Bloom County C/D?

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He needs to learn how to draw Portnoy.

Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:18 (eighteen years ago) link

The fact is that Opus looks more like a puffin than a penguin.


CLASSIC

Sparkle Motion's Rising Force, Friday, 20 January 2006 23:20 (eighteen years ago) link

obviously CLASSIC, tho it was even funnier before i knew anything about any of the people being made fun of - breathed might've made up that iacocca dude (and donald trump!) for all i knew when i was 10!

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:21 (eighteen years ago) link

"You can lead a yak to water but you can't teach an old dog to make a silk purse out of a pig in a poke."

gobsmackingly classic; so much of my humor is BC-indebted.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:27 (eighteen years ago) link

the one i quote the most is probably the one where milo and binkley argue over whether coke is better than pepsi, only to conclude that both taste like MALTED BATTERY ACID.

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:37 (eighteen years ago) link

The Steve Dallas trying to quit smoking sequence, culminating with Opus hiding in the toilet, brought young me to tears and still almost does.

adam (adam), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:39 (eighteen years ago) link

so classic. i have the flexi!!

maura (maura), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:43 (eighteen years ago) link

I have it too, unsurprisingly. Mucky Pup was the backing band, I think?

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:53 (eighteen years ago) link

J.D. -- ditto.

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 20 January 2006 23:55 (eighteen years ago) link

George "Mr Sulu" Takei went on to marry Marie Osmond.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 21 January 2006 00:18 (eighteen years ago) link

What made me think of this was the scene where Steve Dallas is sitting on the couch in the underwear, talking to the TV.

I can't find that strip online, tho. Something about the guy on tv asking, "Friend, do you suffer from a weak will and a lack of confidence?"

Steve laughingly agrees, and it goes from there, to the point where the guy on tv starts making hilariously pointed & specific attacks on Steve. Steve stands up and says "now wait just a second," to which the guy on TV replies, "oh LORD spare us, sit down"

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 00:28 (eighteen years ago) link

i have the flexi too. and a south american llama

no bones, Saturday, 21 January 2006 00:59 (eighteen years ago) link

YSI?

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:48 (eighteen years ago) link

i loved bloom county as a kid, was so disappointed when it ended.

and then calvin & hobbes came around and i haven't thought of it since...

Mitya (mitya), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:19 (eighteen years ago) link

"Why, I MUST JUST TAKE A FIRE HOSE TO 'EM!!! THANK YOU FOR NOT SMOKING!!!"

Classic.

Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Hello.
I'm a Boinger:

http://s63.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0RO4L5SWJ6C5Q340TTH1PGM5EV

You Stink, but I Love You:

http://s63.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=23SWNILNV652N3JQD9ANAXWMEX

BTW, classic classic classic. The standard that all newspaper comic strips should be held to. Outland? Not so much.

By the way, I just managed to post these on the Cat Power/Fiona Apple/Beth Orton thread on ILM. Because I am dumb.

John Justen (johnjusten), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:49 (eighteen years ago) link

Steve Dallas (tied to chair): "How many minutes since my last smoke?"
Opus: "37."
Steve Dallas: "I'm feeling in control...mind over matter. I think I'm gonna ace this!"

.......

Opus: "38."
Steve Dallas: "Give me a fuckin' cigarette before I stick you in a blender."

Joe (Joe), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Two other favorite quotes:

"HERE'S BREAKFAST FROM AUNT OPUS!"

"It says in the Bible, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone'."
"So we CAST that first MUTHA!"

Joe (Joe), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:04 (eighteen years ago) link

john justen i kiss you a million billion times

geoff (gcannon), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Dud. The worst of Trudeau, a total misunderstanding of what made Herriman magic, some faux-Schulz, all blended and hochhhhed up by the only good character, Bill.

truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:43 (eighteen years ago) link

See, I always thought that the worst of Trudeau was all of the times he FORGOT TO BE FUNNY AT ALL.

I love the early stuff, but at this point, Doonesbury is just a terrible reminder of what it used to be.

John Justen (johnjusten), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Bosh, Doonesbury just had a few stellar weeks of B.D. talking slantwise with the therapists.

Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 21 January 2006 04:20 (eighteen years ago) link

I actually haven't talked about the strip itself, have I? Megaclassic of course. First encountered it in 1981 or so and was deeply bemused, but for a long while in upstate New York I had to live by the books as they came out since when I moved there in 1982 no local paper carried it. Thankfully I returned to California and saw out its run there, and still have the final strip around somewhere.

Outland was enjoyable enough, Opus I've barely seen.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 21 January 2006 04:27 (eighteen years ago) link

oh wow thanks for the songs

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 04:58 (eighteen years ago) link

this was the strip that got me reading, back in 1985/86 when I was in 3rd grade:

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/1374/opustv3iu.th.jpg

Unlike Doonesbury, Breathed was always more inclined for actual slapstick and absurdity(e.g. TVs ran around a lot)

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 05:03 (eighteen years ago) link

holy shit, i haven't heard these songs in 20 years. "I'm a Boinger" sounds like Theater of Pain-era Vince Neil fronting the Plimsouls. This is far more punk than I ever remember.

