Lola Granola
Encyclopedia
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 art
ist, is the unlikely fiancée of Opus the Penguin
. Their polar opposite personalities clash almost immediately; Opus dislikes her art, abhors her vegetarianism
, and is horrified to learn that she has a tattoo of Dan Fogelberg
in a "scandalous" place. (Opus mispronounces the name, calling him 'Dan Fogerburp.') He also once shows up to meet her mother and pastor while dressed in his costume for his heavy metal
band Deathtöngue. Lola grudgingly shaves her legs because Opus gets rugburn when they dance, which causes her "Dead Head
" membership to be revoked.
After a long-awaited wedding, Opus is knocked out when his nose collides with Lola's when they kiss. While unconscious, Opus dreams about Lola leaving him 20 years later with 23 tube-grown kids. Opus demands annulment
on grounds of having incompatible noses and Lola is spoiled from all birds for the rest of her life (Tweety Bird later tries to ask her out, but she refuses).
As Bloom County' s final strips, Opus meets with her once more, at which point she reveals that she wants to pose in Playboy
.
She did not appear in Outland; however, Lola made her first appearance in Opus
on August 12, 2007.. On August 26, 2007, it is implied that she is Steve Dallas
' girlfriend.
The August 26, 2007 and September 2, 2007 Opus
comic strips featuring Lola Granola were withheld from newspapers across America after The Washington Post
deemed the comic strips as being too controversial. In the August 26 strip, Lola tells Steve Dallas that she has become a "radical Islamist
", which is the "hot new fad on the planet," and that she prefers to be called "Fatima Struggle." She then insinuates at the end of the strip that Steve will not get any sex, "God willing." The September 2 strip has Steve telling Lola to wear a yellow polka-dot bikini, but instead she appears at the end of the comic strip wearing a Burqini
.
Bloom County
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...
and 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....
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...
.
Lola, a free spirited hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
and abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
ist, is the unlikely fiancée of Opus the Penguin
Opus the Penguin
Opus 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...
. Their polar opposite personalities clash almost immediately; Opus dislikes her art, abhors her vegetarianism
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
, and is horrified to learn that she has a tattoo of Dan Fogelberg
Dan Fogelberg
Daniel Grayling "Dan" Fogelberg was an American singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, rock, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music...
in a "scandalous" place. (Opus mispronounces the name, calling him 'Dan Fogerburp.') He also once shows up to meet her mother and pastor while dressed in his costume for his heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy 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 Deathtöngue. Lola grudgingly shaves her legs because Opus gets rugburn when they dance, which causes her "Dead Head
Deadhead
Deadhead or Dead Head is a name given to fans of the American jam band, the Grateful Dead. In the 1970s, a number of fans began travelling to see the band in as many shows or festival venues as they could. With large numbers of people thus attending strings of shows, a community developed...
" membership to be revoked.
After a long-awaited wedding, Opus is knocked out when his nose collides with Lola's when they kiss. While unconscious, Opus dreams about Lola leaving him 20 years later with 23 tube-grown kids. Opus demands annulment
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
on grounds of having incompatible noses and Lola is spoiled from all birds for the rest of her life (Tweety Bird later tries to ask her out, but she refuses).
As Bloom County
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...
.
She did not appear in Outland; however, Lola made her first appearance in 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....
on August 12, 2007.. On August 26, 2007, it is implied that she is Steve Dallas
Steve Dallas
Steve 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...
' girlfriend.
The August 26, 2007 and September 2, 2007 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....
comic strips featuring Lola Granola were withheld from newspapers across America after The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
deemed the comic strips as being too controversial. In the August 26 strip, Lola tells Steve Dallas that she has become a "radical Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
", which is the "hot new fad on the planet," and that she prefers to be called "Fatima Struggle." She then insinuates at the end of the strip that Steve will not get any sex, "God willing." The September 2 strip has Steve telling Lola to wear a yellow polka-dot bikini, but instead she appears at the end of the comic strip wearing a Burqini
Burqini
A burqini swimsuit is a type of swimsuit for women designed by Lebanese Australian Aheda Zanetti under the company name Ahiida....
.