Bloom County
5 primary works • 11 total works
Book 1
Berkley Breathed's Bloom County was one of the most popular and critically acclaimed newspaper strips of all time. Bloom County ran from December 8th, 1980 to August 6th, 1989 and was published in an astounding 1200 newspapers on a daily basis. The huge popularity of Bloom County spawned a merchandizing bonanza, as well as two spin-off strips, Outland and Opus.
The Bloom County Library Volume 1 highlights the first time the entire run of the immensely popular Bloom County strip has been collected in beautifully designed hard cover books with exceptional reproduction.
The Library of American Comics is the world's #1 publisher of classic newspaper comic strips, with 14 Eisner Award nominations and three wins for best book. LOAC has become "the gold standard for archival comic strip reprints...The research and articles provide insight and context, and most importantly the glorious reproduction of the material has preserved these strips for those who knew them and offers a new gateway to adventure for those discovering them for the first time.” - Scoop
Winner of the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
The Bloom County Library Volume 1 highlights the first time the entire run of the immensely popular Bloom County strip has been collected in beautifully designed hard cover books with exceptional reproduction.
The Library of American Comics is the world's #1 publisher of classic newspaper comic strips, with 14 Eisner Award nominations and three wins for best book. LOAC has become "the gold standard for archival comic strip reprints...The research and articles provide insight and context, and most importantly the glorious reproduction of the material has preserved these strips for those who knew them and offers a new gateway to adventure for those discovering them for the first time.” - Scoop
Winner of the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
Book 2
Bloom County burst onto the American comic scene in December of 1980 and it soon became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The quirky denizens of the strip included Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Michael Binkley, Cutter John, Bill the Cat, and Opus the penguin, along with so many others.
Volume Two of the Bloom County Library continues right where volume one left off, with Berkeley Breathed's endearing, enchanting, and occasionally infuriating inhabitants of Bloom County treating us to their madcap adventures, cynical observations, and optimistic innocence - sometimes all at once!
Volume Two of the Bloom County Library continues right where volume one left off, with Berkeley Breathed's endearing, enchanting, and occasionally infuriating inhabitants of Bloom County treating us to their madcap adventures, cynical observations, and optimistic innocence - sometimes all at once!
Book 3
Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 3: 1984-1986
by Berkeley Breathed
Published 26 October 2010
Bloom County: The Complete Library Volume 3 collects every strip from July 1984 through February 1986. Many fondly remembered strips are in this volume, including the classic 1984 presidential elections featuring possibly the finest running mates ever for such a campaign: Opus and Bill the Cat. Plus, a cornucopia of ingenious satire featuring the rest of the Bloom County cast: Steve Dallas, Mio, Binkley, Oliver, Cutter John, and all the rest.
Book 4
Book Four of Berkeley Breathed's Eisner Award-winning series and New York Times best-seller features some of the most fondly remembered Bloom County cartoons, both from a humor standpoint and from a biting, political one. This is the period for which Breathed won a Pulitzer Prize, the highest award in journalism, for editorial cartooning. Breathed is one of only two cartoonists to win a Pulitzer for editorial cartooning (Garry Trudeau was also a recipient for Doonesbury).
This volume begins more than six weeks after the strips in Volume Three conclude. This is because of a near-death experience suffered by Breathed, who, having broken his back in an ultralight-plane crash, was unable to continue his daily grind and the strip went on hiatus for nearly two months. Breathed went on to incorporate some of his experiences into one of the most famous Bloom County sequences ever — Steve Dallas breaking his back after being attacked by an enraged Sean Penn!
This volume begins more than six weeks after the strips in Volume Three conclude. This is because of a near-death experience suffered by Breathed, who, having broken his back in an ultralight-plane crash, was unable to continue his daily grind and the strip went on hiatus for nearly two months. Breathed went on to incorporate some of his experiences into one of the most famous Bloom County sequences ever — Steve Dallas breaking his back after being attacked by an enraged Sean Penn!
Book 5
Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 5: 1987-1989
by Berkeley Breathed
Published 25 October 2011
Book Five of the New York Times bestselling and Eisner-award winning series brings us to the final chapter of Bloom County. This volume of Berkeley Breathed's Pulitzer Prize winning opus (sorry!) runs from November 30th, 1987 through August 6, 1989 — the day day Breathed, at the top of his game both critically and in circulation, walked away from Bloom County, leaving us only fond memories and this wonderful Bloom County Library so we can revisit Opus, Bill, Steve, Milo, and all the rest any time we want!
OPUS by Berkeley Breathed: The Complete Sunday Strips from 2003-2008
by Berkeley Breathed
Published 27 November 2012
It’s Berkeley Breathed’s final spin around the dance floor with his most quirky and endearing character—Opus. The Pleasant penguin has long been the moral center of the Berkley-verse, and nowhere is that as abundantly clear as in his own self-named book. Aside from our waddling friend, this book contains numerous characters readers will fondly remember from the days of Bloom County.
This volume collects the entire run of Berkeley Breathed’s Opus, from first to last, and features an introduction and running commentary from Breathed.
This volume collects the entire run of Berkeley Breathed’s Opus, from first to last, and features an introduction and running commentary from Breathed.
OPUS AWAKENS!
