Bloom County

The cover of the first Bloom County collection

Creator(s) Berkeley Breathed Status Discontinued by author Syndicate(s) Washington Post Writers Group Genre(s) Humor, Politics, Satire First strip December 8, 1980 Last strip August 6, 1989

Bloom County was a popular American comic strip by Berke Breathed which ran from December 8, 1980 until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the lens of a fanciful small town in Middle America, where children have adult personalities (and vocabularies) and animals can talk. It grew out of a strip called The Academia Waltz, which Breathed produced for the student newspaper while attending the University of Texas. Image File history File links Loosetails_cover. ... 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. ... ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... Berkeley (Berke) Breathed (last name rhymes with method) is a cartoonist, childrens book author/illustrator, director and screenwriter, best know 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... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Middle America is an American colloquialism used—in contrast to coastal America—to describe a region of the United States that, geographically, comprises the bulk of the nation. ... The Academia Waltz was Berke Breatheds first cartoon, published daily from 1978 to 1979 in The Daily Texan at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a student. ... The University of Texas at Austin, often called UT or Texas, is the flagship[3][4][5][6][7] institution of the University of Texas System. ...

Characters

Core characters

• Opus is a large-nosed penguin with a herring addiction who lost track of his mother during the Falklands War. Initially Opus was only a bit player in a throwaway gag. But his hopeless naïveté made him a favorite, the center of the strip, and the subject of two "sequel" strips (Outland and Opus) in addition to two children's books and a television special.
  

  

  Milo Bloom
• Milo Bloom is a ten-year-old newspaper reporter and probably the most worldly-wise of the whole bunch. Milo was the original protagonist of Bloom County.
• Steve Dallas is a former fraternity member, unsuccessfully practicing lawyer, would-be womanizer, manager of the band Deathtöngue, legend in his own mind, and antagonist of the group. Usually seen with a cigarette in his mouth.
• Bill the Cat is a large orange cat who bears the characteristics of someone entirely burned out on LSD. Originally introduced as a parody of the comic character Garfield and the associated product tie-ins, and having little active character of his own, beyond his trademark "Ack, pbthhh" exclamation, he became something of a blank slate for various plot mechanics to revolve around. He's been a cult leader ("Bhagwan Bill"), televangelist ("Fundamentally Oral Bill"), perennial presidential candidate for the Meadow Party, heavy-metal rock star, and, in the last months of the strip, had his brain replaced with Donald Trump's. He has been known to speak, and be aware of what he is saying, most notably during his trials for Communism charges, when he remarked "Say, you don't suppose the "Jury Box" is anything like a litter box, do you?"
• Michael Binkley originally owned Opus ("A boy and his penguin!") and is wishy-washy and overly reflective (perhaps like Charlie Brown?), when not contemplating the lives of pop-culture icons. His "anxiety closet" has been a staple of many storylines.
• Oliver Wendell Jones is a young African-American, a computer hacker, and a gifted scientist, having invented a miracle hair-growth formula among other things. He once tried to bring an end to the Cold War by hacking the front page of Pravda with the headline "Gorbachev urges disarmament: Total! Unilateral!"; however, faulty translation led to the headline reading "Gorbachev sings tractors: Turnip! Buttocks!" He has a fairly extensive criminal record for his numerous hacking-based pranks.
• Cutter John, a wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran noted for Star Trek fantasies and anti-war protests.
• Bobbi Harlow is the feminist schoolteacher of Milo and Binkley, as well as the love interest of Steve and Cutter. She was a major character until 1983, when she faded away completely (referenced only once in the strip's later years, when Opus learns she joined the crew of Donahue).

