Bring back the orange pussycat we all miss!
July 8, 2021 9:15 PM Subscribe
Bloom County update: Opus is thrilled that masking has ended, but walks right into something.
All these links are Facebook image links. I know that might be a thing for some, so I'm mentioning it here.
It seems Bill is still missing.
Post-vaccine hallucinations.
A stinky, musty relic from a distant, savage, olden time.
Lately the magic and wonder is dimming.
That's the burn pile!!
Google search
Oliver Wendell Jones uses his scientific mind.
Oliver seeks the help of an old friend.
I have no idea where this is going, but I'm eager to find out.
[Edit: same content but with Twitter links instead]
All these links are Facebook image links. I know that might be a thing for some, so I'm mentioning it here.
It seems Bill is still missing.
Post-vaccine hallucinations.
A stinky, musty relic from a distant, savage, olden time.
Lately the magic and wonder is dimming.
That's the burn pile!!
Google search
Oliver Wendell Jones uses his scientific mind.
Oliver seeks the help of an old friend.
I have no idea where this is going, but I'm eager to find out.
[Edit: same content but with Twitter links instead]
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher
I saw the first one, but didn't realize it was a whole series! Thanks.
posted by tavella at 9:23 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by tavella at 9:23 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Back when I was first started drafting the list of graphic novels / comic books that would go into the Darkstar Post-Apocalyptic Strategic Book Reserve (DPASBR?) to "provide utility and entertainment to the masses" while they were huddled in the ruins and ash of a broken civilization after a day spent roaming the nuclear-irradiated wastelands looking for burnable trash and bartering mutated rat carcasses for entry into the local warlord's Thunderdome bloodsport competitions to determine who would qualify for the next week's allotment of potable water...um...what was I saying?
Oh right, Bill Watterson's work was at the top of the list.
Also, Opus is a welcome sight, too!
posted by darkstar at 9:31 PM on July 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
Oh right, Bill Watterson's work was at the top of the list.
Also, Opus is a welcome sight, too!
posted by darkstar at 9:31 PM on July 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
Metafilter: a stinky, musty relic from a distant, savage, olden time.
these are so delightful.
posted by ZaphodB at 9:33 PM on July 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
these are so delightful.
posted by ZaphodB at 9:33 PM on July 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
Hopefully the new strips will show up somewhere other than FB... 🙏
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:36 PM on July 8, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:36 PM on July 8, 2021 [14 favorites]
I let out a happy shriek at the end of the last one.
posted by azpenguin at 9:53 PM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 9:53 PM on July 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
_ /|
\'o.O'
=(_._)=
|U|
The original orange maniac
Ack Needs Monospace Pfft
Bill instantly and permanently disabused me of my ridiculous notion that '82-era Garfield was 'edgy'.
Bill owns the edge.
posted by zaixfeep at 10:24 PM on July 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
\'o.O'
=(_._)=
|U|
The original orange maniac
Ack Needs Monospace Pfft
Bill instantly and permanently disabused me of my ridiculous notion that '82-era Garfield was 'edgy'.
Bill owns the edge.
posted by zaixfeep at 10:24 PM on July 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
I'm delighted, but I guess I have questions, primarily:
- Is Bill still missing? or
- Was Bill simply Hobbes on an extended bender after a wagon related head injury?
> Google Search
What a gorgeously drawn Hobbes in the last panel.
posted by lkc at 11:39 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
What a gorgeously drawn Hobbes in the last panel.
posted by lkc at 11:39 PM on July 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's worth noting that the last two strips have a somewhat off-model plush Hobbes, like they were rendered by someone else....
Also, I like that Hobbes' dialogue is written in the old style.
posted by JHarris at 1:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
Also, I like that Hobbes' dialogue is written in the old style.
posted by JHarris at 1:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
This makes me so very happy. Thanks hippybear.
posted by Optamystic at 1:47 AM on July 9, 2021
posted by Optamystic at 1:47 AM on July 9, 2021
Cartoon fans will note this isn't the first time these universes have crossed over.
I hope Hobbes gets to stick around for a while and maybe pick up a drum solo for Billy and the Boingers.
posted by fight or flight at 3:13 AM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
I hope Hobbes gets to stick around for a while and maybe pick up a drum solo for Billy and the Boingers.
posted by fight or flight at 3:13 AM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
Greg_Ace: "Hopefully the new strips will show up somewhere other than FB... 🙏"
they are running on the Bloom County Twitter feed as well
posted by chavenet at 3:45 AM on July 9, 2021 [12 favorites]
they are running on the Bloom County Twitter feed as well
posted by chavenet at 3:45 AM on July 9, 2021 [12 favorites]
Thanks for this. I'm only peripherally aware of Bloom County, but a couple of these have popped up on the twits and the collection is great!
