Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, who began his career at the Austin American-Statesman, will retire his comic strip Opus on the Sunday before Election Day, November 2nd. Short of Doonesbury‘s longer running social commentary no one has defined the late 20th century as well as Breathed- and I for one will miss him very much. Through Bloom County (1980-89), Outland (1989-95), and Opus(1995-2008), Bill the Cat, Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Oliver Jones, Milquetoast the Cockroach and a host of woodland creatures and cultural rejects have beaten American politics and celebrity culture soundly about the ears. Through second-hand comics I have learned a lot about the 70s and 80s, and no text can be as enlightening as a good run through a month of comic strips from whatever scandal engrossed the nation temporarily- only to become a footnote in history.
Breathed, a Houston native, lives in Santa Barbara, California, where he writes more children’s books every day.
via Boston Herald
B. Breathed, 1984