"U Stink" seems more like pre-synth Van Halen, only with far more vocal sneering.

Your comments?

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 05:16 (eighteen years ago) link

(womp! womp! womp!)

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 05:17 (eighteen years ago) link

"brains behind the spandex"

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 05:20 (eighteen years ago) link

i actually went searching for that specific strip some months ago when i signed up for a membership to ucomics.com. i absolutely can't believe i wound up finding it in all the dailies from 5-plus years, yet there it is. steve's body movements make me lose it every single time.

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 21 January 2006 05:41 (eighteen years ago) link

I loved "Bloom County" as a kid. It really influenced some of my stuff when I still harbored the idea of becoming a cartoonist.

However, it has not aged well. I'm not just talking about the Reagan references either. When you read the books from start to finish, there's a lot of material that feels rushed and not quite well-thought out. When I read the Breathed interview where he talks about finishing the panels on the airplane flying the strips from Iowa to New York for publishing, I thought, "Yup. And it sure did show in spots."

It started out as a "Doonesbury" rip-off (complete with Duke imitation and forgery talking-to-the-mirror strip) and ended with the Outlandish adventures of a Basselope and Reagan Ann. But in the middle there, it was pure D classic.

Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 21 January 2006 05:56 (eighteen years ago) link

the deathtongue tour thru the desert, where the RV bounces off the road:

"HE WAS SLEEPING!"
"I WAS NOT! MY EYELIDS WERE JUST RESTING!"

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 06:00 (eighteen years ago) link

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/9451/opusxmas9mg.th.jpg

I figure the recent ones will be better in collected form.

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 06:26 (eighteen years ago) link

there's a lot of material that feels rushed and not quite well-thought out. When I read the Breathed interview where he talks about finishing the panels on the airplane flying the strips from Iowa to New York for publishing, I thought, "Yup. And it sure did show in spots."

yeah, or where he talked about literally taping his eyelids open to finish strips in the early years.

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 06:28 (eighteen years ago) link

It wasn't until the fourth panel that I realized that the above strip wasn't from 1982.

Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 21 January 2006 06:30 (eighteen years ago) link

i did lose some respect for breathed after i realized how derivative he was - someone in the comics journal once said that calling him funny was like calling a shoplifter a snappy dresser.

also dud: his frequently voiced opinion that charles schulz should've retired 30 years before he did - pretty rich coming from the guy who's "retired" more often than the fucking who!

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Saturday, 21 January 2006 10:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Why shouldn't you call a shoplifter a snappy dresser? They have to know what to shoplift, ferchrissakes!

Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 21 January 2006 10:47 (eighteen years ago) link

"Gorbachev sings tractors: Turnip! Buttocks!"

Chinchilla Volapük (Captain Sleep), Saturday, 21 January 2006 10:57 (eighteen years ago) link

"Drug humor in bad taste, Roger."
"YOU read it, Tom!"

kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 12:01 (eighteen years ago) link

"PENGUIN LUST! Nothing but URGES FROM HELL!"

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 21 January 2006 14:47 (eighteen years ago) link

I love the early stuff, but at this point, Doonesbury is just a terrible reminder of what it used to be.

Have you been following B.D.'s arc at all, John? I never thought that a storyline about someone having their leg blown off could be that funny.

(Mark has become incredibly tiresome and should be killed, though. Dissing Cole Porter = bullet to the forehead.)

Dan (Also, Alex's College Application Process Has Been Awesome) Perry (Dan Perry, Saturday, 21 January 2006 15:29 (eighteen years ago) link

It suddenly occurs to me that Bloom County's "no actual joke" style is directly responsible for "Get Fuzzy" and now I hate it.

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 21 January 2006 15:36 (eighteen years ago) link

roffle

truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 21 January 2006 15:43 (eighteen years ago) link

at least when bloom county didn't have a joke it was funny!

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:05 (eighteen years ago) link

"...Casper Weinberger."
"Start over!"

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:19 (eighteen years ago) link

"Go to your room, son. I'll be in with the ants and molasses presently."

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 21 January 2006 17:11 (eighteen years ago) link

"Guns don't kill people. People kill guns. From outlaws... Anyway, it's all there in the letter."
"Verbatim."

Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Saturday, 21 January 2006 17:16 (eighteen years ago) link

Dan, you probably know this, but the Cole Porter strips are reruns. And I think there's more of Garry in them than Mark, specifically, but yeah, they're totally off.

Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 21 January 2006 19:24 (eighteen years ago) link

I knew he'd done this particular riff before but I couldn't remember if this was a direct rerun or not.

Still, this is the run that made me actively hate the character Mark Slackmeyer. Now I want him D-E-D dead.

Dan (Preferably With Knives) Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 21 January 2006 19:29 (eighteen years ago) link

It doesn't; it's just a reference to Trudeau's Sinatra-bashing strips (which went on for a week, got dropped from a couple of papers, and were actually big-ish news at the time).