(Also, my pihole is buggered or something. It's always DNS....)
posted by pompomtom at 4:02 AM on July 9, 2021
(Also, my pihole is buggered or something. It's always DNS....)
posted by pompomtom at 4:02 AM on July 9, 2021
'Google Search' made me a little sad. Even if this is a just-for-gags AU, I don't want to think that Hobbes fell out of the wagon and has been separated from Calvin for 25 years. It's been a long pandemic, and I'm just not up for contemplating that kind of sadness.
Like, do we really need a backstory? Isn't it enough to just have Hobbes be there instead of Bill and chalk it up to some sort of momentary glitch in the comics universe?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:36 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
Like, do we really need a backstory? Isn't it enough to just have Hobbes be there instead of Bill and chalk it up to some sort of momentary glitch in the comics universe?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:36 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
Thank you for this! Somehow, I'm following Bloom County on twitter, but I still haven't seen these. Oliver Wendell Holmes' ROWR at Calvin made me a little misty.
posted by gladly at 6:47 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by gladly at 6:47 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
This is an excellent way to start a Friday.
posted by Zargon X at 7:07 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Zargon X at 7:07 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I've been enjoying these. Nice to see both my favourite comic strips from the mid-80s together again.
posted by sfred at 7:23 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sfred at 7:23 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
just a few days ago the Cathy thread prompted me to mention "Ack" will always be a Bill the Cat thing for me. I had no idea I was summoning the demon
Thank you hippybear!! made my Friday, I had no idea about this.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:34 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Thank you hippybear!! made my Friday, I had no idea about this.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:34 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
I was so happy to see the Banana Jr. 6000 again.
These are all delightful, and thanks to chavenet for pointing to the Bloom County Twitter. As I don't do Facebook, it'll make it easier for me to follow the rest of the storyline.
posted by May Kasahara at 7:47 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
These are all delightful, and thanks to chavenet for pointing to the Bloom County Twitter. As I don't do Facebook, it'll make it easier for me to follow the rest of the storyline.
posted by May Kasahara at 7:47 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
For someone who stopped tooning for the newspapers because they kept shrinking his Sunday strips ... FB seems like an odd place to set up shop.
I love Bloom County (one of my favorite strips) but I hate having to digest it there.
posted by hoodrich at 8:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
I love Bloom County (one of my favorite strips) but I hate having to digest it there.
posted by hoodrich at 8:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
This is delightful, and timely for me.
I recently discovered and have been reading through the archives of Phoebe and Her Unicorn (https://www.gocomics.com/phoebe-and-her-unicorn), which can be roughly described as "What if Calvin and Hobbes, but a girl and a unicorn, and the unicorn is actually real so that nobody spills any ink wondering precisely what mental issue the kid has?"
Calvin & Hobbes influenced me deeply as a kid, and I didn't realize how much I'd come to miss that flavour of insight, of kids being treated with some maturity instead of as large babies, of the simple celebration of imagination.
I'm excited to see where this goes!
posted by Imperfect at 8:32 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
I recently discovered and have been reading through the archives of Phoebe and Her Unicorn (https://www.gocomics.com/phoebe-and-her-unicorn), which can be roughly described as "What if Calvin and Hobbes, but a girl and a unicorn, and the unicorn is actually real so that nobody spills any ink wondering precisely what mental issue the kid has?"
Calvin & Hobbes influenced me deeply as a kid, and I didn't realize how much I'd come to miss that flavour of insight, of kids being treated with some maturity instead of as large babies, of the simple celebration of imagination.
I'm excited to see where this goes!
posted by Imperfect at 8:32 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
They are on Instagram also.
posted by double bubble at 8:53 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by double bubble at 8:53 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I just ordered an Opus plush from berkeleybreathed.com to match the Bill the Cat plush that I bought in ... '87...?
