Cover of Billy and the Boingers Bootleg

Billy and the Boingers Bootleg is the fifth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1987. Bloom County was a popular American comic strip by Berke Breathed which ran from December 8, 1980 until August 6, 1989. ... Berkeley (Berke) Breathed (last name rhymes with method) is a cartoonist, childrens book author/illustrator, director and screenwriter, best known for his comic strip Bloom County, a 80s era cartoon_comic strip which dealt with socio_political issues, as seen through the eyes of highly exaggerated characters, and humorous analogies. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

It is preceded by Bloom County Babylon and followed by Tales Too Ticklish to Tell.

The book includes a flexi disc with two songs: "I'm A Boinger" and "U-Stink-But-I-♥-U". Flexi disc in a magazine A Flexi disc sound recording is a thin vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable. ...

Synopses of major storylines

• Cutter John, having been captured by Soviets on an ill-fated ballooning mission, is returned to the US in exchange for the communist Bill the Cat, who was awaiting execution for treason. (p1, 10 strips)

• Steve Dallas ends up in a full upper-body cast after he and Opus attempt to photograph Sean Penn for the Bloom Beacon. (p6, 17 strips)

• The Defense Department sends Opus $900 million, mistaking him for "Mr. Spock, chief science officer for 'Star Trek' defense research". The newly opulent Opus enlists Oliver's help in designing "Net Wars", a strategic defense plan involving $500 billion in small bills stitched into a giant space net. (p15, 18 strips)

• Opus panics when he learns that his demographic (single 6-year-old college-educated penguins) has only a 3% of getting married. He places a personal ad, and embarks on a date with Lola Granola. (p22, 12 strips)

• Oliver's father panics when he learns that satellite television channels will be scrambled. Oliver hijacks an HBO broadcast to protest, and subsequently gives himself up to the FBI. (p27, 6 strips)

• Two weeks after his initial date with Lola Granola, Opus proposes marriage and she accepts. The couple later have dinner with an ex-boyfriend of hers, Bart Savagewood, who "tests fighter jets for the Navy, catches sharks for fun, and bench-presses 290". (p29, 20 strips)

• Opus becomes the Bloom Beacon cartoonist, and struggles with deadlines and writer's block. (p45, 9 strips)

• Formerly-communist Bill the Cat sneaks back into the US "to make some dough". (p49, 3 strips)

• In Oliver's experimentation with teleportation, he accidentally scrambles his DNA with Bill the Cat. Oliver turns feline as Bill the Cat reads Ebony. It turns out to be a dream. (p50, 8 strips)

• Opus, as Bloom Beacon cartoonist, accidentally uses an obscure racial slur. He is burned in effigy, and subsequent cartoons are torn to pieces by the legal department. (p54, 5 strips)

• Milo and Opus track down and photograph the last living basselope, Rosebud. The story attracts widespread attention, particularly from the military, who see the basselope as a potential deployment vehicle for tactical warheads. (p56, 15 strips)

• Opus meets Lola's parents. Lola's mother encourages her to find someone else, while Lola's father gets Opus drunk. (p62, 11 strips)

• Disenchanted with the legal profession, Steve Dallas holds auditions for a heavy-metal group. The band thus formed is christened "Deathtöngue", with Bill the Cat on "electric tongue", Opus on tuba, and Hodge-Podge on drums. Lola and her mother express disapproval of Opus's new occupation and leather attire, while Reverend Wildmon enjoys the group's "rousing little songs". (p69, 28 strips)

• Steve discovers that he has only six months to live, unless he gives up smoking. With the assistance of Opus, Steve is tied to a chair to wait out his detoxification. A half-hour later, Steve is chasing Opus with an axe, trapping him in the toilet. Steve's withdrawal is eventually neutralized with a pantry-full of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, pickles, and Purina Dog Chow. (p88, 14 strips)

• Jealous of Lola's reaction to Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwartzenegger, Opus attempts to buff up, resulting in injury to himself and others. (p94, 5 strips)

• Opus takes a tour of the "landmines" on the path of a modern, maturing relationship. They consist of The Big Lie, The Honest Opinion, The Big Adjustment, The Big Confession, The Big Casualness, and The Big Spat. (p96, 6 strips)

