This strip has never appealed to me. Preachy and self-righteous. Never liked Breathed even when he was supposedly in his prime. His strips are sententious when they're not mawkish, and he makes his anodyne points with all the subtlety of a jackhammer.

One of the better comic strips,with oftentimes offbeat or subtle humor.

It was hit-and-miss. . .but when it was "on" it was a funny comic strip that shot an arrow into the stupid 80's era of clothes, music, politics, and the general decline of literacy and intelligence. . .there was great critical commentary to be found in this comic strip that simply went over the heads of people that were too busy living in the 80's to really notice. . .it wasn't perfect- sometimes it reached too far, but Bloom County was good while it lasted.

Breathed's BLOOM COUNTY went where Trudeau's DOONESBURY couldn't, which was anywhere it wanted to. Freewheeling (with a sly leftist slant) and, at times, fanciful, the strip started out as a chronicle of Milo and his grandparent's boarding house, but it quickly took off into something far broader (yet easier to identify with as time went on). Anything was fair game in Berke's mind, and he explored every nook and niche the times had to offer. His line style was a direct homage to Trudeau's, but it eventually got cleaner and more detailed as the storylines demanded greater depth. A landmark in comic strip history, as the form went directly into the toilet after it ceased daily publication. Binkley, Steve, Opus, Bobbi, Cutter John, Bill, Portnoy, Rosebud, Oliver, and all the rest.....you are sadly missed.

No doubt graceful retirement should be its goal.

opus and steve? how can you miss, especially with opus becoming the voice of the turtle.

Woooooooowww, hello, this comic has gone extremely left-wing over the past few months! I'm changing my review, it's so not funny anymore! It traded humor for blatant political attacks now. How pathetic, I don't read this anymore, what a disappointment.

A terrific comic during the 1980's, but it has kind of outlived that time. Outland and Opus don't have quite the same feel. This strip wasn't afraid to make fun of Reagan, Gary Hart, Oliver North and other characters of the time, and did so in such a direct and funny way that you couldn't help but laugh. And, just when the political stuff got overwhelming, there'd be a series of strips that were just funny for the sake of being funny. Very creative.

One of the best and most original comics ever. It deserves to be at least #3.

What about Bill the Cat?

I have to agree with PBeav on this one...it sucks pretty bad...

Published primarily during the 1980's, Bloom County is my personal favorite comic strip and should be considered one of the best ever. After the strip hit its stride and the characters were developed, Bloom County simply had no equal during its run. For the uninitiated, the comic strip (written by Berke Breathed) was set around a group of eccentric human and animal characters in rural Bloom County. Among the fan favorites were Steve Dallas the scheming lawyer, Opus the good-hearted penguin who was always in fear of the lurking walrus, and Bill the Cat who never spoke a word but could answer our greatest questions by perpetually coughing up hairballs. Bloom County did tackle a few political matters, but never in a militant way as Doonesbury so often does. I do think that the strip was faltering in its latter years, so Breathed was probably correct in ending it before it collapsed completely. Long live Billy and the Boingers!

Very funny at its best and above average at its worst. I got a little tired of how Opus became the main character and I liked the earlier, edgier storylines.

This strip should be at the top, or at least number two! Classic characters and perfectly timed dialogue! Nobody does it better! To see RAISING DUNCAN (insipid) and KEVIN AND KELL (too much "in" speak) and SAFE HAVENS (over-talkie dialogues with no real pay-off or funny character exposition) rated higher on this list than BLOOM COUNTY, well, it's just laughable.

Major influence on the comic industry. He made it cool for cartoonists to copy other art styles and make them their own. Can't deny his writing ability. Loved his earlier strips. ~Erg!

Bloom County was one of the best comics of all time. Now seems to be forgotten. I've been a comic page addict since I can remember and the best years were when we had Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, and the Far Side all in print. Now they're all gone. Pick up Bloom County Babylon for a taste of what once was. I wonder what Breathed is up to now-a-days???

Overrated.

Another stip that I like, but how does it survice. I wouldn't think there would be that many of us that even remember this strip.

Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes are my 2 favorite strips ever!!

Brilliant and witty sarcasm. Breathed always had the ability to nail any number of sacred cows on all sides of the politcal spectrum. Whether you enjoyed or understood the humor, he must be congratulated on for simply refusing to be politically correct. Bloom County died the perfect death, completely off the wall ending with Steve Dallas hooking up with Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury).

Died an untimely death. Why oh why?

It was great for a time, but it died an undignified death. "Outland" started as a spinoff of the strip, but turned into an "AfterMASH"-like extension, dropping in one character at a time til all good feelings for the original were numbed. I don't even enjoy the book collections of the "classic era" anymore.

I missed the early ones and had trouble getting many later ones. Often it was sickening. Still, there was enough inspiration to be found there that I was bewildered when my newspaper didn't have an article on its retirement.

Quite simply one of the funniest strips ever!

I grew up reading Bloom County Mr. Breathed was brillant there were times when he hit the political scene and who didn't love Bill The Cat and Opus

Simply, one of the classic's of cartoondom! Please don't change Opus's name to Linux !!

Sorely missed. An intelligently hilarious strip by Burke Breathed featuring Opus The Penguin and the ever-ill Bill The Cat. Well written to the end.

Another of the "greats" in my mind. One of the best daily strips ever done, with a wicked sense of (occasionally self-depracating) humor and sarcasm, loveable characters and a strong political sense. A mix of "Doonesbury" and "Peanuts". Simply brilliant. Mr. Breathed, if you are listening, please bring back this marvellous strip!

Up there with Calvin and Hobbes. Bring it back.

I MISS OPUS. HELP!!!!

What an incredible Bloom County craze there was way back when. It was definitely funny. My problem with was that all of the big fans in high school were really weird.

Used to be one of the more intelligent and well-written cartoons out there. Bring back Opus!