(self link warning: https://www.flickr.com/photos/djeo/albums/72157719571582515 )
posted by djeo at 9:18 AM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
(self link warning: https://www.flickr.com/photos/djeo/albums/72157719571582515 )
posted by djeo at 9:18 AM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
Sad here. :(
Don't do twitter and certainly not facebook. And before someone mentions Instagram, I believe they recently blocked people that don't do Javascript. As did twitter. I used to look at twitter links before that. I'll do "nitter" for the occasional twitter link but it's hard to find a nitter site that's not overwhelmed.
posted by aleph at 9:41 AM on July 9, 2021
Don't do twitter and certainly not facebook. And before someone mentions Instagram, I believe they recently blocked people that don't do Javascript. As did twitter. I used to look at twitter links before that. I'll do "nitter" for the occasional twitter link but it's hard to find a nitter site that's not overwhelmed.
posted by aleph at 9:41 AM on July 9, 2021
just a few days ago the Cathy thread prompted me to mention "Ack" will always be a Bill the Cat thing for me.
For me they are pronounced differently in my head. Cathy's "Ack" has much more vowel to it it "AAAACK!" and Bill's has almost none. "Oop! Ack!" is more like "hp! chk! phphbt!"
posted by straight at 10:06 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
For me they are pronounced differently in my head. Cathy's "Ack" has much more vowel to it it "AAAACK!" and Bill's has almost none. "Oop! Ack!" is more like "hp! chk! phphbt!"
posted by straight at 10:06 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
I’m not a fan of the whole FB thing, like many of you, but it provided Breathed a way to publish the strips he wanted, on his schedule, and reach an audience that wanted this content. He doesn’t worry about editors or what the syndicate is going to want or anything like that. He clicks “post” and the strip is up. His audience has been steadily growing as more and more people discover the strip - in many cases people who loved his work back when it was in the funny pages. I really wish there was some other outlet besides FB, but I get it. I will say this much, though -since he re-started the strip, he has made some damn magic.
posted by azpenguin at 10:34 AM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 10:34 AM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
Thanks for this! Because it’s on Facebook and I am not, I don’t see these.
If there’s a way to get either the Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook feed on an RSS reader, then I would sign up. (But no, I won’t pay Feedly for the privilege of getting an RSS-like Twitter feed. I might pay Breathed for that though, if I could figure out how. )
posted by nat at 11:09 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
If there’s a way to get either the Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook feed on an RSS reader, then I would sign up. (But no, I won’t pay Feedly for the privilege of getting an RSS-like Twitter feed. I might pay Breathed for that though, if I could figure out how. )
posted by nat at 11:09 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
He doesn’t worry about editors or what the syndicate is going to want or anything like that.
The four best cartoons today--Awkward Yeti, Fowl Language, Dino, and Scott Metzger--I found them all on Facebook.
posted by Melismata at 2:18 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
The four best cartoons today--Awkward Yeti, Fowl Language, Dino, and Scott Metzger--I found them all on Facebook.
posted by Melismata at 2:18 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
waitasecond
continuity anyone? Hobbes has a can of root beer in the first strip, but what is going on in the second strip? I'd like my boobie prize, please
posted by elkevelvet at 2:28 PM on July 9, 2021
continuity anyone? Hobbes has a can of root beer in the first strip, but what is going on in the second strip? I'd like my boobie prize, please
posted by elkevelvet at 2:28 PM on July 9, 2021
Breathed and Watterson have a long history. Famously Watterson sent some satiric cartoons to him mocking his use of merch dollars to pay for a new speedboat. It’s great to learn they’re still friends.
posted by q*ben at 2:55 PM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by q*ben at 2:55 PM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
The world’s coolest babysitter introduced me to Bloom County in the eighties. Bill the Cat, Opus, Steve Dallas—I love it!
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 6:57 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 6:57 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm impressed by the size of Oliver's Duran Duran collection. Mine would not take up a box that big.
Nobody's would. That's obviously a porn stash.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:20 PM on July 9, 2021
Nobody's would. That's obviously a porn stash.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:20 PM on July 9, 2021
Oliver talks Calvin down a lot in that one, but Calvin easily has a thousand times the heart than Trump does.
posted by JHarris at 6:42 PM on July 10, 2021
posted by JHarris at 6:42 PM on July 10, 2021
Those are definitely Breathed's words talking Trump down, which was his explicitly-stated raison d'ĂŞtre for bringing Bloom County back in the first place.
A+++ would shit-talk Trump again
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:35 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
A+++ would shit-talk Trump again
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:35 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
What do you say to a plush toy you haven't seen in 25 years?
posted by JHarris at 7:15 PM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 7:15 PM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Calvin's gonna turn out to be one of those billionaires, isn't he.
posted by JHarris at 8:18 PM on July 16, 2021
posted by JHarris at 8:18 PM on July 16, 2021
I like how, in that strip where Calvin's face is rendered well, Berkeley Breathed's byline is obscured by the text panel, and there's a light green squiggle among the grass that's hard to make out, but it isn't inconceivable that it could be Bill Watterson's signature.
posted by JHarris at 8:50 AM on July 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 8:50 AM on July 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
The suspense is killing me. I wonder how he's going to pull this off in a satisfactory way.
