CBR: NYCC: Breathed talks about the new "Bloom County" collections

[CBR News]

CBR talks to Berkeley Breathed exclusively about the definitive, hardcover, five-volume collection of the entire run of his Pultizer Prize-winning comic strip “Bloom County,” to be published by IDW.


Full article here.

[aquafanatic]

I was never big into newspaper strips, but Bloom County IS the single greatest strip of all time. I have many of the original books (Including Billy & the Boingers w/record). I cannot wait to buy this set.

I couldn't get into Outland too much because I loooved Bloom County's rich cast of supporting characters. TOO much focus on Opus, Bill, Ronald Anne, and that damn coackroach. I missed Steve Dallas, Milo, Binkley, Oliver Wendall, Cutter John, Portnoy, Hodge Podge, Binkleys dad, Binkleys anxiety closet, all the pop culture icons of the time...FUNNY stuff. Never read the Opus strip.

[tyg]

Does anyone know if the collection will also contain Breathed's collegiate precursor strip, Academia Waltz?

[usuakari]

I can pretty much promise it won't.. Breathed re-used many of the AW jokes during the early days of Bloom County, so it would be repetitive, to say the least. Also, Breathed is the worst cartoonist I've ever heard about for not having faith in his older work. This collection will be worthless if he is given any power over the content.. I've watched him "improve" dozens of his classic strips by simplifying and reducing dialogue, seemingly clueless that the wonderful absurd speeches were most of the strip's charm! Perhaps working on children's books for so long has ruined his ability to appreciate complex excessive wordplay as a source of humour. Look what he did to his best strips when they were reprinted in that Opus collection, or made into prints on his website! Or his comments on how the strips haven't aged well because of the topical humour- does he think his fans are morons? We read old Doonesbury, after all!
The other question is the "banned" strips. MANY Bloom County strips never made it into collections at all because the publishers were excessively afraid of lawsuits, and have not been seen since their newspaper debuts. If this collection is to be worthwhile and authoritative, it should have EVERY strip, in its ORIGINAL form, regardless of what Breathed thinks of it. I have lots of respect for his old work, but he is truly his own worst critic.
http://www.platypuscomix.net/otherpe...omtrilogy.html
Look here for some of the "lost strips".
If this collection is going to be done right, I am extremely happy and will buy them in a heartbeat.

[tony]

thanks for the link.

[ILLUS]

I am psyched for this. So happy.

[GRANT!]

I'm hoping the Sunday strips are in color. But otherwise this is something I've wanted for a while. I had a handful of Bloom and Outland collections when I was a teenager.

[The Lucky One]

I'm really stoked as well. I've got all of the individual Bloom County collections, but I'm looking forward to reading the "missing strips" and having it all in a nicer format. (Although really, it could be argued that the hodge-podge collection of variously shaped and sized Bloom County books on my shelf is a more accurate representation of the actual nature of the strip. )

Here's a question: obviously we don't know anything about the design of the volumes, but let's just hypothetically speculate that they take a page from IDW's Dick Tracy collections (and Fantagraphics' Peanuts volumes), with a close-up of one individual character per cover. Since it's a 5-volume project, which five characters would you like to see on the covers? Opus is a given, and almost certainly Bill the Cat as well. For the other three I'd love to see Milo (it'd be a nice nod to his status as the original protaganist... maybe he could be on the first volume or something), Binkley (I've gotta see that physics-defying hair one more time), and Steve Dallas (just because he's Steve).

Anybody else?

-D

[lou-bert vs. q-bert]

I'm really stoked as well. I've got all of the individual Bloom County collections, but I'm looking forward to reading the "missing strips" and having it all in a nicer format. (Although really, it could be argued that the hodge-podge collection of variously shaped and sized Bloom County books on my shelf is a more accurate representation of the actual nature of the strip. )

Here's a question: obviously we don't know anything about the design of the volumes, but let's just hypothetically speculate that they take a page from IDW's Dick Tracy collections (and Fantagraphics' Peanuts volumes), with a close-up of one individual character per cover. Since it's a 5-volume project, which five characters would you like to see on the covers? Opus is a given, and almost certainly Bill the Cat as well. For the other three I'd love to see Milo (it'd be a nice nod to his status as the original protaganist... maybe he could be on the first volume or something), Binkley (I've gotta see that physics-defying hair one more time), and Steve Dallas (just because he's Steve).

Anybody else?

-D

Opus on the first volume, then Binkley, Milo, Bill the Cat and Steve Dallas, in that order.

I also recently gave away my Bloom County collected books, because they were tattered and of no monetary value. I am glad Breathed knows what fans like.

[WW Doctor]

I'm really stoked as well. I've got all of the individual Bloom County collections, but I'm looking forward to reading the "missing strips" and having it all in a nicer format. (Although really, it could be argued that the hodge-podge collection of variously shaped and sized Bloom County books on my shelf is a more accurate representation of the actual nature of the strip. )

Here's a question: obviously we don't know anything about the design of the volumes, but let's just hypothetically speculate that they take a page from IDW's Dick Tracy collections (and Fantagraphics' Peanuts volumes), with a close-up of one individual character per cover. Since it's a 5-volume project, which five characters would you like to see on the covers? Opus is a given, and almost certainly Bill the Cat as well. For the other three I'd love to see Milo (it'd be a nice nod to his status as the original protaganist... maybe he could be on the first volume or something), Binkley (I've gotta see that physics-defying hair one more time), and Steve Dallas (just because he's Steve).

Anybody else?

-D

Using single characters only, I'd use Milo on the first volume (as a nod to being the original protagonist), for the second volume I'd go with Opus. After that, I'd go with Binkley for the third volume. Either Steve Dallas or Oliver Wendell Jones for volume 4 and Bill the Cat for Volume 5.

There are a few small group shots that might make sense though - for example a cover with Portnoy and Hodge Podge, a cover featuring Milo, Binkley and Oliver, Opus and Bill cover or perhaps a Cutter John/Opus cover with them play acting Kirk and Spock from Star Trek (that one would be great, IMO).

[Gryphon]

aww and i jsut bought a bunch of second hand bloom county collections and NOW they are coming out with this. ah well ,im not complaining. ill buy it anyways