In reference to Watterston’s Reagan quip…
I’m sorry Anal and rjung. I’ve looked and looked and can’t find an actual link. The part about Reagan’s interest I knew from experience. The part about Watterston I learned from a Google connection. I’ve not seen the actual second strip, just the one of initial reference. Should I find it, you two are first on my list of forwards.
Amateur YERself!
I, too, have a reindeer Opus.
I, too, went to college for a time in Iowa City.
But I lived for several years in the BLOOM COUNTY HOUSE.
It served as the inspiration for the Bloom Boarding House in the strip, and still stands proudly on the hill at the intersection of College and Summit Streets. Still renting, too.
Sad thing about that “Spic-n-Span” comic: the fountain in the drawing (known to many as “Three Ladies Pissing”…the fountain, not the drawing) no longer exists. They tore it out a few years ago and put in one that was less hazardous for the kiddies to play in. Another piece of history lost.
Bloom County is my favorite strip of all time. I don’t own any of my t-shirts anymore, as I was like ages 10-12 when I had them, but I had the “Don’t Blame Me,” I had one of Opus, one of Bill…
The binding on my Loose Tails has disintigrated. My Penguin Dreams is getting iffy in its old age, as well. It’s not possible for me to express how profoundly my brain’s functioning has been influenced by early, constant, voluntary exposure to Bloom County.
It comes as no surprise to me that Miller is a Friend of Milo.
Miller, I did say that it seemed way off base. I believe it was mostly a matter of perspictive. Those two strips (Bloom County & Doonesbury) were the popular strips in the 80s that included a lot of social and political commentary. Trudeau’s strip was well established as one who took most of its shots at the right. Then when Breathed came along gleefully taking shots at everyone, his strip seemed conservative in comparison.
Or, it’s entirely possible that I’m mis-remembering the whole thing (it has been a few years). Help me out here. Does anyone else remember hearing comments along those lines?
That scene did not appear in a published Calvin and Hobbes strip. This link ( http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/001985.html ) indicates it was a private drawing. The book “One Last Little Peek” does include a drawing Watterson made for Breathed parodying Berke’s penchant for licensing and his love of speedboats.
Other Berke Breathed interviews:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/features_columns/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1903264 (linked in the link above)
and
http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3728/avfeature_3728.html
-Myron
PS: “Offensensitivity” appears in Bloom County “Loose Tails,” page 38.