# Berke Breathed was Right the First TIme **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2004, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651 "2004-02-05T11:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/21 "2004-02-05T17:18:34Z")
I LIKE OPUS. It’s funny. INKY DINKY BUTT IS BACK. I loved Outland too. It’s just a comic strip. you don’t have to read it. I, for example, don’t read Hi & Lois. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/22 "2004-02-05T17:49:06Z")
I would wait a bit to pass judgement on the Opus strip. The first few were just to re-introduce him, and now it seems he’s back in a place much like Bloom County. Last Sunday’s comic wasn’t that funny but it did start moving toward political/social commentary, which is where the Bloom County strip was at its funniest. Hopefully, Breathed will go further into that. You have to remember that Bloom County was right smack in the middle of the Reagan administration and the me-decade. It rode that wave wonderfully! Did it end because the wave subsided, or because Breathed couldn’t evolve it to the nineties? Nonetheless, Opus rocks! Glad to see him again. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/23 "2004-02-05T19:50:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Actually, Breathed should have quit “Bloom County” several years before he did. The early strips were pure brilliance, but it became worse and worse as time went on. By the time he retired, they showed none of the talent he has shown the first year. (Turning Steve into a liberal yuppie was the worst of a bunch of terrible decisions, leading to the strip where Breathed had to comment, in effect, “This is funny folks. Really. It may not seem so, but it is.”) I have to agree with this. In its heyday, _Bloom County_ had a spirit of joyous irreverance. Breathed always professed a mistrust of politicians, but his digs were lighthearted nonetheless. As the eighties drew to a close he just became cynical, and it showed. The joy was gone. His political attacks became downright mean-spirited. That’s when it started sliding. My local paper doesn’t carry _Opus_, and I’ve never taken the time to look it up on the web. But by the sound of it, the original joyous spirit that made _Bloom County_ such fun has yet to resurface. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/24 "2004-02-05T19:54:11Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > My local paper doesn’t carry _Opus_, and I’ve never taken the time to look it up on the web. But by the sound of it, the original joyous spirit that made _Bloom County_ such fun has yet to resurface. I may be mistaken, but I don’t think you _can_ find it online. AFAIK, it’s available only in Sunday papers. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/25 "2004-02-05T20:25:09Z")
Continuing with the hijack, I _never_ found Peanuts to be even the slightest bit amusing. IMO, it was exceeded in banality only by The Family Circus. I have spent the last 20 years or so routinely skipping over it. I also skip over Mary Worth and Apartment 3-G, but at least those strips aren’t _trying_ to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/26 "2004-02-05T20:53:34Z")
I viewed “Bloom County”, “The Far Side” and “Calvin and Hobbes” as the holy trinity. I am moderate-right politically, so I would occaissionally roll my eyes at some of the later “Bloom County” stuff. Nothing on the comics page today approaches any of these at thier peak. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/27 "2004-02-05T21:20:43Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > I viewed “Bloom County”, “The Far Side” and “Calvin and Hobbes” as the holy trinity. I am moderate-right politically, so I would occaissionally roll my eyes at some of the later “Bloom County” stuff. Nothing on the comics page today approaches any of these at thier peak. That’s funny - I tend to lean to the left, so while I usually agreed with the sentiment in _Bloom County_, I always found his political humor to be rather broad and simplistic, not nearly as poignant as _Doonsbury_. Bloom County was good, but IMO nothing comes close the the genius of Calvin & Hobbes and Far Side. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/28 "2004-02-05T22:16:06Z")
Peanuts was the Rolling Stones of comic strips. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/29 "2004-02-06T03:53:58Z")
I have to agree about Opus. It’s not bad, but Breathed is still stuck doing the same schtick that he did in the '80s, and I have books packed with that stuff. For the last few years, he’s been doing children’s books that are inventive, smart, funny and very well drawn. Going back to the newspapers was a mistake, especially dragging Opus in. He has absolutely nothing new to say about him. As for Watterson, it’s a pity no one could convice him to take his characters into comic books. Think about it: a whole page to lay out and design as he saw fit, color printing, the ability to take his stories anywhere. He could have taken off into new frontiers. As for Larson, his strip was still going strong and he’s still capable of creative work. But I picked up his doorstop of a collection, and you know what? His humor still holds up. Thousands of jokes with funny, well-modulated punchlines. He’s got a lot to be proud of. Despite the reservations of some of the posters, I think the problem we have with Schulz is that he was always with us. Day in, day out. I read his books when I was 5 or 6, and I was about 40 when he died. If Fantagraphics doesn’t go bankrupt first, his collected works will probably hold up very well to the passing of time. And as an adult, aspiring writer, I still love his comics about Snoopy the writer. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/30 "2004-02-06T04:20:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Peanuts was the Rolling Stones of comic strips. Good comparison. You could say both the band and strip did some great stuff for awhile but, eventually, spent (or are spending) the longest time coasting on their reputations while raking in big bucks. I also think there were a lot of similarities between the last years of Charles Schulz and “Peanuts” and the last years of Johnny Carson and the “Tonight” show. “Peanuts” was such an institution on the comic pages and so popular among readers that the quality of the strip was, ultimately, irrelevent. Likewise, by the mid 80’s, Carson, having handily vanquished all other late-night foes over the previous 20 or so years, was so firmly entrenched as the “King of Late Night” that it didn’t really matter that, for the most part, the show was on cruise control. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/31 "2004-02-06T05:04:09Z")
I don’t think the new Opus is any worse than his Sunday strips ever were. I never thought they were his best work. It gave BB a chance to show off his artistic skills but I thought the ongoing stories during the week were much better. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/32 "2004-02-06T06:57:58Z")
I was really looking forward to Opus. I never read Bloom County (I’m just a little too young, I guess) but I saw an interview with Breathed in the L.A. Times about a week or two before they began running Opus. He was talking about how some strips have outstayed their welcome, specifically Garfield and Peanuts. I never really thought about it, but now that he mentions it, Garfield has gotten a little boring. Then he was talking about how “in a comic strip, space is time” and “comic strips are an art form.” So I was intrigued and decided to check it out. But when (and if) I read the comics on a Sunday morning, I don’t expect some fancy, artistic, not that funny, half-page strip, which causes your eyes to flow from frame to frame. I expect some simple line-drawings and a bit of silly dialogue. After about three or four weeks, I had firmly established the opinion that the strip just takes itself too seriously. For the record, my favorites are Calvin and Hobbes, the Far Side, Zits, Peanuts (though it’s not funny in the sense that it makes me laugh. I like it in some other way that I can’t explain), and Foxtrot. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/33 "2004-02-06T08:59:48Z")
Just out of curiosity, what’s the new"Opus" even about? None of the strips are available online, and I don’t get any newspapers that feature it, so I’m kind of in the dark. …BTW, did anyone else notice that while all the other Bloom County characters eventually returned to “Outland,” Milo Bloom himself never did? (Until the second to last strip that ran, at least. And even then in a non-speaking role, mostly offscreen?) ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651/34 "2004-02-06T15:42:08Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > I viewed “Bloom County”, “The Far Side” and “Calvin and Hobbes” as the holy trinity. I am moderate-right politically, so I would occaissionally roll my eyes at some of the later “Bloom County” stuff. Nothing on the comics page today approaches any of these at thier peak. I don’t usually post “me too” but, you took the words right out of my mouth. Seriously, I feel like I have a doppleganger… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berke-breathed-was-right-the-first-time/227651.md?page=1)