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The Opus Interview
Brad1138 writes "MSNBC has an interview with Opus re: his return to Sunday comics. Some interesting/funny bits of info. It was also nice to see how many people loved Bloom County/Opus, they are running a poll and currently 94% 'loved Bloom County & will read "OPUS"'." Here's another article talking about Opus's Return to the Sunday Funnies.
But come on? Pole?
-Peter
Anyone seen the strip online?
Or was that "Opus" almost nothing like the one we know? And if the author can't write the character correctly, and put in things about Burke writing dialogue, why do the mock interview at all?
Bush: He's Liberal in all the wrong ways.
Some of the old cast for sure, but I hear the negotiations with Bill are not going well. He got a raw deal the first time around: he was paid per word, and all he usually said was "Ack!" and "Thppt!" And Berke's trying to bring in some of the mutts from his new book, "Flawed Dogs", but apparently they're in a different union than the meadow animals. I just don't get all of this legal mumbo-gumbo-rambo.
Oh, man! Bill the cat has got to make a return. Aaaaack Thppppt!
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
A Calvin & Hobbes announcement similar to this would have made me much more happier.
Wow, I must be a total weenie- I got my copy of the post today and was nearly moved to tears by the return of Opus.
I can't wait to see what's going to happen to him...
Binkly pointed out that Opus looked more like a puffin, but Opus in turn pointed out that Binkly looked more like a carrot...
"Opus: Who says there's money in comics?"
Answer: Scott Adams does, because you get to do nothing but slack off and make fun of people all day, but you are paid for it. As opposed to most people who slack off and make fun of people all day, but are paid for some other duty, like manager or peon or programmer.
I miss Bill the Cat, who was my fav toon when I was a kid.
Pthbbbt.
I regularly report MSN spam to the Hotmail admins.
I can't stop thinking about the one when BtC had about a hundred smokes in his mouth and he's going Aaaaack Thppppt!
Geez that was funny stuff.
Because we are both attorneys and we both get tons of chicks.
Breathed was also interviewed in Salon last week, and in The Onion's A.V. Club in 2001. He gets to swear in these interviews, too.
Perhaps Outland didn't last in your local paper, but the strip itself was in business from the end of Bloom County (1989? Maybe 1991...) until 1995. There were three Outland collections, although the third book did not have enough cartoons for a full book and included some of Burke's "outtakes" from the strip.
figure about 100 strips per book, (and 50 for the last one) and only 52 strips per year, you get about 5 years worth of strips.
Opus will probably last as long as Burke wants it to... given the current state of politics that needs mocking, I think Opus will be around for awhile.
It's only alluded to in these articles, but Berkeley Breathed demanded that all the newspapers who carry the new strip give him a half-page slot. So we should be expecting great things, right?
I liked both of his other Bloom County series, but today's strip unfortunately underwhelms me completely.
Get off my launchpad!
The Austin American-Statesman also has a story about the return, recounting the incident with the Daily Texan which helped lead to the start of Bloom County.
...and this one is with the man himself... ;-)
Who are you? The new #2 Who is #1? You are #617565. I am not a number, I am a free man! Muhahaha.
Interesting that Breathed said he'd taken Bloom County about as far as it would go. I suppose if one looks at the comic as a linear narrative, that could be true--but it was also a running commentary on the politics of the time. Politics are always changing, new names and faces, new events, new history to be ridiculed. I see it as a tad unfortunate that he didn't consider keeping up a continuous semi-political cartoon; that part of Bloom County, having direct relevance to my world, was always my favorite. Perhaps he didn't want himself or the comic to be typecast.
;)
Still, a pity. I can only imagine what he could do with our current administration.
The coolest voice ever.
Al Qaeda has ninjas!
I for one would like to offer a 34 armpit fart salute. Man the dandelions!
I regularly report MSN spam to the Hotmail admins.
I was like "those bastards, they finally cancelled it!" Then I found it on another page, read Opus and was slightly confused and amused.
This message is encrypted with Quad ROT-13 to protect the author's copyright under the DMCA.
