Bloom County
Encyclopedia
Bloom County is an American
comic strip
by Berkeley Breathed
which 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. It originated from a comic strip known as The Academia Waltz
, which Breathed produced for the student newspaper, The Daily Texan
, while attending the University of Texas
.
; Breathed commented "You draw--literally--from your life if you’re going to write anything with some juice to it. I did just that."
Breathed's hand-printed signature on his strips is usually presented in mirror image, i.e. right to left.
Berke Breathed was awarded the Pulitzer Prize
in editorial cartooning in 1987 for Bloom County.
; Steve Dallas joins the cast of Cathy
, but is quickly fired; Michael Binkley becomes a wild boar skinner for Prince Valiant
. Lola Granola
says that Playboy
has offered her a job as a bunny
, 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
. Oliver Wendell Jones is seen with the distinct features of Family Circus 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
ran from November 23, 2003, to November 2, 2008.
For example, Scott Kurtz, creator of the webcomic
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
king Breathed's art and dialogue style in the final panel.
Aaron McGruder
, creator of the comic and later animated series The Boondocks
, has paid homage 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
.
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
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
, feminists, and rock
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
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
. 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
. Another strip has Opus trying to make airline reservations to Des Moines, Iowa
. 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
or the far north-central tier of counties of Missouri
, 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 bag, which would place the comic in Colorado.
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
("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.
The setting of Bloom County resembled Iowa City, Iowa
, in several ways; Breathed lived there during the early years of the strip. The Bloom Boarding House, for example, which appeared as a high contrast photo within the strip, is the Linsay House
located at 935 East College Street in Iowa City; while not a boarding house, the Linsay House continues as a housing co-op. Another Iowa City landmark, The Prairie Lights
Bookstore, was referred to in the strip as the Prairie Lights Newsstand, original Bloom County artwork from Breathed hangs in the bookstore. An original Bloom County strip hangs in the Iowa City Public Library
. Breathed used the call letters KRNA
to refer to Bloom Countys rock radio station featuring "Rockin' Charmin' Harmon". 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, Ronald Reagan's sexist gaffe, referring to women as "little dumplin's", was lifted from University of Iowa
football coach Hayden Fry
's comment, infuriating feminists at the university.
The strip's fictional newspaper, "The Bloom Picayune," is named after the New Orleans Times-Picayune
.
None of the reprints contain complete runs of the strip, although Bloom County Babylon contained many of the strips that preceded Loose Tails
. Many Sunday strips have never been reprinted. All of the daily strips have been reprinted in Comics Revue
magazine.
IDW Publishing
is publishing 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.
Breathed said that the reason why the strips printed in Bloom County Library were not posted in previous anthologies was that the publisher would not let Breathed publish 400 pages each year, so Breathed had to reduce the content in each anthology. Breathed said that he believes that "I just closed my eyes and dropped a dart on the ones to be included." He felt relieved that the publishers did not "have to ask me to do this again."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
by Berkeley Breathed
Berkeley Breathed
Guy Berkeley "Berke" Breathed is an American cartoonist, children's book author/illustrator, director and screenwriter, best known for Bloom County, a 1980s cartoon-comic strip that dealt with sociopolitical issues as understood by fanciful characters and through humorous analogies...
which 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. It originated from a comic strip known as The Academia Waltz
The Academia Waltz
The Academia Waltz was Berkeley Breathed's first cartoon, published daily from 1978 to 1979 in The Daily Texan at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was a student...
, which Breathed produced for the student newspaper, The Daily Texan
The Daily Texan
The Daily Texan is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. It is entirely student-run and independent from the university. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States with a daily circulation of roughly 30,000 during the fall and spring semesters and bills...
, while attending the University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
.
Production
Breathed set Bloom County in a small town, despite the fact that, during the time, small towns in the United States became increasingly marginalized due to cultural, economic, and political forces. Breathed said he made the choice because he had followed a girlfriend to Iowa City, IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
; Breathed commented "You draw--literally--from your life if you’re going to write anything with some juice to it. I did just that."
Breathed's hand-printed signature on his strips is usually presented in mirror image, i.e. right to left.
Berke Breathed was awarded the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in editorial cartooning in 1987 for Bloom County.
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 BloomMilo BloomMilo 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:...
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 action takes place at the boarding houseBoarding houseA boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
owned by his family. In the very earliest strips, Milo's grandfather ("The Major") was a central character, although after the first year or so, The Major's role diminished and the character soon vanished.
