Berkeley Breathed is ending Opus

[TVC15]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/berkeley-breath.html

Opus wasn't as good as Bloom County or Outland, but it was still a bright spot amongst the comics, even if only for the nostalgia.  And Breathed's coloring was probably the best of all the funnies. 

In an e-mail to the Los Angeles Times, the 51-year-old Breathed wrote, “30 years of cartooning to end. I’m destroying the village to save it. Opus would inevitably become a ranting mouthpiece in the coming wicked days, and I respect the other parts of him too much to see that happen. The Michael Moore part of me would kill the part of him that was important to his fans.”

You can check out the past month's comics here (http://comics.com/wash/opus/archive/opus-20080907.html)  leading up to the death of Opus with lots of fuzzy flashbacks (and Sarah Palin). 





I'm sure most of you don't care, but Bloom County and Outland were kinda what made me realize that not all comics were distinguished mentally-challenged when I was a kid.

[chronovore]

I loved Bloom County, but honestly didn't even know Breathed was still cartooning. I wonder what he'll do next (note: did not yet RTFA).

[TVC15]

I loved Bloom County, but honestly didn't even know Breathed was still cartooning. I wonder what he'll do next (note: did not yet RTFA).

Well, after Bloom County he did Outland.  I am sure you know about that.  In 2003, he started Opus.  Opus always had a sort of Rip van Winkle/fan service focus, revisiting the characters from Opus' past as if they have aged and Opus has not.  It's not been as sharp or as inventive as Bloom County, but it's always felt like he was doing this strip just for the fans he already had on the hook.

He planned on staying retired after Outland.  I'd assume the same goes now.

[ToxicAdam]

Huge fan of Bloom County. Not so much of his other stuff. Reagan was his muse .. and once he left, so did BB's wit.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Bummer.

I'm not as familiar with his older stuff(man, was Bloom Country was pretty good tho), but Opus is now, right now, presently, one of the best reasons to pick up the Sunday comic section, and by extension, the newspaper itself.  Considering what a craphole most comics are nowadays, losing Opus is a big damn shame.

[muckhole]

While I haven't kept up on Opus, I'd rather see him retire with some relevance. I just wonder if he'll be able to go through with retiring or not.

Sad to hear, though. I still have my "America is Ill, and so is Bill" Bill the Cat for President poster floating around somewhere, and when I was trying to learn how to draw, I filled sketchbooks full of his characters.

[Human Snorenado]

Now this is a comic strip thread that I can get behind.  I loved me some Bloom County and Outland while I was growing up.  I haven't kept up with Opus too much but every time I've seen it I've smiled and enjoyed the strip.  I can understand Breathed wanting to move on, but it's a shame since his comics were some of the few that were, you know, actually funny.

And sure, he ripped of Trudeau's art style but his comics were always FUNNIER than Doonesbury.  Duke aside.

[Crushed]

I've always thought that Opus was TERRIBLE in comparison to Bloom County. Awful hackneyed cliched "lol bush is dumb" stuff.

[Human Snorenado]

I've always thought that Opus was TERRIBLE in comparison to Bloom County. Awful hackneyed cliched "lol bush is dumb" stuff.

I've always thought

Somehow I doubt this.

[Eric P]

bloom county is excellent

outland kind of horrible

and opus is just ugh

i agree 100% with ta on this one.

love BB and would love to see a Complete Bloom County much like there were complete Calvin and Hobbes and Farside.

i used to have a small opus plush but it got lost in one of the many moves.

alas

[Crushed]

I've always thought that Opus was TERRIBLE in comparison to Bloom County. Awful hackneyed cliched "lol bush is dumb" stuff.

I've always thought

Somehow I doubt this.

Nope, 100% truth. Within a month or two of it starting I was sick of it.