I just read on salon.com that Berkley Breathed is going to start a new comic strip called "Opus". Personally I am excited about this as "Bloom County" was one of my favorite series, and the comics page lost something when it ended (ditto for The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes). Not sure which characters besides Opus are going to return.
― Sengai, Friday, 21 November 2003 23:53 (twenty-one years ago)
Man, I don't know how to feel about that. As an owner of two (count em!) Opus dolls and all, I can safely say that Breathed was a comic hero of mine since the early eighties, but...hm.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 November 2003 23:56 (twenty-one years ago)
four years pass...
NPR is reporting his death.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 6 October 2008 21:54 (seventeen years ago)
wait -- breathed's, or the comic strip?
― J.D., Monday, 6 October 2008 22:26 (seventeen years ago)
well that's a relief. still, this:
Lago said Breathed is ending his comic with a contest asking readers to guess Opus the penguin's fate. Currently, the character is in prison courtesy of U.S. authorities. The actual solution will be available only on the Internet, not in newspapers, according to WPWG.
is the kind of shit he used to parody.
― J.D., Monday, 6 October 2008 22:27 (seventeen years ago)
On August 31, 2008, "the Creator" (Berkeley Breathed) spoke to Opus and hinted that the strip will end soon. The next week, Opus was visited by the ghost of Elvis who told Opus to find a place where he wants to be forever, because he will stay in that one spot after he "dies." e.g., Elvis is condemned to sit on the toilet forever because that's where he happened to be when he died.
Opus tried to fly to a tropical island on September 14, but when he was asked for his passport, he told the ticket clerk that he smuggled himself into the U.S. 30 years ago. He was promptly arrested by airport security whilst screaming, "God Bless George Bush!" Opus was taken to the Dept. of Homeland Security and waterboarded. The guards told him to, "start talking, Akbar!" Opus complained to "the Creator," saying he couldn't just let the strip end like this. "The Creator" then placed Opus in an animal shelter, and mockingly said, "Happy?" to which Opus replied "NO!!"
The next week, September 26th, 2008, saw Opus bemoaning having to spend his eternity in a county animal shelter. At the behest of a fellow inmate, a scruffy dog, Opus soon began sharing his memories of his past and recounts his life through the run of Breathed's strips. Many shots of him in well known stories from Bloom County are shown, including Opus saying "bozo" to a politician on the TV in 1981, misunderstanding a money grubbing cultist in 1982, sharing a mass dandelion break with other characters in 1983, his role in the rock band Deathtöngue in 1984, dreaming romantically of Diane Sawyer in 1985 and a current joke about Sarah Palin set in 1986. The strip included a tag at the bottom indicating it would be continued the next week.
― Every Day Jimmy Mod Is Hustlin' (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Monday, 6 October 2008 23:23 (seventeen years ago)
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2008/10/18/opus/
^^^ Salon Interview. Probably the only quote that's not totally veiled or piss-taked
"There'll always be great, classic cartooning...
...They'll just be much harder to find.
The very, absolute last comic strip characters destined to become true household words across America were invented 23 years ago: Calvin & Hobbes. There are and will be no more new ones.
That's a technology and cultural issue. Not a talent issue."
― Every Day Jimmy Mod Is Hustlin' (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 18 October 2008 04:43 (seventeen years ago)