- Cutter JohnCutter JohnCutter John is a fictional character in the 1980s comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed.Cutter, a wheelchair-user and Vietnam War veteran was one of the county's most well-liked citizens. Despite being somewhat childish and awkward at times, he was very popular with the ladies, particularly...
is a wheelchair-bound VietnamVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteranVeteranA veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
, noted for indulging in Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
fantasies with the meadow animals (Hodge-Podge, Portnoy and Opus), as well as anti-warAnti-warAn anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
protests. He is not a womanizer like Steve Dallas (below), but he is more popular with the ladies. His visage is nearly identical to that of Berkeley Breathed.
- Steve DallasSteve DallasSteve Dallas is a fictional character in the American comic strips of Berke Breathed, most famously Bloom County in the 1980s.He was first introduced as an obnoxious frat boy in the college strip The Academia Waltz, which ran in the University of Texas's Daily Texan during 1978 and 1979...
was introduced in May, 1981, but was actually originally a featured character in Breathed's previous strip, The Academia Waltz. Steve is Bloom County's sole defense attorney. Dallas was either directly or tangentially involved in most of the conflicts which occurred in the strip over the years. Chain smoker and former "frat boy", Dallas spends most of his free time either trying to seduce women or concocting get-rich-quick schemes, including forming and then managing a heavy metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Billy and the BoingersBilly and the BoingersBilly and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County, originally known as Deathtöngue.Most of the Deathtöngue saga is contained in the Bloom County collection Billy and the Boingers Bootleg, which included a flexi-disc containing what were apparently two...
(previously known as Deathtöngue). Some time midway through the strip, Steve was abducted by aliens, who scrambled his brain, turning him into a feminist. The shock of being cheated on by his girlfriend reverted him back to his original personality.
- Michael BinkleyMichael BinkleyMichael 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 . Binkley is in the same class as Milo Bloom, his best friend...
was also originally introduced in May, 1981. Binkley was a schoolmate of Milo's who did not live in the boardinghouse. He is wishy-washy and overly reflective (in the mold of Charlie BrownCharlie BrownCharles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie...
), when not contemplating the lives of famous figures in pop culture. His "anxiety closet" has been a staple of many storylines,
- OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
is a large-nosed penguinPenguinPenguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
(occasionally mistaken for an iguanaIguanaIguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...
) with a herringHerringHerring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
addiction who lost track of his mother during the Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. (They were later reunited in a closing storyline at the end of the strip's series.) He was originally introduced as the pet penguin of Michael Binkley ("A boy and his penguin!") in June, 1981. However, Opus was only seen in a few strips that month before disappearing. He was then re-introduced as a full-time cast member in January, 1982. By this point, Opus was no longer Binkley's pet, and he eventually became a boarder at the Bloom house. 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 OpusOpus (comic strip)Opus was a Sunday strip drawn by Berkeley Breathed for a period of five years, 2003 to 2008. It was Breathed's fourth comic strip, following The Academia Waltz, Bloom County and Outland....
), three children's books, and a television special entitled A Wish for Wings That WorkA Wish for Wings That WorkOn December 13, 1991, an animated special was released. It was directed by Skip Jones and was produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio for Universal Cartoon Studios...
.
- Bill the CatBill the CatBill the Cat, or Bill D. Cat, according to the final Outland strip, is a fictional cat appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades...
is a large orange tabby cat. Introduced originally in the summer of 1982 as a parody of the comic character GarfieldGarfieldGarfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
, and saying little beyond his trademark responses, "Ack" and "Pbthhh", he has become something of a blank slate around which various plots revolved. Numerous strips indicated that his persistent near-catatonicCatatoniaCatatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
state was the result of drug use or brain damage resulting from once being legally dead and then revived after too long of a period. In the Christmas video A Wish For Wings That Work, Opus recounts having rescued Bill from a University Science Lab where they had replaced his brains with Tater TotsTater TotsTater Tots, a registered trademark for a commercial form of hash browns made by Ore-Ida, are a side-dish made from deep-fried, grated taters. Tater Tots are widely recognized by their crispness, cylindrical shape and small size....
. He's been a cultCultThe word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
leader ("Bhagwan Bill"), televangelist ("Fundamentally Oral Bill"), perennial Presidential candidate (for the National Radical Meadow Party), heavy metal rock star ("Wild Bill Catt"), nuclear power plant operator at ChernobylChernobyl disasterThe Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
, and, in the last months of the series, had his brain surgically replaced with Donald TrumpDonald TrumpDonald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
's. He has been known to speak on occasion, most notably during the Communist witch-huntRed ScareDurrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
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?" Bill has apparently had affairs with Jeane KirkpatrickJeane KirkpatrickJeane Jordan Kirkpatrick was an American ambassador and an ardent anticommunist. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign and later in his Cabinet, the longtime Democrat-turned-Republican was nominated as the U.S...
