While his contemporaries Bill Watterson and Gary Larson have largely stayed away from sequential fine art since they both retired in 1995 , Berkeley Breathed surprised fan in July when heresurrectedBloom Countyand its full cast for his Facebook following . For some , it was a re - introduction to the 1980 - 89 satiric slip that satirise the ethnical and political excesses of the decade . For others , it was something new .
Fortunately , penguin age well . Take a look at some press facts about Opus , Milo , and the rest of the gang :
1. It Was Inspired ByTo Kill a Mockingbird.
The small town featured inBloom Countywas a rural , value - infused biotic community that was home to frequent outbreak of political craze . Breathed tell apart an interviewerin 2009that the setting was very much pep up by Harper Lee’sTo Kill a Mockingbirdand its Maycomb , Alabama . Opus , the dreamy - eyed penguin of the striptease , was a reflexion of Lee ’s juvenile protagonist , Scout . “ I will say that Opus is really Scout fromMockingbirdin many ways , ” Breathed said . “ He ’s a motherless innocent , rudderless and wandering about in an grownup world of confusion , perfidy , and incivility . ”
2. Opus Was Meant to be a Throwaway Character.
Despite his literary pedigree , Opus was n’t intend to become a fixture . At the time Breathed created the penguin — who would go on to become the breakout lead of the strip — he think he ’d be sound for an visual aspect or two and then shuffle off . But readersreactedstrongly , and Breathed decide to keep him on .
3. Bill the Cat Started as a Parody of Garfield.
LiberalAcademy
Breathed did n’t translate cartoon strip growing up and knew small about them . He was particularly gravel by the popularity ofGarfield , the lasagna - snorting Caterpillar that some critics comprehend as overly commercial . Breathed develop the hairball - spewing , gasoline - drink Bill the Cat as a way tomockthe character , believe he would be too repulsive to merchandise . or else , he became apopular(if slightly shabby ) plush collectible .
4. It Won the Pulitzer Prize.
After years of sharp skewering public officials and societal issues , Breathed wasawardedthe Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987 . With the elision ofDoonesbury , few syndicated strip show ever encounter the purity . The recognition wasopposedby Pat Oliphant , a political cartoonist whofoundthe strip to be full of ” shrill potty jokes . "
5. You Probably Haven’t Read Most of the Strips.
Collected comic strips in trade paperback book became bestsellers in the 1980s , but Breathed was wedge by the newspaper publisher to cut most of his strips from the appeal , and he onceestimatedtwo - thirds of his output never left the comics pages . It was n’t until IDW start declare oneself a five - volume curing in 2009 that the full run of the serial was offered . ( To make certain it was complete , the publisher checked their compilation against the personal ingathering of a lover that hadtakenthe strip and paste them into reaper binder as they were originally printed . )
6. It Got Mary Kay to Stop Animal Testing.
Little Brown and society
Breathed ran a serial of strip in the former 1980s that featured Opus endeavor to rescue his long - lost mother from an animal examination quickness owned by Mary Kay Cosmetics . " When I drew a rabbit with clips pulling its palpebra open , it was effective precisely because of its truth , " Breathed later toldTime . Mary Kay sales representatives grewalarmedat the practice , which prompt the company to issue amoratoriumon the testing .
7. One of the Book Collections Came with a Record.
Eager to lampoon the rock - star lifestyle , Breathed placed Bill the Cat as a frontman for a heavy metal set diagnose Deathtöngue ( later rename Billy and the Boingers ) . When the strips were roll up as part of theBilly and the Boingers Bootlegpaperback in 1987 , lilliputian , Brown and Companyinserteda flexible record book into the book of account that featured two singles from bands that had answer anopen callfor tracks . Each won a prize of $ 1000 , with Mucky Pup ’s “ uranium Stink But I get laid You ” take the B side of the record book .
8. Opus Was Sued Over Flying Toasters.
The wing , flying toaster of After Dark ’s screen savers were ubiquitous in the 1980s — so much so that when the Delrina package company postulate Breathed to design a filmdom saver of his own , he depicted Opus firing a rifle at the airborne appliances . After alawsuitand 1993 court ruling , Delrina tack out the wings on the toasters for propellers .
9. Bill Watterson Sent Breathed Original (Nude) Art.
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At the prison term both of their strips were in newspapers , Breathed was in regular proportionateness with Bill Watterson , the mechanical press - averse creator ofCalvin and Hobbes . The two had disparate belief on merchandising — Watterson had no attentiveness for it , while Breathed was felicitous to profit from t - shirt sale — and their opposing perspective would sometimes be expressed in cartoons the two circulated in private . At a 2010 Comic Conappearance , Breathed shortly dart some of Watterson ’s unobserved art , include a wall - mount Opus and a bare - bottomed Ronald Reagan . ( In riposte , Breathed once sent Watterson a drawing of Bill the Cat , Hobbes , and Blondie in a not - good - for - oeuvre position . )
10. The Strip Upset the National Federation for Decency.
When Breathed introduced a fundamentalistic character identify Edith Dreck in 1987 , he was n’t up to hotfoot on his Yiddish translations—“dreck ” is derived from ” excrement . ” At least , that was according to Rev. Donald Wildmon , Chairman of the National Federation for Decency . Wildmoncalledfor Breathed to be fired for “ spiritual hate and diagonal . ” In a object lesson why you should never blame fights with cartoonists , Wildmon ’s semblance end up in the funnies for a week .
11. Opus Starred In His Own Animated Special.
Though not incisively base onBloom County , A Wish for offstage That Workwas a 1991 animated special that aerate on CBS . ( It was an adaption of a book Breathed had release that feature Opus asking Santa for a duad of operational wing . ) breathe dislike the death result andhopedto mount anOpusfeature film , which break down through several yr of evolution without materializing .
12. Harper Lee Wrote Breathed a Fan Letter.
When Breathed ended his 2d twisting - off strip show , Opus , in 2008 , he claims hereceiveda letter of objection from an other brainchild : Harper Lee . Lee had written to him over the age express wonder for the strip and involve him to continue . “ I should have solicit her to take Scout back , ” he said . ( She eventuallydid . )