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. ... Species Clupea alba Clupea bentincki Clupea caspiopontica Clupea chrysotaenia Clupea elongata Clupea halec Clupea harengus Clupea inermis Clupea leachii Clupea lineolata Clupea minima Clupea mirabilis Clupea pallasii Clupea sardinacaroli Clupea sulcata Herrings are small oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the temperate, shallow waters of the North Atlantic... Combatants United Kingdom Argentina Casualties 258 killed [1] 777 wounded 59 taken prisoner 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich... Outland was a Sunday-only spin-off of Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... Opus is a weekly (Sunday only) comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story was a childrens book by Berkeley Breathed that was published in 1991. ... Image File history File links Milo_reporter. ... Image File history File links Milo_reporter. ... Milo Bloom Milo Bloom was a central character in the American comic strip Bloom County. ... 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. ... Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, acid, or LSD-25, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug. ... Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis, featuring the cat Garfield, the pet dog Odie, and their socially inept owner Jon Arbuckle. ... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... The National Radical Meadow Party (or the Meadow Party as it is sometimes known) was the fictional political party from Berkeley Breatheds 1980s comic strip, Bloom County. ... Donald John Trump, Sr. ... Michael Mad Dog Mike Binkley was a major character in Berke Breatheds cartoon strip Bloom County. ... Oliver Wendell Jones was the most recurring African American character in Bloom County, a comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... A computer hacker is someone who enjoys getting around the technical limitations of computer systems. ... The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. ... The front page of an issue of Pravda. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ; Pronunciation: mih-kha-ILL ser-GHE-ye-vich gor-bah-CHOFF) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... Disarmament means the act of reducing or depriving arms i. ... Unilateralism is an antonym for multilateralism. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ; Pronunciation: mih-kha-ILL ser-GHE-ye-vich gor-bah-CHOFF) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... Criminal redirects here for other uses of crime and criminal, see crime (disambiguation). ... Cutter John is a fictional character in the 1980s comic strip Bloom County 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. ... Bobbi Harlow is the school teacher in Berke Breatheds comic strip Bloom County. ... Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerned with the liberation of women. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio) is the creator and star of The Phil Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, the first of the syndicated talk shows where the host walks through the audience to let audience members make comments and ask questions. ...

Other characters

• Hodge-Podge
• Portnoy
• Lola Granola
• Milquetoast the Cockroach
• Rosebud the Basselope
• Ronald-Ann Smith

See also Minor characters in Bloom County Hodge-Podge the rabbit is a fictitious character from Berke Breatheds comic strip Bloom County. ... Portnoy is a character in Berke Breatheds comic strip Bloom County. ... Lola Granola was a fictional abstract sculptor in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Milquetoast the Cockroach was a fictional character in Berkeley Breatheds comic strips Bloom County and Outland. ... Rosebud the Basselope is a fictitious character in the comic strip Bloom County by Berke Breathed. ... Ronald-Ann Smith was a character in Berkeley Breatheds comic strips Bloom County and Outland. ... The following are minor characters from Berke Breatheds comic strip Bloom County. ...

Two panels from a Sunday strip featuring Binkley, Oliver and Opus.

Image File history File links Sunday_bc. ...

Notable storylines

For detailed summaries of all storylines, see the entries for the individual books.

Steve Dallas learns that Bill the Cat has sold-out their heavy metal group, Billy and the Boingers.