, Princess DianaDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
and Socks the cat
- Hodge-PodgeHodge-Podge (character)Hodge-Podge the rabbit is a fictitious character from Berke Breathed's comic strip Bloom County. His best friends are Portnoy and Cutter John. Hodge is extremely politically conservative and fanatical about most things, though often ignorant and naive about just what those things are...
is a rabbit who is best friends with Portnoy and Cutter John. He is politically conservative and fanaticalFanaticismFanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...
about various issues, despite the fact that he is extremely ignorant about those same issues. Both Hodge-Podge and Portnoy (below) started off circa 1982 as unnamed minor characters, whose roles gradually increased as the strip continued.
- PortnoyPortnoy (Bloom County character)Portnoy is a character in Berke Breathed's comic strip Bloom County. Portnoy was one of the critters that could talk, and was often surly mouthed and bigoted, usually leading Hodge-Podge, his best friend, to have to cover his mouth. When Bill the Cat became a televangelist denouncing "penguin...
is a groundhog, although his speciesSpeciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
was a mystery for most of the strip's run. Before the revelation that he was a groundhog, he was portrayed as a squirrel, gopher, and possum. Portnoy was the grouchiest and most bigoted character by far and has in a few strips been a bully to Opus.
- Oliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in Bloom County, Outland and Opus, three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed.-Fictional character biography:...
is a schoolmate of Milo and Binkley, introduced in 1983. He is also a young computer hackerHacker (computer security)In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
and gifted scientist, having invented a miracle hair-growth formula, among other things. He once tried to bring an end to the Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
by introducing onto the front page of PravdaPravdaPravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
the headline, "GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
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.
Other characters
- Bobbi HarlowBobbi HarlowBobbi Harlow is a fictional character in Berke Breathed's comic strip Bloom County.A schoolteacher, Bobbi was popular among her students, particularly Milo Bloom and Michael Binkley, who both harbored crushes on her. However, the conservative adults in the town were suspicious of her liberal,...
is the feministFeminismFeminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
schoolteacher of Milo and Binkley and the love interest of both Steve and Cutter. She was a major character until 1983, when she disappeared. She appeared only once in the strip's later years, when Opus learns she has joined the crew of The Phil Donahue ShowThe Phil Donahue ShowThe Phil Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, is an American television talk show that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast in Dayton, Ohio, and it was broadcast nationwide between 1967 and 1996.In 2002, Donahue was ranked #29 on TV Guide's...
. - Quiche Lorraine, cousin of Bobbi Harlow and one-time girlfriend of Steve Dallas. Was only dating Steve because of his body.
- Tom Binkley, Binkley's father, usually distraught over his son's behavior, his own divorce or mid-life crisis.
- Frank JonesMinor characters in Bloom CountyThe following are minor characters from Berkeley Breathed's comic strip Bloom County. Though significant enough to have appeared multiple times in the strip, they were not crucial to the strip's overall development, and disappeared without much explanation long before Breathed segued into his next...
, Oliver's father, who funds his son's scientific endeavors, particularly his cure for baldnessBaldnessBaldness implies partial or complete lack of hair and can be understood as part of the wider topic of "hair thinning". The degree and pattern of baldness can vary greatly, but its most common cause is male and female pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia, alopecia androgenetica or...
made from cat-sweat. - Mrs. Jones, Oliver's mother, distrustful of technology and science, usually with good reason
- Lola GranolaLola GranolaLola 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...
, briefly Opus' fiancee. - Milquetoast the CockroachMilquetoast the CockroachMilquetoast the Cockroach is a fictional character in Berkeley Breathed's comic strips Bloom County and Outland. The character has also appeared in other works by Breathed....
- Rosebud the Basselope
- Ronald-Ann SmithRonald-Ann SmithRonald-Ann Smith was a character in Berkeley Breathed's comic strips Bloom County and Outland.Named after Ronald Reagan, Ronald-Ann was a young African American girl "from the wrong side of the trax" in Bloom County. Appearing late in the strip's run, Ronald-Ann was presented as a polar opposite of...
