Michael Binkley is a fictional character in

Berke 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 ...

's cartoon strip ''

Bloom County ''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 ...

''. 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, had divorced Tom and moved to Oakland with a

Hells Angel The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporati ...

). Binkley is in the same class as

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 ...

, his best friend. Binkley introduces

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 ...

to his group, at first believing him to be a dog. Binkley is described as "an airhead" by everyone who knows him (except Opus). Binkley is the first recurring child character after Milo to appear in the strip and largely replaced the dog

Rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, ...

as Milo's sounding board. Binkley originally appears as a player on Milo's elementary school football team. The coach is Major Bloom, who uses the team to live out his fantasy of being a great military commander. Binkley is originally depicted as a stereotypical

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

; he is much smaller than the other children and has thick glasses, bad skin, and messy hair. Soon afterwards, Binkley appears in his "classic" look (Opus at one point comments that Binkley looks like a carrot). Binkley's father initially calls him "Mad Dog" and hopes he will live out his failed dreams by becoming a star middle linebacker. Binkley, on the other hand, is interested in

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, wants to dance the lead in '' Swan Lake'', and dreams of being a hairdresser. He is a Star Wars fan and dreams of being a master

Jedi Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi ...

. He constantly wakes up his easily irritated father in the middle of the night to talk to him about celebrity gossip, politics and random anxieties to the point where the father eventually cannot sleep without those interruptions. He also has a closet in his room where his anxieties dwell and plague him at night. Their leader is the Giant Purple Snorklewacker, but the anxieties can range from typical things like giant snakes to computer technology to politically themed ones like a pair of disagreeing macroeconomists. In one instance, the anxiety closet showed Binkley his future middle-aged self: a balding, paunchy, lifelong failure who gives grandiose nicknames to his wife, daughter, house, car, dog, etc. Binkley is infatuated with an African American girl named Blondie (scandalizing the rather

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

townsfolk, including his father). Binkley campaigns with the Meadow Party. In the Sunday strip ''

'', it is revealed that Binkley had become a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

after a disastrous first date. However, Binkley makes a sudden and unexplained reappearance in the June 3, 2007 ''Opus'' strip in which he is depicted in his "classic" incarnation.Breathed, Berkeley
''Opus''. June 3, 2007
.

References

{{bloomcounty Binkley, Michael Binkley, Michael