I read an article about Berkeley Breathed ending the “Opus” comic strip. I really haven’t followed his work much since the end of bloom county in the early 1990’s. The “sequel” strips, Outland and Opus really didn’t have the draw for me that Bloom County did. But it was always reassuring to know that they were out there, they’re kind of like old friends that you don’t talk to much anymore.  I do remember my parents having the big collections around the house when I was a kid. I think I’ve read “Bloom County Babylon” 10 times (the one with Opus in a top hat on the cover) and I remember making a Bill the cat name tag for my desk in 5th grade. I’m not sure if I knew what the comic was really about when I was little, but I knew it was funny. I think it’s done a lot to shape my view of politics and fame in general.

I’ll miss you Opus.

via NPR

“Liberal, shmiberal. That should be a new word. Shmiberal: one who is assumed liberal, just because he’s a professional whiner in the newspaper. If you’ll read the subtext for many of those old strips, you’ll find the heart of an old-fashioned Libertarian. And I’d be a Libertarian, if they weren’t all a bunch of tax-dodging professional whiners.” – Berkeley Breathed