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 KrishnaInternational Society for Krishna ConsciousnessThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
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. - Steve forms a heavy metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band with Opus, Hodge Podge, and Bill, initially called "Deathtöngue". Steve is forced to rename the band Billy and the BoingersBilly and the BoingersBilly and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County, originally known as Deathtöngue.Most of the Deathtöngue saga is contained in the Bloom County collection Billy and the Boingers Bootleg, which included a flexi-disc containing what were apparently two...
after he is brought before a congressionalUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
hearing investigating the effect of heavy metal music on youth, similar to the Parents Music Resource CenterParents Music Resource CenterThe Parents Music Resource Center was an American committee formed in 1985 with the goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to be violent, have drug use or be sexual.The committee was founded by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice...
. - Opus decides to reunite with his long-lost mother for ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
in Antarctica, 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 alive. - The cast of Bloom County goes on strike. 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-breakersStrikebreakerA strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...
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 QuayleDan QuayleJames Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
becoming US President. The tonic miraculously will restore hair on anyone, but has the side effect of users coughing up hairballs. 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 drugsWar on DrugsThe War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
, 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 and it is discovered that the stimulated hair growth is extremely unstable and will fall completely out at the slightest physical shock such as sneezing and leave the subject completely bald.
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. The strip's final weeks were centered around the cast finding 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 MarmadukeMarmaduke
Marmaduke is a newspaper comic strip drawn by Brad Anderson from 1954 to the present day. The strip was created by Anderson, with help from Phil Leeming and later Dorothy Leeming , and Paul Anderson. The strip revolves around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke...
; Steve Dallas joins the cast of Cathy
Cathy (comic strip)
Cathy was a comic strip drawn by Cathy Guisewite. It featured a woman who struggled through the "four basic guilt groups" of life — food, love, mom, and work — the strip gently poked fun at the lives and foibles of modern women. Cathy's characteristics and issues both made fun of and...
, but is quickly fired; Michael Binkley becomes a wild boar skinner for Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run 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 stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips...
. Lola Granola
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...
says that Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
has offered her a job as a bunny
Playboy Bunny
A Playboy Bunny is a waitress at the Playboy Club. The Playboy Clubs were originally open from 1960 to 1988. The Club re-opened in one location in The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in 2006...
, 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
The Far Side is a popular single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world,...
. Oliver Wendell Jones is seen with the distinct features of Family Circus 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 (comic strip)
Opus was a Sunday strip drawn by Berkeley Breathed for a period of five years, 2003 to 2008. It was Breathed's fourth comic strip, following The Academia Waltz, Bloom County and Outland....
ran from November 23, 2003, to November 2, 2008.
Impact
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
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
PvP
PvP
PvP, also known as Player vs Player, is a webcomic, written and drawn by Scott Kurtz, with around 100,000 unique visitors per day . On February 1, 2007, it became the subject of its own animated series.-Themes:...
, 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
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is the similarity of one species to another which protects one or both. This similarity can be in appearance, behaviour, sound, scent and even location, with the mimics found in similar places to their models....
king Breathed's art and dialogue style in the final panel.
Aaron McGruder
Aaron McGruder
Aaron McGruder is an American cartoonist best known for writing and drawing The Boondocks, a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip about two young African American brothers from inner-city Chicago now living with their grandfather in a sedate suburb, as well as being the creator and executive...
, creator of the comic and later animated series The Boondocks
The Boondocks (TV series)
The Boondocks is an American animated series created by Aaron McGruder on Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim, based on McGruder's comic strip of the same name...
, has paid homage 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
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
special entitled A Wish for Wings That Work
A Wish for Wings That Work
On December 13, 1991, an animated special was released. It was directed by Skip Jones and was produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio for Universal Cartoon Studios...
, which is now available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Bloom County
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
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
small town. The small town setting was frequently contrasted with the increasing globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
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
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
, feminists, and rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
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
Comet Halley
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley is the best-known of the short-period comets, and is visible from Earth every 75 to 76 years. Halley is the only short-period comet that is clearly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime...
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
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, about 300 miles off the coast of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Oliver's previous calculation was 39.43 N 105.01 W, which would place it just south of Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. 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, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. Another strip has Opus trying to make airline reservations to Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. 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
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
or the far north-central tier of counties of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, 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 bag, which would place the comic in Colorado.
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
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
("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
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, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
, in several ways; Breathed lived there during the early years of the strip. The Bloom Boarding House, for example, which appeared as a high contrast photo within the strip, is the Linsay House
Linsay House
The Linsay House is a house in Iowa City listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is perhaps most famous as the model for the Bloom County boarding house. Currently, it is run as a not-for-profit cooperative by the River City Housing Collective....
located at 935 East College Street in Iowa City; while not a boarding house, the Linsay House continues as a housing co-op. Another Iowa City landmark, The Prairie Lights
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...
