns she has joined the crew of ''
The Phil Donahue Show
''The Phil Donahue Show'', also known as ''Donahue'', is an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, and i ...
''. In August 1981, her parents visited, and met Steve, whom they disliked.
*Quiche Lorraine, cousin of Bobbi Harlow and one-time girlfriend of Steve Dallas circa 1982. She was only dating Steve because of his body and dumped him after an accident left him in a full-body cast.
*Cozy Fillerup, single mother and love interest to Cutter John. She was introduced in the 2015 revival of the strip when Cutter John and crew ran over her with his wheelchair, the "''Aluminium Falcon''".
*Abby Fillerup, Cozy's sole daughter. She was introduced in the 2015 revival of the strip. She practices yoga, acupuncture, and other
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...
beliefs. As her introduction is quite recent, her importance and involvement with the future of the strip is unknown. She has been seen to participate in the gang's pop culture fantasies, and is often seen engaging in antics with the main cast.
*Tom Binkley, Binkley's father, usually distraught over his son's behavior, his own divorce or mid-life crisis.
*Frank Jones, Oliver's father, who funds his son's scientific endeavors, particularly his cure for
baldness made from cat-sweat nicknamed "Scalp Tonic".
*Eleanor Jones, Oliver's mother, distrustful of technology and science, usually with good reason.
*
Lola Granola
Lola Granola, also known as Fatima Struggle, is a fictional character in the comic strips ''Bloom County'' and ''Opus'' by Berkeley Breathed.
Lola, a free spirited hippie and abstract artist, is the unlikely fiancée of Opus the Penguin. Their p ...
, a free-spirited and gentle
hippie who experiments with
green politics
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...
and
vegetarianism. She and Opus had a long engagement, but were married only seconds before Opus was knocked unconscious while clumsily trying to kiss her and had a nightmare of his future which caused him to annul the marriage the instant he woke up.
*Milquetoast the Cockroach: an eloquent yet disgusting cockroach living in the boarding house, he secretly uses
subliminal messaging (usually in the form of whispering in the tenants' ears as they sleep) to convince them to spare his life and bring him food.
*Rosebud the Basselope, a
basset hound
The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...
with antlers (in a play on
jackalope
The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. The word ''jackalope'' is a portmanteau of ''jackrabbit'' and ''antelope''. Many jackalope taxidermy mounts, including the original, ...
). As the last basselope on Earth (the second-to-last having been hunted and killed for sport by
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
), Rosebud is somewhat gullible, naive, and easily shocked. Long after her introduction, it was determined that Rosebud was actually female, in a parody of the use of female dogs to portray the ostensibly male canine beer mascot
Spuds McKenzie. The rebooted ''Bloom County'' gave her the ability to fly when her antlers were inflated with "dandelion gas".
*
Ronald-Ann Smith is a young, innocent African-American girl from "the wrong side of the tracks" who lives in poverty. Her frequent efforts to make the best of the little she has often make the rest of the cast feel selfish and uncomfortable. Her best friend is Reynalda, a headless doll. At the end of the first series of ''Bloom County,'' she shows Opus the way to Outland, presented as a magical imaginary world she created to escape her harsh reality.
* The Banana Jr. 6000 Computer (a blatant parody of the Apple Macintosh) is presented as an almost robot-like companion of Oliver, though he is quick to dispose of it if a newer model has even the slightest superficial upgrade.
Notable storylines
''For detailed summaries of all storylines, see the entries for the individual books.''
* Opus was originally intended to have a run of just two weeks, but his status was cemented with a memorable Sunday strip involving a
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna may refer to:
* International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a group commonly known as "Hare Krishnas" or the "Hare Krishna movement"
* Hare Krishna (mantra)
The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the (" ...
asking for money. Opus continued to misunderstand the Krishna's request for money before finally misinterpreting "Prayer temples for Hare Krishnas" as "Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts!" Breathed wrote in one of the ''Bloom County'' books that the reaction was so overwhelmingly strong he made Opus a permanent member of the cast.
*In 1984 the American Meadow Party ran Bill the Cat as its presidential candidate opposing Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale, with Opus as the vice presidential candidate. Their campaign slogan was, "This Time, Why Not The Worst?" The sequence parodied the entire campaign season and the lengths some parties would go to, with Opus becoming near suicidal when told he is running behind pickled prunes in popularity polls. It did lead to the slogan of disaffected voters everywhere, "Don't blame me. I voted for Bill and Opus."
