Opus the Penguin Back In the Funny Business (Breathed to do new strip)

Washington Post ^ | 9.9.03 | Reilly Capps

[mhking]

After eight years away from newspapers, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is creating a new comic strip called "Opus," starring his beloved penguin of the same name.

The Washington Post Writers Group, which will syndicate the strip, is expected to officially announce Breathed's return this Sunday. The reclusive Breathed, who rarely gives interviews, could not be reached yesterday for comment.

The new strip will appear on Sundays in The Washington Post starting Nov. 23.

Breathed drew the wildly popular "Bloom County" and "Outland" comic strips, which introduced the world to the naive Opus and his hairball-spitting sidekick, Bill the Cat. "Opus" will run on Sundays only and will fill half a page in the comics section.

[Skooz]

Now if we could just get Bill Watterson to start drawing Calvin and Hobbes again. . .

We can only hope.

[nutmeg]

bump

[bootless]

ACK!

This is great news!

(Paging Bill Watterson)

[Chancellor Palpatine]

You can keep Opus, but Watterson really needs to crank out Calvin again, and Larson owes us some more Far Side.

At the same time, I keep wondering why my newspaper has the perpetually lame:

Marmaduke
Dennis the menace (Ketcham destroyed that boy)
Family Circus (Booooooring)
Ziggy (never funny)
Apartment 3G (ridiculous plot)
Funky Winkerbean (what happens when you let a clueless ideologue Dem write a comic)
Peanuts (it needed retirement after Schultz' death)
Garfield (gotten old)
Beetle Bailey (c'mon, no military base ever ran like that)

[Larry Lucido]

I really hope he brings back right-wing, hard-drinking, womanizing attorney Steve Dallas. That man was my personal hero. ;-)

Personal hero, hell. He was my role model!

[Hildy]

[Skooz]

I can't seem to find my favorite Bloom County strip ("You WILL vote for Senator Glump"), but this is one I always liked:

[Hildy]

OOps, it's not working!!!

[TexasNative2000]

Steve Dallas BUMP!!! Great news!

[lawgirl]

Trophy wife? Grampa Dave, you are a doll.

I just want the Far Side back again. You could scrap about all the funnies except that one IMO.

[Hildy]

[dfwgator]

Personal hero, hell. He was my role model!

And the guy was a real romantic who wrote great poetry:

In my dreams
You're all I sees
Boobs, butt and knees
Be my main squeeze

[Larry Lucido]

Actually, I thought Tom Toles' "Randolph Itch 2am" captured some of the wit of Gary Larson. Too bad it was pulled after about a 2 year run.

[Spruce]

[opus86]

Yep - that's what it was...And on the other side was something like "Because I'm a Boinger".

[bc2]

[lawgirl]

OMG ROFLMAO-- my favorite one is the kid at the "school for gifted children" pushing on the door with all his might and the door says PULL in huge letters. As a "gifted" kid in school I totally identified.

Totally hilarious.

[bc2]

check out the above comic if you think Breathed is a lefty...

[opus86]

The liberals hunting was classic! The funny thing was how Breathed drew the stereotypical liberal - right down to the geeky spectacles.

My favorite was an early one, where Senator Bedfellow was visiting an old farmer out in the fields, and he commented admiringly about the farmer's crop of corn. The farmer replied, "Taint corn - it's dope...Here, take a few pounds home to the wife!"

I still crack up thinking about that.

[UlmoLordOfWaters]

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's hysterical!