• Steve forms a heavy metal band with Opus, Portnoy, and Bill, initially called "Deathtöngue". Steve is forced to rename the band Billy and the Boingers after he is dragged before a congressional hearing investigating the effect of heavy metal music on youth, similar to the Parents Music Resource Center. The Boingers disband after their frontman, Bill the Cat, is caught attending a Bible study group with a woman whose character is based on Mother Teresa. Ironically, the group suffers but the woman ends up with a Pepsi endorsement.
• Oliver Jones finds out about Apartheid and builds a "photo-pigmentizer" with which he plans to start an international brouhaha by using it on the South African ambassador to the US, making him black. Oliver sends the machine to Washington D.C. with Cutter John on a balloon chair (this aspect of the story may have been based on the flight of so-called "lawn chair pilot" Larry Walters), and Opus is accidentally dragged along. While airborne, several balloons are popped by shotguns, sending the two plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean. Both are assumed dead, so Opus' money is given to Bill the Cat, who wastes it all. Eventually, Opus turns up at the Bloom County Boarding House with amnesia, which lasts until he is shocked by the news that Diane Sawyer has married Eddie Murphy, after which he reveals that he and Cutter John survived the splash-down and were captured by Russians. The Russians kicked Opus off the submarine and took Cutter John back to Russia. The citizens later swap Bill the Cat for Cutter John.
• Opus decides to reunite with his long-lost mother for Christmas in Antarctica, only to discover that the ship he's travelling on is the Rainbow Warrior. Escaping Russian whalers with his next-door neighbour, Mrs. Limekiller, he enters the world's least despoiled civilization only to be attacked by American troops invading. Opus later discovers that his Mother supposedly died saving soldiers in the Falklands war. Her gravestone reads, 'The Falklands Martyr: She Loved her Boy'.
• Opus discovers that his mother is alive. (He screams to Milo, "SHE ISN'T DEAD!", to which Milo replies "Who? The Democratic Party?"). He tries to rescue her from captivity in the Mary Kay cosmetics testing centre. He discovers his Mum in a cage (she vaguely resembles Opus wearing Mary Poppins's hat) only to be caught in a firefight between Mary Kay ladies with Pink Uzis and the Animal Liberation Guerilla Front.
• In a spoof of Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa on Salman Rushdie, Opus is the subject of a fatwa by the Mary Kay cosmetics company for writing an editorial suggesting that women wear too much makeup look "ungodly."
• Donald Trump dies, but his brain is successfully transplanted into the body of Bill the Cat. Trump/Bill sees the brighter side of the situtation: "Legally, now I can poop on Ed Koch's lawn."
• Opus receives 779 million dollars in cash from the U.S. Government under the mistaken belief that he is a scientist working on missile defense research. Opus uses the money to buy Bolivia.
• After the breakup of Billy and the Boingers, Bill the Cat becomes a Fundamentalist televangelist, "Fundamentally Oral Bill" (a play on Oral Roberts). He declares "penguin lust" to be the biggest scourge on society. As a result, Opus is banished from Bloom County and briefly becomes a male stripper (who refuses to remove all his clothes).
• The cast of Bloom County goes on strike. W. A. Thornhump refuses to concede to any of their demands and attempts to have his office staff fill in. Things get ugly when Steve Dallas crosses the picket line and Thornhump hires strike-breakers to play Opus, Bill, and Oliver. In the end, the strikers are defeated although Opus still threw eggs at Steve saying "Here comes breakfast from Aunt Opus!!"

Image File history File links Steve_Dallas. ... 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. ... Billy and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County. ... Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that emerged as a defined musical style in the 1970s, having its roots in hard rock bands which, between 1969 and 1974,[1] mixed blues and rock to create a hybrid with a thick, heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound, characterised by... Billy and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County. ... Seal of the U.S. Congress. ... The members of the PMRC The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 by four mothers: Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally... A Devotion in Christianity has come to mean time spent alone or in a small group of people reading and studying the Bible in a way as it relates to ones spiritual health and wellbeing. ... Mother Teresa in 1985 Mother Teresa (born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997), Bharat Ratna, OM, was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in India. ... Pepsi-Cola, most commonly called Pepsi, is a soft drink produced by PepsiCo. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed Lawnchair Larry or the Lawn Chair Pilot, (b. ... Amnesia or amnæsia (from Greek ) (see spelling differences) is a condition in which memory is disturbed. ... Lila Diane Sawyer (born December 22, 1945) is a television journalist for the U.S. network ABC News and co-anchor of ABCs Good Morning America with Robin Roberts. ... Eddie Murphy (born Edward Regan Murphy on April 3, 1000 A.D. in Brooklyn, New York) is an American comedian and actor. ... Rainbow Warrior is the name of a series of ships operated by Greenpeace. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States; the other being the Republican Party. ... Mary Kay is a brand of color cosmetics sold by Mary Kay Inc. ... Ayatollah Khomeini founded the first modern Islamic republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini (آیت‌الله روح‌الله خمینی in Persian) (May 17, 1900 – June 3, 1989) was an Iranian Shia cleric and the political... A fatwa (Arabic: ) plural fatāwa , is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. ... Salman Rushdie (born Ahmed Salman Rushdie, Urdu: ‎, on June 19, 1947, in Bombay, India) is a British-Indian essayist and author of fiction, most of which is set on the Indian subcontinent. ... Donald John Trump, Sr. ... Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch (born December 12, 1924; pronounced to rhyme with scotch) was a United States Representative from 1969 to 1977 and the Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. ... Missile Defense is a term referring to systems, weapon programs, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception and destruction of attacking missiles. ... Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. ... In the USA, a televangelist (television evangelist) is a religious minister (often a Christian priest or minister) who devotes a large portion of his (or her) ministry to TV broadcasts to a regular viewing and listening audience. ... Oral Roberts (born January 24, 1918) is an American neo-Pentecostal televangelist. ... Steve Dallas was a fictional unscrupulous lawyer in the 1980s comic strip Bloom County, by Berke Breathed. ... Scab can refer to the following: The crust covering a healing wound as a result of coagulation. ...