* Steve forms a
heavy metal band with Opus, Hodge Podge, and Bill, initially called "Deathtöngue". Steve is forced to rename the band "Billy and the Boingers" after he is brought before a
congressional hearing investigating the effect of heavy metal music on youth, similar to the
Parents Music Resource Center
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes via labeling albums ...
.
* Opus decides to reunite with his long-lost mother for Christmas in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
, only to discover that his mother supposedly died saving soldiers in the
Falklands war. Her gravestone reads, 'The Falklands Martyr: She Loved her Boy'. She is later revealed to be alive.
* The cast of Bloom County goes on
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
. W. A. Thornhump refuses to concede to any of their demands and attempts to have his office staff fill in. Things get ugly when Steve Dallas crosses the picket line and Thornhump hires
strike-breakers to play Opus, Bill, and Oliver. In the end, the strikers are defeated, although Opus still throws eggs at Steve, saying "Here comes breakfast from Aunt Opus!!"
*Oliver invents Dr. Oliver's Scalp Tonic using Bill the Cat's perspiration motivated from the thought of
Dan Quayle
James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, Quayle served as a U.S. ...
becoming US president. The tonic miraculously will restore hair on anyone, but has the side effect of users producing "ack" noises. The US government bans it, but the gang decide to continue producing it illegally after discovering that desperate customers are willing to buy it at exorbitant prices. In a parody of the
war on drugs
The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...
, the gang is extremely successful while thwarting the ineffectual government attempts to stop the illegal trade. As violent crime arises from the trade, the tonic operation is fatally undermined when the government legalizes it. The effects are later to be shown as temporary, leaving Oliver's father totally bald.
*Oliver learns of the
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
system in South Africa. He invents a "pigmentizer", which will temporarily turn a white person black. Cutter John and Opus are dispatched to Washington to zap the
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
n ambassador, but their balloon-powered wheelchair crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and they disappear. Though officially listed as "Eaten By Squid", Opus reappears some time later, suffering from such strong amnesia that he initially has no idea he is even a penguin. Eventually the fake news of a secret wedding between
Eddie Murphy and
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and ''Primetime'' newsmagaz ...
, Opus' longtime crush, shocks him into recalling what happened. After drifting for a while between lost islands, using the wheelchair as a raft, Cutter John and Opus were rescued by a Soviet submarine and arrested as spies. In order to rescue him, Steve Dallas meets with Russian envoys to trade Cutter John in for the one thing they want from Bloom County: Bill the Cat.
*
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
is accidentally and fatally injured by the anchor of his own yacht. Incredibly, surgeons turn to Bill the Cat as a donor body in which to insert Trump's still-living brain. Trapped in Bill's body, Trump finds himself disinherited from his financial empire and estranged from his wife
Ivana
Ivana ( sr, Ивана) is a feminine given name of Slavic origin that is also popular in southern Ireland, France, French-speaking Canada, the Mediterranean and Latin America. It is the feminine form of the name Ivan, which are both the Slavic ...
. With nowhere else to turn, he takes Bill's place in the Bloom County boarding house, making unsuccessful attempts to start from scratch and occasionally being given equally unsuccessful lessons on the value of life by Opus. This eventually culminates in Trump regaining power and using it to buy out Bloom County, firing the entire staff of characters in the process.
End and spinoff strips
Breathed decided to end the strip in 1989. In keeping with the continuity of the Bill the Cat/Donald Trump storyline, Trump "buys out" the comic strip and fires all of the cast. In the strip's final weeks the cast found new "jobs" with other comic strips. A "goodbye party" was held over the course of the week where characters talked about joining new strips. Portnoy and Hodge Podge get jobs as janitors behind the scenes at ''
Marmaduke
''Marmaduke'' is a newspaper comic strip revolving around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke, drawn by Brad Anderson from June 1954 to 2015.
Publication history
The strip was created by Anderson, and sold to the John F. Dille ...
''; Steve Dallas joins the cast of ''
Cathy
''Cathy'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip, drawn by Cathy Guisewite from 1976 until 2010. The comic follows Cathy, a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life—food, love, family, and work. The strip gently pokes f ...
'' and attempts to pitch himself as a new superhero, but is quickly fired from both jobs; Michael Binkley becomes a wild boar skinner for ''
Prince Valiant
''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...
''.
Lola Granola
Lola Granola, also known as Fatima Struggle, is a fictional character in the comic strips ''Bloom County'' and ''Opus'' by Berkeley Breathed.