The Opus and Bill (by Delrina at the time) screensaver brough me hours of joy while they shot the little Toasters flying by with a shotgun.... The toasters had wings until Berkley complained/sued, and the toaster wings were changed in to helicopter toasters. :)
Berkeley Systems v. Delrina Corp., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (1993). Represented Delrina in copyright and trademark infringement action arising from its "Opus 'n Bill" computer screensaver and parody of Berkeley's "flying toasters."
It's not my favorite strip. It's the Simpsons of the comics I suppose. Crude & rude, and sometimes funny.
I guess I much prefer the fun and gentleness of strips like Mutts
I'm glad you're back, Opus. I've missed you and the whole woodland critter crowd.
Too bad the Hawaiian babe thing didn't work out.
Chip H.
Naw, Tux should fill in for a week some time when Opus take a vacation.
Bloom County made the '80s tolerable for me, and I sure could have used it for the last three years of Dubya. Welcome back, Berke! Let's keep it up for a while this time, m'kay? Your legions of fans have waited a loooong time for this.
+++++++
"Look, dear, it's a crazy hairy scary man!"
Several months back I spoke with a friend, Suzie, that works in the comics section at the Washington Post. She ran into Breathed at a conference. Since they were both new parents, they talked about their kids. Suzie suggested that a new strip might be a great way to express his views about this new phase in his life. He agreed. Thus Opus
... was the best character, and the hacking storylines the only ones I still find funny.
Banana Junior 6000 4ever!!!
Apple Open Firmware Home Page
http://bananajr6000.apple.com/
The latest Slashdot meme.
Shouldn't that be "America's Second-favorite Penguin?"
that I've no clue what slashdot is talking about. Usually I can decipher it somewhat, but this has me stumped.
Who is 'Opus'? The article goes on like I should have a clue who/what he/she is, but I've never heard of him/her.
I just had a horrible vision of Illiad filling in. His sunday strips are so very uninspired.
I can't help but notice how appropriate your sig is for this thread ;)
Straight from the author. [berkeleybreathed.com]
-"It seems like you're trying to exploit a security hole. Would you like help?"
It's in my newspaper yesterday, I liked it. If you're really depserate you could buy a subscription to an out-of-town newspaper.
Or, you could maybe, you know, right a letter (yes on a dead tree) to your paper and politely suggest they carry it.
If you're feeling adventurous hand-deliver yor letter and tell them you'll never buy their lousy tabloid again if they don't include "Opus". Proceed to break down into tears right in front of them. You never know.
P.S. I'm not just being exceptionally cruel, I don't own a scanner.
Thanks!
Random Musings at Rum Smuggler
The truth is, the Monkees didn't play their own instruments for the most part.
I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
Gates and Ballmer are gonna have conoraries once they read about this...
:)
I always saw Opus and Tux as cousins...
I liked outland and it was not as popular but it was very popular when he decided to pack his bags. He wanted to make it something different but ended up making another incarnation of Bloom County to an extent. He didn't really like that since he was going for something different. This time he isn't going for something different but a variation it seems on Bloom County so he might be here to stay for a while
hey, that's not offtopic! it's a quote from Bloom County for crapsake. sheesh.
For those of your that don't have time to read the article, it's an essay on why it won't be funny.
I liked Bloom County the first few years, it go really bad and then to make it official they called it Outland, and every silly over the top idea was cast as precious, every joke an inside joke.
I think Breathed is a great talent, but maybe too full of himself? Or maybe I just don't get him.
On the bright side, newspaper comics are in such a sorry state he can't possibly hurt.
-pyrrho
...his co-runner was a dead cat called Bill...
