It was funny, but the humor did not age well. These days there are much better works of snark and reference humor. Looking back at the old comics they mostly just seem to be a lightweight Doonesbury with goofy animals.
Bloom County was hilarious, but it’s also a relic of the ‘80s. It’s humor came primarily from lampooning the go-go Reaganism “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” mindset of that decade. The detached irony that was so cutting-edge at the time is now hackneyed. It’s also generously peppered (or laced is perhaps a better word) with references to long-forgotten events. A whole two weeks of strips parodying televangelist Oral T. Roberts’ crass money-making pitches just doesn’t play well in '09.
Actually, no, I don’t remember it ever being funny.
Yeah, Bloom County was my favorite comic back in the day. Outland was pale in comparison and it came when I thought BC was at its peak.
My classroom still has an Opus poster hanging on the back wall.
(Opus contemplating a dandelion, while the basselope lounges at his feet.)
“Life. You’re born. You live. You go on some diets. You die.”
A dated strip, but hilarious in its time.
Bloom County : Doonesbury as Family Guy : The Simpsons
My favorite Bloom County strip is the one where a Hare Krishna is soliciting money from Opus, but Opus can’t understand him. Thus, Opus hears “Prayer temples for Hare Krishnas” as “Prayer dimples for hairy fishnuts”.
I remember laughing all day with that one.
My Google-fu is failing me, or else I would post a link.
Great interview with Berkeley Breathed in the LA Times last month:
http://www.berkeleybreathed.com/Images/fav_strip1_full.jpg
“Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts!”
Family Guy : The Simpsons as Ziggy : Bloom County
I don’t remember when it wasn’t funny.
Outland was tolerable. Opus was shit. But Bloom County was genius.
I think the problem with Opus was that the Sundays-only format didn’t allow enough room for development of new side characters. Some of them seemed like they had potential, but they just never went anywhere.
What is this Bloom County you speak of? I’ve never heard of such a thing!
Wonderful strip. I whiled away many happy hours reading those as a kid, even though some of them needed a more adult mindset to fully appreciate. And yes, Outland was… Ok. Opus was generally not all that great. I was actually rather sad it was based on Opus, never really cared much for the character.
Gene Simmons never had a personal computer when he was a kid.
My all-time favorite.