Lola, a free spirited hippie and abstract artist, is the unlikely fiancée of Opus the Penguin. Their p ...
says that she has been invited to pose for ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'', which Opus dislikes. Milo Bloom is seen with a snake swallowing him head first and informing Opus he would be appearing Tuesdays in ''
The Far Side
''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surreali ...
''. Oliver Wendell Jones is seen with the distinct features of ''
Family Circus
''The Family Circus'' (originally ''The Family Circle'', also ''Family-Go-Round'') is a syndicated comic strip created by cartoonist Bil Keane and, since Bil's death in 2011, is currently written, inked, and rendered (colored) by his son, Jef ...
'' characters. He informs Opus he is being "
bussed in" to the strip as part of a court order. Once ''Bloom County'' characters are scattered, only Opus is left as part of a plot to transition to Breathed's next strip in ''Bloom Countys final week.
Shortly after ''Bloom County'' ended, Breathed started a
Sunday-only strip called ''
Outland'' with original characters and situations introduced in ''Bloom Countys final days. However, Opus, Bill and other characters eventually reappeared and slowly took over the strip. ''Outland'' ran from September 3, 1989, to March 26, 1995. Another Sunday-only spinoff strip called ''
Opus
''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.).
Opus or OPUS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
'' ran from November 23, 2003, to November 2, 2008.
Return
On July 12, 2015, Breathed posted to his Facebook page a photo with the caption "A return after 25 years. Feels like going home." The photo showed him drawing a comic strip with the title ''Bloom County 2015'' with Opus pictured in the first frame. A fan asked in the comments on the picture if this was in response to
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's presidential campaign, and Mr. Breathed responded to the comment that "This creator can't precisely deny that the chap you mention had nothing to do with it." The next day, July 13, 2015, the first comic of the revived strip was officially posted online, also to Breathed's Facebook page. The strip was relaunched under the ''Bloom County 2015'' title, only to be renamed simply as ''Bloom County'' at the start of 2016.
On the return of the strips Breathed stated:
Breathed originally had no plans of publishing the new strips outside of his Facebook page, commenting that “Newspapers need deadlines, alas. Like my departed friend
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...
used to say, the only part of deadlines I enjoyed was the whooshing sound as they sped by.” An archive of the new strips has started at
GoComics
GoComics is a website launched in 2005 by the digital entertainment provider Uclick. It was originally created as a distribution portal for comic strips on mobile phones, but in 2006, the site was redesigned and expanded to include online strips ...
since then. A new book was announced in June 2016; ''Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope'' was a compilation of strips from 2015 and 2016. Two more books followed in 2017 and 2018, respectively. No more books have been published since.
On April 11, 2022, Breathed posted a new strip on Facebook labeled "Season 33, Episode 3" in the title panel. It featured Steve Dallas and Opus in a
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
of the
MeToo
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
Movement.
Incorporating Calvin and Hobbes
Starting from 2016, Breathed took on, with permission, the characters from
Calvin and Hobbes
''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly cited as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin and Hobbes'' has enjoyed b ...
in an occasional series of strips.
Influence
''Bloom County'' has had an influence on other cartoonists, particularly cartoonists who have an irreverent bent or tackle political topics in their work.
For example, Scott Kurtz, creator of the
webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be c ...
''
PvP'', acknowledged Breathed's contributions at one point with a strip expressing the opinion that "so many webcomics. ..are nothing but ''Bloom County'' ripoffs", then lampooning itself by
mimic
MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...
king Breathed's art and dialogue style in the final panel.
Aaron McGruder, creator of the comic and later animated series ''
The Boondocks
Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas.
Boondocks may also refer to:
* The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band
* ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder
** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...
'', has paid tribute to Breathed's work as well, with a few aspects of the strip bearing more than a passing resemblance to important ''Bloom County'' features (including at least a couple of artistic similarities), and an episode of the animated series wherein the character Uncle Ruckus calls Breathed "Master Penguin Draw'er".
The series was adapted into the 1991 animated Christmas special entitled ''
A Wish for Wings That Work'', which is now available on DVD.
Bloom County location
The fictional setting of ''Bloom County'' served as a recurring backdrop for the comic and its sequels, although the nature of the setting was frequently altered.
In the comics, the county is presented as a stereotypical
American midwestern small town. The small town setting was frequently contrasted with the increasing
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...
taking place in the rest of the world; though Bloom County contained the likes of farmers and wilderness creatures by default, it was frequented by
Hare Krishnas
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktived ...
, feminists, and
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
stars.