Bill wasn't dead! (just brain dead)
LIBRARY
The above post is very much on topic
my newspaper publishes the sunday funnies on saturday. I have to say I have never been much of a fan of breathed's sunday strips. To me he was at his best when he was doing serial stuff during the week in black and white. thats why Im disappointed that Opus is pretty much the same thing as Outland. In fact, if you go by the first comic, it seems worse, but I'll reserve judgement. When Bloom County left I eventually took solace in what was then called Robotman. (Its now called Monty, and the innocent character of Robotman, who was manufactured to sell toys originally, was gone).. Well, I'm starting to ramble, but what endeared those early cartoons was that Opus seemed to be the innocent naive straight man, just as robotman was. we identify with him, but we laugh at bill the cat, who is the cosmo kramer to opus's george costanza, if i can use a seinfeld comparison. Lately I've been reading "Arlo and Janis" which most people probably don't read or get but I find it's defeatist perspective humorous. Foxtrot is always decent as well. theres a few others like for better or for worse that i wouldnt admit to reading normally but hey im essentially anonymous. so what the heck, theres always a joke in that one. in fact, for better or for worse is one of the few comics that follows the original bloom county daily style (except in a serious tone).. Furthermore, I seem to be on a rant here, I didn't care for the way Berke Breathed's art has evolved. It's as if he's trying to work out a saturday morning cartoon deal with fox. oh well, im all ranted out, but thats where I stand on the subject.
Personally, I think that Opus is coming back to remind us of penguins before Tux. Opus thought that he was the "be all" and "End all" of penguin mascots. That all changed right after Opus Retired.
At that point in time, hardly anyone knew who Tux was, let alone that he was a Penguin. Fast forward 7 years or so, and all of a sudden (HA) Tux is the penguin mascot of the day.
Opus realizing that Tux has overtaken him has "America's favorite penguin", and now seeks to be reinstated.
Which leads us to the grudge match of the century. Geeks everywhere are going to have to pick their favorite penguin in the next Slashpoll.
Opus vs Tux in "Mascot wars"
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
From my local rag. But I agree with later comments -- It won't be right until Bill coughs up a hairball. Bill the Cat, of course, is the most creative comic character ever. Most animals are portrayed as heroic or clever (Garfield, Heathcliff, Grimm). Bill is the dud of a pet many of us have had at some point -- a lobotomized eunich who has embarassing things in his past, and messes the carpet.
Funny, but untrue.
When a devotee of show X has a plot continue into show Y, there's a good chance that said viewer will venture into the community of Y to follow the plot. I did that once with a Practice episode and decided I kind of liked Boston Public as well.
Essentially, it's a way of bridging two "universes" -- often in a way that could have been handled by having similar characters invented on the fly, but in a way that can lead one into the other universe temporarily.
My favorite example of this sort of crossover, actually, is the way the famous author Isaac Asimov combined his Robots series with his Foundation series. There, I imagine most fans of one were already fans of the other, so it wasn't a "come on" like on TV series, but more of a real sense of closure in the last years of his writing.
Mencken had it right. So glad that's old news.
Since this hasn't been moderated as trollbait... yet... I'll respond :)
/. is not "news for nerds" in the classical sense but is still of general interest. If you don't like it, don't follow the link.
---
Oh, come on! I'll bet most nerds who are old enough to have been readers of Bloom County back then were also fans. I, for one, really appreciated the reminder to read the comics today.
Much of what appears on
Mencken had it right. So glad that's old news.
Wasnt mentioned by anybody, but I remember this being a recycled idea.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
Penguin Lust!
My gallery: www.estiasis.com/modules.php?name=gallery2&g2_ite
Now I don't feel so odd explaining my Bill tattoo to anyone, now I can say RTFSP! Happy, happy day!
"Never pet a burning dog."
Mod Points: Helping you keep your opinion to yourself.
Went to get some items at the store today and by miracle remembered this was coming out so I bought the first paper I've bought in about 8 years.
A little pricy for one comic, but I liked it!
"Hacker's as a rule do not handle obsolesence well."
"These laws they're passing won't even compile anymore, let alone execute." - anon
--I know for a fact that Mike Nesmith *did* play from the start, Davey Jones probably got along with the tambourine, and IIRC the other two did learn by the time they went into concert-mode.
--What can I say, I saw the documentarty. In fact, Mike got so uptight about the band having control over their music, he got violent about it and punched the wall right next to some exec's head IRL. Man, I loved that show.
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== WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
I, for one, believe that Opus actually gave the interview. In fact, I met him myself in a dandelion field many years ago while I was searching for some mushrooms. He is quite articulate.
You obviously didn't see him after a few dandelion snorts.