Other Notes

For reasons unknown, Breathed's hand-printed signature on his strips is usually presented in mirror image, i.e. right to left.

Among the topical issues discussed at length in Bloom County are US anti-drug policy (Dr. Oliver's Scalp Tonic), Christian televangelist scandals (Fundamentally Oral Bill), animal testing (Attack of the Mary Kay Commandos), hard rock and censorship (Deathtöngue and Billy and the Boingers), and mass-media advertising (Opus and his weakness for infomercials). Massive mark-ups for drugs, [UK Govt report] Prevalance of drug use 1991-2002 The War on Drugs is an initiative undertaken by the United States with the assistance of participating countries, which is intended to curb supply and diminish demand for certain psychoactive substances. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Enos the space chimp before insertion into the Mercury-Atlas 5 capsule in 1961. ... Billy and the Boingers is a fictional heavy metal rock band from the comic strip Bloom County. ... Infomercials are television commercials that run as long as a typical television program (roughly thirty minutes or an hour). ...

Berke Breathed was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning in 1987 for Bloom County. The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ... A cartoonist at work. ...

Breathed decided to end the strip in 1989. In the continuity of the strip, a series of events (initiated by Bill the Cat's body becoming a vessel for Donald Trump's brain) led to the dismissal of the original characters and a plot transition to Breathed's next strip.

Shortly after Bloom County ended, Breathed started a Sunday-only strip called Outland with original characters and situations introduced in Bloom County's final days. However, Opus, Bill, and other characters eventually reappeared and slowly took over the strip. Outland ran from September 3, 1989 to March 26, 1995. Another Sunday-only spinoff strip called Opus started on November 23, 2003. Outland was a Sunday-only spin-off of Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Opus is a weekly (Sunday only) comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bloom County has had a profound influence on many later cartoonists, particularly cartoonists who have a particularly irreverent bent or tackle political topics in their work:

• Scott Kurtz, creator of the popular webcomic PvP, acknowledged Breathed's contributions at one point with a strip expressing the opinion that "so many webcomics...are nothing but Bloom County ripoffs", then lampooning itself by mimicking Breathed's art and dialogue style itself in the final panel [1].
• Aaron McGruder, creator of the comic and later animated series The Boondocks, has paid homage to Breathed's work as well, with a few aspects of the strip bearing more than a passing resemblance to important Bloom County features, and an episode of the animated series wherein the character Uncle Ruckus calls Breathed "Master Penguin Draw'er".

For PvP in multiplayer computer role-playing games, see player versus player. ... A mimic is any species that has evolved to appear similar to another successful species in order to dupe predators into avoiding the mimic, or dupe prey into approaching the mimic. ... Aaron McGruder (born May 29, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American cartoonist best known for writing and drawing The Boondocks, a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip about two young African-American brothers from inner-city Chicago now living with their grandfather in a sedate suburb. ... The Boondocks cast. ...

Bloom County itself

The fictional setting of Bloom County served as a recurring backdrop for the comic and its sequels, although the nature of the setting was frequently altered.

Opus's last birthday in Bloom County
From left to right, Reynelda the doll, Ronald-Ann Smith, Binkley, Milo, Hodge-Podge, Portnoy, and Opus.