• Steve Dallas and Bill the Cat are subpoenaed to testify at the special Senate hearings on "porn rock". Bowing to pressure from "Tippy Gorp", Steve announces that Deathtöngue has been renamed "Billy and the Boingers". (p99, 7 strips)

• Armand Dipthong, Chief Editor of the Bloom Picayune, attempts to and eventually succeeds in writing a "truly frank article on the public-health threat of AIDS". (p101, 5 strips)

• Binkley's anxiety closet presents Binkley himself as he will be in twenty years. Binkley learns that he will lose his hair, work a menial job, and marry his fifth-grade nemesis. (p103, 8 strips)

• Unsatisfied with his appearance, Opus attempts to lose weight. His approaches include fad diets, an elastic belt, liposuction with a household vacuum cleaner, and the negative reinforcement of getting whacked on the head when reaching for food. He finally concludes that he simply must "eat less and exercise". (p106, 12 strips)

• Binkley convinces the boardinghouse residents to become vegetarians. (p113, 6 strips)

• With the sponsorship of "Dr. Scholl's Odor-Eaters", Billy and the Boingers sets off for their one-stop world tour, to the Annual Moose Lodge Banquet in Albuquerque. (p115, 18 strips)

Cutter John is a fictional character in the 1980s comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Bill the Cat is a fictional cat-based character appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades. ... Steve Dallas was a fictional unscrupulous lawyer in the 1980s comic strip Bloom County, by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Star Trek is an American science-fiction franchise spanning six television series, ten feature films, hundreds of novels, computer and video games, and other fan stories. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Oliver Wendell Jones was the most recurring African American character in Bloom County, a comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Oliver Wendell Jones was the most recurring African American character in Bloom County, a comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... Oliver Wendell Jones was the most recurring African American character in Bloom County, a comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Bill the Cat is a fictional cat-based character appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades. ... Oliver Wendell Jones was the most recurring African American character in Bloom County, a comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... The general structure of a section of DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the biological development of a cellular form of life or a virus. ... Bill the Cat is a fictional cat-based character appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades. ... Oliver Wendell Jones was the most recurring African American character in Bloom County, a comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... Bill the Cat is a fictional cat-based character appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades. ... Academy Award winners Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, and Jamie Foxx on the 60th anniversary cover of Ebony Magazine, November 2005 Ebony, a magazine for the African American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has been published since the autumn of 1945. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Milo Bloom Milo Bloom was a central character in the American comic strip Bloom County. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Rosebud the Basselope is a fictitious character in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Steve Dallas was a fictional unscrupulous lawyer in the 1980s comic strip Bloom County, by Berke Breathed. ... Billy and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County. ... Bill the Cat is a fictional cat-based character appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Hodge-Podge the rabbit is a fictitious character from Berke Breatheds comic strip Bloom County. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... The Ralston Purina Company, based in St. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (born July 6, 1946 in New York City) of Italian Descent is an American film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. ... Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, Austrian-American actor, politician, bodybuilder, and businessman, currently serving as the 38th Governor of California. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... Steve Dallas was a fictional unscrupulous lawyer in the 1980s comic strip Bloom County, by Berke Breathed. ... Bill the Cat is a fictional cat-based character appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades. ... Tipper Gore Mary Elizabeth Gore (born August 19, 1948), known as Tipper Gore, is the wife of former Vice President Al Gore and was Second Lady of the United States from 1993 until 2001. ... Billy and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County. ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ... Michael Mad Dog Mike Binkley was a major character in Berke Breatheds cartoon strip Bloom County. ... Michael Mad Dog Mike Binkley was a major character in Berke Breatheds cartoon strip Bloom County. ... Michael Mad Dog Mike Binkley was a major character in Berke Breatheds cartoon strip Bloom County. ... Opus the Penguin is a large-nosed, existentialist penguin, a main character in the Bloom County comic strip series and other works by Berke Breathed. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Michael Mad Dog Mike Binkley was a major character in Berke Breatheds cartoon strip Bloom County. ... Dr. Scholls is a brand of foot-care products manufactured by Schering-Plough and footware made by Brown Shoe Company. ... Billy and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County. ... Moose International is a fraternal organization comprised of Loyal Order of the Moose for men and Women of the Moose for women. ... Nickname: The Duke City Location in the state of New Mexico Coordinates: Country United States State New Mexico County Bernalillo Founded 1706 Mayor Martin Chavez Area    - City 469. ...