While the location of Bloom County is never explicitly mentioned, there have been some clues in the strip. When Oliver Jones identified Bloom County as the place where
Halley's Comet
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...
would crash into Earth, a sign was seen saying that it was at 35.05 N 146.55 E. This would place it in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles off the coast of Japan. Oliver's previous calculation was 39.43 N 105.01 W, which would place it just south of
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. In an early strip, Milo gives his address as "Box 163, Bloom County, N.I., 12460", the zip code for which would place it about 30 miles southwest of
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...
. Another strip has Opus trying to make airline reservations to
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
. He balks at the outrageously high quoted price for a ticket stating that "Des Moines is just 94 miles from Bloom County". Geographically, this would place Bloom County in either
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
or the far north-central tier of counties of
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, but likely referring to the distance from
Iowa City, where the strip was produced, to Des Moines. (See Real World References below). Also, in a Sunday strip with L.H. Puttgrass, he is holding a
King Soopers
King Soopers is a supermarket brand of Kroger located in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. It started as its own brand and, today, is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
King Soopers has a significant presence in the state of Colorado on ...
bag, which would place the comic in Colorado. On January 29, 2016, Berkeley Breathed posted on Facebook that "The Bloom County boarding house still sits in beautiful hayseedless Iowa City, home for this cartoonist for four years."
The county was home to the Bloom Boarding House, Steve Dallas' law offices, the ''Bloom Beacon'' and ''Bloom Picayune'' newspapers, at least one pond, and Milo's Meadow. In the comic's later years, the county contained what appeared to be a big-city
ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
("the wrong side of the tracks", as it was known).
The geographical profile of the county was fluid as the artistic style of the strip evolved. During most of ''Bloom Countys run, the rural meadow setting was presented realistically, while in its later years it became increasingly more abstract.
The ''Outland'' setting of the strip was originally set apart from the county by way of a magical doorway. By ''Outland''
's end, the Outland appeared to be a part of Bloom County itself.
The final ''Outland'' strip listed the characters as living at "555 Hairybutt St., Bloom County, Outland".
''Opus'' also takes place in Bloom County.
Real-world references
![Iowa city linsay house](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Iowa_city_linsay_house.jpg)
Breathed lived in
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...
during the early years of the strip, and the setting of ''Bloom County'' resembles Iowa City in several ways. The Bloom Boarding House, which appeared as a high contrast photo within the strip, is modeled after the
Linsay House located at 935 East College Street. Another Iowa City landmark, The
Prairie Lights
Prairie Lights is an independent bookstore in downtown Iowa City, Iowa, founded in 1978, by Jim Harris.
History
The store's original location was a space on South Linn Street. In 1982, Harris moved the store to an space on South Dubuque Street, ...
Bookstore, was referred to in the strip as the "Prairie Lights Newsstand"; original ''Bloom County'' artwork from Breathed now hangs in the bookstore. Another original ''Bloom County'' strip hangs in the
Iowa City Public Library
The Iowa City Public Library (ICPL) was established in 1896 to serve the people of Iowa City, Iowa, USA. Currently located in a new facility at the intersection of College and Linn Streets on the downtown pedestrian mall, ICPL serves a population ...
. Breathed used the
call letters
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
KRNA
KRNA (94.1 MHz) is a classic rock-formatted radio station licensed to Iowa City, Iowa. The station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. KRNA's studios located in the Alliant Energy Building in Downtown Cedar Rapids, and their transmitter ...
to refer to ''Bloom Countys rock radio station featuring
"Rockin' Charmin' Harmin". The call letters belong to an actual Iowa City rock station which featured a disc jockey named "Charmin'" Jeff Harmon in the 1980s. Several Iowa City local news items also directly inspired ''Bloom County'' storylines. For example, a fictional Ronald Reagan sexist gaffe, referring to women as "little dumplin's", was lifted from
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
football coach
Hayden Fry
John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now known ...
's comment, infuriating feminists at the university.
Animated series
In February 2022 it was announced that Bill the Cat, Opus, and the rest of Berkeley Breathed's "Bloom County" universe are set to make their debut on
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
. “Bloom County” will be co-written and executive produced by Breathed. Bento Box will serve as the animation studio on the project. Fox's animation company,
Bento Box Entertainment
Bento Box Entertainment (also known as Bento Box Animation) is an American animation studio located in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2009 by executive producers Scott Greenberg, Joel Kuwahara, and ...
,
Miramax,
Spyglass Media Group
Spyglass Media Group, LLC, formerly Spyglass Entertainment, is an American film production company founded by Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum in 1998.