In the comics, the county is presented as a stereotypical American midwestern small town. The small town setting was frequently contrasted with the increasing globalization taking place in the rest of the world; though Bloom County contained the likes of farmers and wilderness creatures by default, it was frequented by Hare Krishnas, feminists, and rock stars. Image File history File links Bloom_County_May_1989. ... Image File history File links Bloom_County_May_1989. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Hare Krishna Mantra in Devanagari. ... Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

While the location of Bloom County is never explicitly mentioned, there have been some clues in the strip. When Oliver Jones identified Bloom County as the place where Halley's Comet would crash into Earth, a sign was seen saying that it was at 35.05 N 146.55 E. This would place it in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles off the coast of Japan. Oliver's previous calculation was 39.43 N 105.01 W, which would place it just south of Denver, Colorado. Another strip has Opus stating that Des Moines, Iowa was 96 miles away from Bloom County, which would place it in either Iowa or Missouri. Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, more generally known as Halleys Comet after Edmond Halley, is a comet that can be seen every 75-76 years. ... Nickname: The Mile-High City Location of Denver in Colorado, USA Coordinates: Country United States State Colorado City-County Denver (coextensive) Founded November 22, 1858 Incorporated November 7, 1861 Mayor John Hickenlooper (D) Area    - City 401. ... Nickname: Hartford of the West, DSM Location in the State of Iowa Coordinates: Country United States State Iowa County Polk County Incorporated September 22, 1851 Mayor Frank Cownie Area    - City 200. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

The county was home to the Bloom Boarding House, Steve Dallas' law offices, the Bloom Beacon and Bloom Picayune newspapers, at least one pond, and Milo's Meadow. In the comic's later years, the county contained what appeared to be a big-city ghetto ("across the tracks", as it was known). A ghetto is an area where people from a specific racial or ethnic background or united in a given culture or religion live as a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, in milder or stricter seclusion. ...

The geographical profile of the county was fluid as the artistic style of the strip evolved. During most of Bloom County's run, the rural meadow setting was presented realistically, while in its later years it became increasingly more abstract.

Bloom County's role in Outland was a bit questionable, as the "Outland" setting of the strip was originally set apart from the county by way of a magical doorway. By Outland's end, however, the Outland appeared to be a part of Bloom County itself. Outland was a Sunday-only spin-off of Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ...

Opus currently takes place in Bloom County. Opus is a weekly (Sunday only) comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. ...

Real world references

Bloom County contained many similarities to Iowa City, Iowa, where Breathed lived at the time. The Bloom Boarding House, for example, which appeared as a high contrast photo within the strip, was an actual residence in Iowa City.^{[citation needed]} Old Capitol Building in February 2005 Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, USA. It is the principal city of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of both Johnson and Washington counties. ...

In addition, Breathed used the call letters KRNA to refer to Bloom County's rock radio station featuring "Rockin' Charmin' Harmon". The call letters belonged to an actual rock station based in Iowa City in the 1980s, which featured a disc jockey named "Charmin'" Jeff Harmon. The station still operates in Iowa to this day. [2] In radio (including television), a callsign or call sign (also call letters) is a unique designation for amateur, broadcast, and sometimes military radio use, as well as for broadcast television. ... The following are minor characters from Berke Breatheds comic strip Bloom County. ...

Several Iowa City local news items also directly inspired Bloom County storylines. For example, a Bloom County politician's sexist gaffe, referring to a woman as a "lil' dumplin'", was taken directly from an incident when University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry made the same comment, infuriating feminists at the university.

Further, the final Bloom County strip hangs in the main branch of the Johnson County Library in Iowa City.

Bloom County books

Cover of the 1986 Bloom County Babylon collection

• Loose Tails (1983)
• Toons For Our Times (1984)
• Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things (1985)
• Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness (1986)
• Billy and the Boingers Bootleg (1987)
• Tales Too Ticklish to Tell (1988)
• The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos (1989)
• Happy Trails! (1990)
• Classics of Western Literature (1990)

None of these reprints contain complete runs of the strip. Many Sunday strips have never been reprinted. All of the daily strips were reprinted in Comics Revue magazine. Image File history File links Bloomcountybabylon. ... Image File history File links Bloomcountybabylon. ... Cover of Bloom County Babylon Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness is the fourth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... Cover of Loose Tails Loose Tails is the first collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of Tunes For Our Times Toons For Our Times is the second collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things is the third collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of Bloom County Babylon Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness is the fourth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of Tales Too Ticklish to Tell Tales Too Ticklish to Tell is the sixth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos is the seventh collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... This article is about the year. ... Comics Revue is a monthly small press comic book published by Manuscript Press. ...

External links

• Berkeley Breathed's website
• Toonopedia
• Breathed interview in The A.V. Club, August 15, 2001
• Bloom County Zone