Bookstore, was referred to in the strip as the Prairie Lights Newsstand, original Bloom County artwork from Breathed hangs in the bookstore. An original Bloom County strip hangs in the Iowa City Public Library
Iowa City Public Library
Established in 1896, the Iowa City Public Library has served the people of Iowa City, Iowa, for over a century. Currently located in a new facility at the intersection of College and Linn Streets on the downtown pedestrian mall, ICPL serves a population 69,000 residents of Iowa City, and through...
. Breathed used the call letters KRNA
KRNA
KRNA is a radio station licensed to Iowa City, Iowa, with studios in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The transmitter for the station is located west of Oxford, Iowa. The station currently has an active rock format. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media.-History:...
to refer to Bloom Countys rock radio station featuring "Rockin' Charmin' Harmon". 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, Ronald Reagan's sexist gaffe, referring to women as "little dumplin's", was lifted from University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
football coach Hayden Fry
Hayden Fry
John Hayden Fry is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Southern Methodist University , North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas , and the University of Iowa , compiling a career college football record of 232–178–10...
's comment, infuriating feminists at the university.
The strip's fictional newspaper, "The Bloom Picayune," is named after the New Orleans Times-Picayune
New Orleans Times-Picayune
The Times-Picayune is a daily newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.-History:Established as The Picayune in 1837 by Francis Lumsden and George Wilkins Kendall, the paper's initial price was one picayune—a Spanish coin equivalent to 6¼¢ .Under Eliza Jane Nicholson, who inherited the...
.
Bloom County books
As with many other popular comic strips, Bloom County has been republished in various collections and anthologies. , the comic strip has been officially reprinted in a total of 11 books, the first having been published in 1983 and the last in 2004.None of the reprints contain complete runs of the strip, although Bloom County Babylon contained many of the strips that preceded Loose Tails
Loose Tails
Loose Tails is the first collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1983. At least two different editions exist; the contents and front cover art are identical but later editions swapped out the serious author biography on the back cover for a...
. Many Sunday strips have never been reprinted. All of the daily strips have been reprinted in Comics Revue
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....
magazine.
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
is publishing 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.
Breathed said that the reason why the strips printed in Bloom County Library were not posted in previous anthologies was that the publisher would not let Breathed publish 400 pages each year, so Breathed had to reduce the content in each anthology. Breathed said that he believes that "I just closed my eyes and dropped a dart on the ones to be included." He felt relieved that the publishers did not "have to ask me to do this again."
Regular collections
Anthologies featuring content from previous collections are listed in bold.- Loose TailsLoose TailsLoose Tails is the first collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1983. At least two different editions exist; the contents and front cover art are identical but later editions swapped out the serious author biography on the back cover for a...
(1983) - Toons For Our TimesToons For Our TimesToons For Our Times is the second collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1984.It is preceded by Loose Tails and followed by Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things.-Synopses of major storylines:...
(1984) - Penguin Dreams and Stranger ThingsPenguin Dreams and Stranger ThingsPenguin Dreams and Stranger Things is the third collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1985.It is preceded by Toons For Our Times and followed by Bloom County Babylon....
(1985) - Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic NaughtinessBloom County BabylonBloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness is the fourth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed...
(1986) - Billy and the Boingers BootlegBilly and the Boingers BootlegBilly 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....
(1987) - Tales Too Ticklish to TellTales Too Ticklish to TellTales Too Ticklish to Tell is the sixth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1988. The cover image, of Opus sitting on the lap of George H. W...
(1988) - The Night of the Mary Kay CommandosThe Night of the Mary Kay CommandosThe Night of the Mary Kay Commandos is the seventh collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1989.It is preceded by Tales Too Ticklish to Tell and followed by Happy Trails!....
(1989) - Happy Trails! (1990)
- Classics of Western Literature (1990)
Other reprints of the strip
- One Last Little Peek, 1980-1995: The Final Strips, the Special Hits, the Inside Tips (1995)
- Opus: 25 Years of His Sunday Best (2004)
The Complete Bloom County Library
- 1980-82 (October 6, 2009)
- 1982-84 (May 4, 2010)
- 1984-86 (October 26, 2010)
- 1986-87 (April 12, 2011)
- 1987-89 (October 25, 2011)