Berkeley Breathed, creator of Bloom County, Outland, and Opus is coming out with a new children’s book called Mars Needs Moms and will be promoting the book at various locations around the country. Here are the dates and times so far:
Friday, May 4th, 7pm, Willow Book & Caf, 279 Great Road, Acton, MA 01720
Saturday, May 5th, 1pm, Boarders Books and Music, 1115 Annapolis Mall, Annapolis, MD 21401
Sunday, May 6th, 2pm, Kids Inc., 5619 N. Illinois, Indianapolis, IN 36208
Monday, May 7th, 6pm, Barnes & Noble, 91 Old Country Rd., Carle Place, NY 11514
Tuesday, May 9th, 6pm, Andersons, 123 West Jefferson, Naperville, IL 60540
Wednesday, May 10th, 7pm, Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way, Lake Forest Park, WA
Thursday, May 11th, 6:30pm, Duttons Brentwood, 11975 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Friday, May 12th, 11am, Books Inc., 1344 Park St., Alameda, CA 94501
Friday, May 12th, 4pm, Keplers, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Sunday, May 13th, 2pm, Warwicks, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla, CA 92037
You know, I liked Berkeley Breathed’s comic strip, Bloom County. It was always funny. But it gives me a bad rash when they credit Breathed with creating two other comic strips, Outland, and Opus. Are’nt the last two strips, Outland and Opus the same thing as Bloom County?
Maybe they should credit Berkeley with quiting the Bloom County strip twice and most likely a third time as soon as his kids books make it big.
Outland and Opus are, at best, ripoffs of Bloom County. Just because they happen to be by the same author is irrelevant. Opus, especially, is like somebody’s doing a bad Mad TV parody of what Bloom County would be like years later.
What I especially don’t like is the way newspaper editors have fawned over Opus the strip and given it prime real estate in their Sunday sectionss. I’d much rather they print two strips by dead cartoonists in its place.
Ouch! Can’t believe the disrespect for Mr. Breathed. I, for one (poosibly the only one based on these responses), continue to enjoy whatever he wants to name his strip du jour. It’s still funny, relevant and as outlandish as always. While his titles, settings, and rolodex of characters have changed, his voice and outlook on our world haven’t been altered. Kudos to Mr. Breathed for continuing on his own path, and taking at least myself with him.
I’m agreeing with Mark. Opus and Outland, when compared to Bloom County, might not quite exceed expectations, but when I compare it to a good number of other features in the Sunday funnies – it far exceeds expectations.
I’m excited because the May 4th signing in Acton is 20mns away from me! I wasn’t a Bloom County fan in the 80’s, but came to really like the strip a few years back. I’ve always felt that Breathed could have really moved webcomics forward if he had brought back Opus to the web only. He could have charged a subscription for it and really helped webcomics becoming a financial avenue(like PvP, The Norm, Penny Arcade). I wish he had, as I share the view that Opus isn’t on par with it’s predecessors…but I’ll also concede that I’m just as happy to have Berke Breathed making comics again! I’m excited just to meet such a great cartoonist…even if it’s a kid book I’ll have to buy to meet him LOL