History Spyglass Entertainment
On August 21, 1998, Gary Barber, former vice chairman and CO ...
and Project X Entertainment are all working on it as an animated series. In September 2022, it was announced ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' writer
Tim Long
Tim Long (born June 14, 1969) is a comedy writer born in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Long calls Exeter, Ontario, his home town and has written for ''The Simpsons'', ''Politically Incorrect'', '' Spy'' magazine and the ''Late Show with David Letter ...
joined the series as showrunner.
''Bloom County'' books
Like many other popular comic strips, ''Bloom County'' has been republished in various
collections
Collection or Collections may refer to:
* Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department
* Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service
* Collection agency, agency to collect cash
* Collection ...
. By 2004, the comic strip was reprinted in 11 books, the first having been published in 1983 and the last in that year. None of the reprints contained complete runs of the strip, although ''Bloom County Babylon'' contained many of the strips that preceded ''
Loose Tails''. All of the daily strips have been reprinted in ''
Comics Revue
''Comics Revue'' is a bi-monthly small press comic book published by Manuscript Press and edited by Rick Norwood. Don Markstein edited the publication from 1984 to 1987 and 1992 to 1996.
As of 2020, it has published more than 350 issues, making ...
'' magazine.
IDW Publishing published ''The Bloom County Library'', a five volume hardback
collection of all ''Bloom County'' strips, beginning in October 2009. This series is part of their ''Library of American Comics'' series. It is a complete reprint of the strip, including side notes about cultural and political references made in the strip, "Headlines" breaks to identify the top stories of the day, and commentary from Breathed. Each volume has three separate releases: a standard edition, a signed edition, and a signed, remarked edition. Breathed said that the reason why the strips printed in ''The Bloom County Library'' were not published in previous collections was that the publisher would not let Breathed publish 400 pages each year, so Breathed had to reduce the content in each book. Breathed also said that he believes that, "I just closed my eyes and dropped a dart on the ones to be included." He felt relieved the publishers did not "have to ask ... to do this again."
On October 25, 2017, IDW published ''Bloom County: Real, Classy, & Compleat: 1980-1989'', collecting the complete run of ''Bloom County'' in two volumes. An "Ultimate Collectors Set" was also released, including the original art from a daily strip featuring Opus, a page from Breathed's sketchbooks, and a personalized sketch of Opus on the slipcover.
Collections
* ''
Loose Tails'' (1983)
* ''
Toons for Our Times'' (1984)
* ''
Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things'' (1985)
* ''
Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness'' (1986)—An omnibus featuring strips from the previous three collections
* ''
Billy and the Boingers Bootleg
''Billy and the Boingers Bootleg'' is the fifth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1987.
It is preceded by ''Bloom County Babylon'' and followed by ''Tales Too Ticklish to Tell''.
Prior ...
'' (1987)
* ''
Tales Too Ticklish to Tell'' (1988)
* ''
The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos'' (1989)
* ''Happy Trails!'' (1990)
* ''Classics of Western Literature'' (1990)—An omnibus featuring strips from the previous four collections
* ''One Last Little Peek, 1980–1995: The Final Strips, the Special Hits, the Inside Tips'' (1995) - A collection of strips from both ''Bloom County'' and ''Outland''
* ''Opus: 25 Years of His Sunday Best'' (2004)—An omnibus featuring strips from ''Bloom County'','' Outland'', and ''Opus''
* ''Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope'' (2016)
* ''Bloom County: The Real, Classy, & Compleat 1980–1989'' (2017)
* ''Bloom County Brand Spanking New Day'' (2017)
* ''Bloom County Best Read on the Throne'' (2018)
The Complete Bloom County Library
''
Bloom County: The Complete Library'', published by
The Library of American Comics
Library of American Comics (abbreviated as LoAC) is an American publisher of classic American comic strips collections and comic history books, founded by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell in 2007.
History Background
Dean Mullaney, the founder ...
, an imprint of
IDW Publishing, between 2009 and 2012. Collects the complete ''Bloom County'' as well as ''Outland'' and ''Opus''.
References
External links
Berkeley Breathed's websiteat
Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on February 22, 2018.
Breathed interview in The A.V. Club, August 15, 2001
{{Portal bar, Comics
American comic strips
1980 comics debuts
1989 comics endings
Comics about politics
Fictional counties
Comic strips set in the United States
Fictional locations in comics
Comics about penguins
Comics about cats
Comics about pigs
Comics about animals
Comics about rabbits and hares
Works by Berkeley Breathed