Magic.
posted by azpenguin at 5:08 PM on July 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
Magic.
posted by azpenguin at 5:08 PM on July 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
That is a good one. I hope if this goes on that that is the closest we get to seeing Calvin in the present.
posted by Fukiyama at 6:33 PM on July 20, 2021
posted by Fukiyama at 6:33 PM on July 20, 2021
That is the opposite of aging gracefully and I love it. I'm starting to think Calvin might actually have perfected cardboard box technology. Maybe all this time, he was the imaginary friend, of Hobbes.
posted by JHarris at 7:21 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 7:21 PM on July 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
Guys guys guys how about this (takes a hit) -- maybe Bloom County isn't the "real world," but Calvin's imagination world? Duuuuude.
posted by JHarris at 7:35 PM on July 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 7:35 PM on July 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
An exchange on the FB comments on the latest strip:
Michael Shutz: “So... where’s Bill?”
Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County: “Excellent question. Someone please ask Watterson for me.”
ohpleaseohplease
posted by azpenguin at 7:27 AM on July 21, 2021 [6 favorites]
Michael Shutz: “So... where’s Bill?”
Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County: “Excellent question. Someone please ask Watterson for me.”
ohpleaseohplease
posted by azpenguin at 7:27 AM on July 21, 2021 [6 favorites]
BILL THE WATTERSON
posted by JHarris at 7:49 AM on July 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 7:49 AM on July 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
By the slim chance hippybear genuinely doesn't get my reference--
Before Bloom County closed up the first time, there was a long-lived story (I think the strip actually ended with it unfinished) where Bill the Cat's brain had been replaced by that of Bill Gates producing: "BILL THE GATES!!" (Bill: "You're all fired.")
posted by JHarris at 10:21 PM on July 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Before Bloom County closed up the first time, there was a long-lived story (I think the strip actually ended with it unfinished) where Bill the Cat's brain had been replaced by that of Bill Gates producing: "BILL THE GATES!!" (Bill: "You're all fired.")
posted by JHarris at 10:21 PM on July 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Didn't Trump's brain get transferred into Bill's body after that? ...Or was that before Bill the Gates? (Hey, it's been a while, cut me some slack.)
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:42 PM on July 23, 2021
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:42 PM on July 23, 2021
Hm, it seems it was in Outland, and I'm having difficulty tracking down where it happened. GoComic's archives of Outland don't extend to the end of the strip, it doesn't seem to be there at least.
posted by JHarris at 10:42 PM on July 23, 2021
posted by JHarris at 10:42 PM on July 23, 2021
Pretty sure if Calvin is a mad high-dreaming inventor he's living in his long suffering parents' basement
posted by mbo at 6:01 AM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mbo at 6:01 AM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
It was Trump's brain that got transferred into Bill the Cat's body at the end of Bloom County. Trump the Cat then renames Bloom County to "Trump, The Strip" and fires all the characters.
posted by fimbulvetr at 6:13 AM on July 26, 2021
posted by fimbulvetr at 6:13 AM on July 26, 2021
Yeah, it turns out the Bill the Gates storyline did happen, but it was in Outland. In some ways it was a reprise of the Bill the Trump idea.
posted by JHarris at 7:11 AM on July 26, 2021
posted by JHarris at 7:11 AM on July 26, 2021
Look at this one on a big display if you can. It's really beautiful.
It truly is. Breathed is always good, but there are times when he reaches deep down and produces just stunning art.
posted by azpenguin at 9:56 PM on July 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
It truly is. Breathed is always good, but there are times when he reaches deep down and produces just stunning art.
posted by azpenguin at 9:56 PM on July 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
Unsure if you mean The Cat or Watterson (or Gates even). So maybe the next storyline needs to be about how Bill The Cat has retired to a quiet suburb where he paints watercolors all day.
posted by Tehhund at 6:32 AM on July 31, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Tehhund at 6:32 AM on July 31, 2021 [2 favorites]
I really appreciate these updates, hippybear!
posted by tavella at 9:15 PM on August 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 9:15 PM on August 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
« Older "Take these two tablets and call me in the morning... | Mary Weinrib, 95 Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Gadarene at 9:21 PM on July 8, 2021 [1 favorite]