In 2015, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed began (without warning!) producing ALL-NEW Bloom County strips—for the first time in more than 25 years! Breathed released the new Bloom County strips exclusively through his Facebook page, to the cheers of devoted and delighted fans everywhere. These brand new strips have NEVER before been available in print—until now! All the wit, charm and biting satire that are trademarks of Bloom County and Berkeley Breathed are clearly on display and evident in this handsome new volume. Featuring all your favorite characters: Opus, Milo, Bill the Cat, Steve Dallas, Cutter John, and many more. Bloom County has come home… and it’s about time!
In 2015, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed began (without warning!) producing ALL-NEW Bloom County strips—for the first time in more than 25 years! Breathed released the new Bloom County strips exclusively through his Facebook page, to the cheers of devoted and delighted fans everywhere. These brand new strips have NEVER before been available in print—until now! All the wit, charm and biting satire that are trademarks of Bloom County and Berkeley Breathed are clearly on display and evident in this handsome new volume. Featuring all your favorite characters: Opus, Milo, Bill the Cat, Steve Dallas, Cutter John, and many more. Bloom County has come home… and it’s about time!
Collecting year three of the Bloom County relaunch begun in 2015! The stakes are higher, the punchlines are sharper, and the laughter is more desperate!
Bloom County: Best Read On The Throne picks up right where the previous volume left off. When that book, Brand Spanking New Day, came out we said we needed Opus, Bill the Cat, and all their friends more than ever before. Well, what was true then is even more true now!
The residents of Bloom County are back to put their trademark tragi-comic spin on the horrors of the last year, so lock all your worries in the anxiety closet for a bit. Who knows? When you come back they may be just the tiniest bit funnier.
Bloom County: Best Read On The Throne picks up right where the previous volume left off. When that book, Brand Spanking New Day, came out we said we needed Opus, Bill the Cat, and all their friends more than ever before. Well, what was true then is even more true now!
The residents of Bloom County are back to put their trademark tragi-comic spin on the horrors of the last year, so lock all your worries in the anxiety closet for a bit. Who knows? When you come back they may be just the tiniest bit funnier.
Berkeley Breathed, the mad genius who boggled and bewildered us with Bloom County, is back! Soon after retiring Bloom County — and at the peak of its popularity — Breathed returned with an all-new Sunday-only newspaper strip: Outland. Debuting just four weeks after the final Bloom County was published, and with many of the same cast members, Outland continues on in the same traditions set forth by its forebears — ranging from delightful whimsy to raging satire!
This volume contains every Outland strip published, some never-before-collected in book form, and nearly all have been scanned from the original art, provided by Breathed from his personal archives. More than 280 Sunday pages, all in fully remastered color, from September 3, 1989 through March 26, 1995. As an added bonus, this volume will have a selection of the extremely rare Academia Waltz, the college strip Breathed did as a precursor to Bloom County!
This volume contains every Outland strip published, some never-before-collected in book form, and nearly all have been scanned from the original art, provided by Breathed from his personal archives. More than 280 Sunday pages, all in fully remastered color, from September 3, 1989 through March 26, 1995. As an added bonus, this volume will have a selection of the extremely rare Academia Waltz, the college strip Breathed did as a precursor to Bloom County!
Berkeley Breathed's Academia Waltz And Other Profound Transgressions
by Berkeley Breathed
Published 18 August 2015
Berkeley Breathed is known as the creator of the wildly popular and influential comic strip Bloom County, and, in particular, for his most iconic character Opus. Over the course of a little more than eight years Bloom County was one of the best selling comic strips ever, winning Berkeley a coveted Pulitzer Prize. The artist went on to do two more sunday-only strips, Outland and Opus, as well as producing best-selling children’s books and screenplays. But before Breathed began his storied career he was a (not so) humble college student at the University of Texas and a contributor to the Daily Texan newspaper where he wrote and drew political cartoons as well as... The Academia Waltz. Berkeley would go on to finance his college studies by self-publishing two paperback collections of AW, selling over 10,000 copies. The strip drew the attention of the Washington Post Syndicate which eventually began publishing a new creation by Berkeley... Bloom County. Many of the characters in the new strip originally appeared in Academia Waltz, most notably Steve Dallas. Now, for the first time — from the rarely seen archives of Berkeley Breathed — comes the nearly (we think) complete Academia Waltz!
From Bloom County to Mars: The Imagination of Berkeley Breathed
by Berkeley Breathed
Published 26 July 2011
Berkeley Breathed is known to comic-strip lovers as the hilarious creator of Bloom County and its quirky denizens Opus, Bill the Cat Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Cutter John and more. He is also renowned for his touching children's books like Mars Needs Moms and Flawed Dogs. Earlier this year the Museum of Cartoon Art in San Francisco celebrated the joy and laughter this inventive and diverse creator has given us by putting on a one man show of his work, both Bloom County and Children's Books. Accompanying that exhibition was a lovely 96 page catalog, measuring 11 x 8.5 inches. The catalog showcased a number of Breathed's Bloom County strips, each shot from the original art, as well as a selection of his children's book illustrations. Additionally there are essay's and an interview with Breathed. Now through special arrangement with the Cartoon Art Museum and Berkeley Breathed, IDW is pleased to off this lovely book-and fine companion piece to the Bloom County Library-to the direct market.