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 11 March 2015 19:25 (nine years ago) link

lol at the jane pauley joke; she's married to garry trudeau.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 11 March 2015 19:27 (nine years ago) link

lol @ "alleged human"

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 11 March 2015 19:28 (nine years ago) link

I like it but it's purely nostalgia, I can't see it appealing to anybody who didn't live through the 80s

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, March 11, 2015 12:00 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I didn't live through the 80s but it's the only way I know anything about the 80s

stately, plump buck angel (silby), Thursday, 12 March 2015 01:44 (nine years ago) link

I reread several of my old books last year -- they've aged fine. The animals help.

guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 12 March 2015 02:16 (nine years ago) link

i was like to die laughing when i was 9 and reading the steve dallas quitting smoking saga for the first time

adam, Thursday, 12 March 2015 02:31 (nine years ago) link

luckily i survived

adam, Thursday, 12 March 2015 02:32 (nine years ago) link

Excellent example of undated story ("WHERE'D YOU HIDE'EM????" *bouncing on toilet semi-nude while tied to chair*)

Also: Opus' nose job.

guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 12 March 2015 02:43 (nine years ago) link

Maybe in 100 years someone will say damn Dawn was dope. (forksclovetofu)
Posted: March 11, 2015 at 8:58:27 AM
imho this aged incredibly poorly

Bullshit

a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Thursday, 12 March 2015 06:53 (nine years ago) link

yeah, it's always been terrible

sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 12 March 2015 06:57 (nine years ago) link

I feel sad for you

a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Thursday, 12 March 2015 07:08 (nine years ago) link

Oh my God I bought this immediately.

One of Breathed's greatest gags I will love until I die are characters repearedly whapping another one on the head to emphasize some point.

A Basselope gap!

Delbert Gravy (kingfish), Thursday, 12 March 2015 08:36 (nine years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Middle of the road, man, it stanks
Let's run over Lionel Richie with a tank

guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 March 2015 15:09 (nine years ago) link

three months pass...

http://i.imgur.com/xIfFAZ9.png

Johnny Fever, Sunday, 12 July 2015 18:41 (eight years ago) link

hm

cat-haver (silby), Sunday, 12 July 2015 19:03 (eight years ago) link

Bloom County with computer lettering = gtfo

let no-one live rent free in your butt (sic), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 00:11 (eight years ago) link

hopefully he hires some kid to put these on a real website

cat-haver (silby), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 02:17 (eight years ago) link

Binkley?

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 02:20 (eight years ago) link

one year passes...

dud: the Big Bang/cosmology/theoretical physics skepticism, the preponderance of new strips that are just "we're living in a nightmare world but ya know it's the little things that make life worth living!!"
classic: most everything else

esempiu (crüt), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 23:32 (seven years ago) link

two years pass...

I recently started a new job... in a meeting of my workgroup, everyone went around the table, introduced themselves, and announced what they had “wanted to do when they grew up,” as kids. (Yeah, I know.)

When it was my turn, I said that I had wanted to be a lawyer — entirely because of Steve Dallas from “Bloom County.”

It landed with a thud. Not a single face in the room, whether Gen-Xer or Millennial, showed even a glimmer of recognition, comprehension, or interest.

stan by me (morrisp), Saturday, 6 July 2019 17:13 (four years ago) link

I do know some kids who like reading the comic pages in the paper, what's left of them. And to be fair, I have no idea what comics they are reading.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 6 July 2019 17:15 (four years ago) link

I guess I was expecting a chorus of appreciation from at least others around my age.

stan by me (morrisp), Saturday, 6 July 2019 18:08 (four years ago) link

tough room, eh?

A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 6 July 2019 18:11 (four years ago) link

ten months pass...

itt: penguins that can't tell an adage from a metaphor. and can't tell an adage, either.

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 6 May 2020 18:48 (three years ago) link

one year passes...

I’m on vacation this week but this was uploaded to FB on the 11th. I hope you’re enjoying these as much as me! pic.twitter.com/ZoUiD5TitN

— Bloom County (@bloomcounty) July 13, 2021



Is it weird that he's drawing Calvin & Hobbes? (not really Calvin so far)

I find it weird because he's doing them Watterson-style, and because they're so beloved and missed, it feels like forbidden wish fulfillment.

lukas, Tuesday, 13 July 2021 19:58 (two years ago) link

one year passes...

Figures I can’t find a clean online scan or a Bloom County strip that references Ivana Trump today

The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 14 July 2022 21:29 (one year ago) link

one year passes...

feel like there was an expansive sunday-type comic in which opus and milo careened through crazy dimensions until opus made it crash to a halt with milo accusing him of being a literalist

cannot find it online; have i imagined this?

mookieproof, Sunday, 14 January 2024 05:04 (three months ago) link

don’t remember but sounds like a calvin & hobbes strip too

sknybrg, Sunday, 14 January 2024 08:06 (three months ago) link

Yep! It's in one of my BC books

poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 14 January 2024 12:26 (three months ago) link


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