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Berke Breathed Interview in The Onion

Posted by Hemos on from the talking-to-the-man dept.

Hobart writes "Berke Breathed, author of Bloom County has granted an interview to Tasha Robinson of the The Onion's AV Club. This is the second interview I've seen in six months (previous interview link) after the six years of silence since the end of Outland. He even calls for volunteers to help with his site! ;)"

5 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. He's got his priorities in order. by Rimbo · · Score: 4, Insightful
    From the interview:

    O: Have you decided what you want to be when you grow up?

    BB: Dad. The rest is frosting.


    More important than your career or your pet peeve -- your family.
  2. Ah yes, the fading days of newspaper comics. by nougatmachine · · Score: 5, Insightful
    A great read for people interested in newspaper comics is the tenth anniversery collection of Calvin And Hobbes, which is notable for Bill Watterson's informative essays on how the comics work. To sum up:syndicates only accept things geared towards mass consumption because newspaper comics are by and large regarded as an annoyance by the people creating newspapers, which results in reduced sizes, restrictive sunday formats, and other aggravating issues. Watterson practically had newspaper editors at his throat when he and his syndicate asked about being able to actually design his own sunday comic format. When they were finally convinced into doing this, Calvan and Hobbes created some amazing work.

    Since then, Breathed, Watterson, and Larson have all retired and the newspaper comics aren't very enjoyable for me today. Occasionally Fox Trot will still be amusing, and of course Dilbert is very witty, but you never get a chance to see anything impressive visually. Maybe the internet will pick up the slack? Sluggy Freelance (to pick a random example) has had amazing storylines spanning months, and the artist is free to create whatever kind of strip he wants, without censorship, ridiculous format demands, or any other unnecessary crap. Now, if only being profitable was easier...

    1. Re:Ah yes, the fading days of newspaper comics. by srvivn21 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Sluggy has had amazing story lines, and amazing use of space. Start here (sorry Pete) and check out the next two days. There is no way this would work in a syndicated format.

      Personally, I don't read the comics section of the newspaper any more. Tools like comics.pl just make it unnecessary.

  3. Untimely Insight by Ezubaric · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Berke's belief that he is less relevant today could possibly be justified, but I think that comes from his being so ahead of the times. Outland expressed the kind of self-referential humor that we take for granted after shows about nothing and the Simpsons. The denizens of Bloom County were far ahead of their time, and reading the strips today isn't the same as during the supply-side days of Regan. He helped create the ironic, self-immolating humor that we have today.

    --

    ----------
    I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
  4. No one is serious? by Sheldon_Brown · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... If nothing is serious anymore, then there's nothing to satirize." - Berke Breathed.

    Well, Berke, I must say, I know of someone who still takes himself seriously. His name is Jack Valenti, and he says things like this:

    "If we have to file a thousand lawsuits a day, we'll do it." -JV.

    There you go, if you start cartooning again, you can pick on him. Personally, I need to go pick dinner out of my beard, and build me a wheelchair to go dandeylion stomping in. It's probably just like building a bicycle, you never forget. By the way, Opus is an idiot, right?

    Good luck with everything.

    Sincerely,
    Sheldon.

    --
    "A coward is incapable of causing destruction; it is the prerogative of the brave" - Mahatma Ghandi