Some of the funniest social commentary ever written If you remember the eighties, this book, the first collection from the "Bloom County" syndicated comic strip will be hysterically funny. If you do not remember the eighties, then it will just be funny. I remember the eighties and I laughed when I read these cartoons the first time and I laughed when I read them again. No one captured the moods, social movements and absurdity of their combination as well as Breathed did. His exaggerated characters and references to the anxieties of the moment were a dose of reality encased in the fiction of a cartoon strip. I never missed it and neither should you.
Graphic SF Reader It is very hard not to a like a cute talking penguin, and Breathed presumably realised this when coming up with Opus. The human characters that surround the odd animal are supposed to come off somewhat loopier. This is a fun look at the period and the politics, and highly entertaining. Aack!
Bloom County: The Beginning Here you will find the beginning of one of the most inspired comic strips ever put to paper. No other strip made me laugh as hard, or as often, as "Bloom County". In fact, pretty much nothing else in the whole wide world made me laugh as hard as this divine creation of Mr. Berke Breathed. Here we are introduced to the Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Cutter John and by far the best-known comic Penguin ever - Opus.
Here we can see that Bloom County was just crackling with creativity and a real desire to "cut loose" from the beginning. Some of the strips covered "current events" and were topical, meaning circa 1980, but if you were around for any of that time it's a nostalgic trip back to the days of Boy George and when Ozzy Osbourne was best known as a singer. But the vast majority of the strips ring very true today as they deal with the absurdities of the human animal.
A word about the format: Bloom County in it's original form included both the standard "3 panel" strips that appear in your every day newspaper in black and white, plus a larger full page color version for the Sunday paper. The other Bloom County volumes (as well as Bloom's sequel "Outland") were in a larger physical book form. (Similar to what you may have seen if you're a collector of, say, Calvin and Hobbes, or Dilbert). This first volume is a smaller book (similar in format to the endless volumes of Garfield which became available). But this is where it all began, and it includes much of the "best stuff".
If you want to know what America was laughing at in 1980, this is it. But you know what? I reread these strips every so often, and they STILL make me laugh that loud, roll on the floor, tears streaming down my face, people coming into the room to see WHAT are you laughing at kind of laugh. We don't get that kind of laugh often enough. Thank you, Mr. Breathed.
The first collection of a great comic strip - great fun This is the first collection of Bloom County cartoons and a great place to start enjoying the fun. Bloom County is a fictional place populated with as eclectic a group of characters as you will find anywhere. Eccentric humans, a talking penguin, and Bill the Cat take on the societal follies of the early eighties with a humorous point of view. See the Rolling Stones perform for an elementary school dance. Go back to a time when Three Mile Island was in the news and Princess Diana was expecting her first child. Even if the events are distant memories, the humor is timeless.
Berke Breathed's Glory Days! Bloom County had something special, more than just the jokes. As you read the strip, you cannot help but get involved with the characters.
Bloom County fans don't just laugh at the jokes, they care about Opus and the rest. Even Steve Dallas, the ruthless but inept lawyer, wins sympathy.
The humour tends to the wit and satire end of the cartoon spectrum with only occasional bursts of slapstick. The satire is aimed mainly at lifestyles and steroetypes rather than current events which makes it still sharp as it ages.
It is a very male-centric book. Female characters are introduced in order to give the main players a romantic interlude or to prop up some situation.
Bloom County was one of the best cartoons of its time and Loose Tails is a real gem.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
