From a year as exchange high school student to the USA in 1989/90, I had brought back several “discoveries” of cartoons to Germany. The most outlandish of these, from a German perspective (and maybe not only from a German perspective), certainly was Bloom County.
No other cartoon came even close to Bloom County in its wacky sense of humor. Where else could you find a penguin in roles such as “heavy-metal Tuba player” in a band called “Deathtöngue,” a dead (!) cat’s running mate in the 1984 US presidential elections, or a double of Michael Jackson? Where could you find phrases such as “Pear Pimples for hairy fishnuts” and “Oodles of green noodles make blue poodles jump der schtrudle” or creatures such as the Basselope (a cross between a basset hound and an antelope) and the “Giant Purple Snorklewacker”? Which other cartoon ended (if we are to believe the last strips published in 1989) because a certain billionaire (whose brain had been transplanted into the body of a cat–don’t ask) bought it and fired every character?
Imagine my frustration when, after having discovered Bloom County through one of its collections, I realized that Bloom County had been discontinued just days before I entered the USA. I ended up buying all available collections, from Loose Tails to The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos (featuring smell-o-toons), but still felt cheated somehow.
Imagine my joy when Bloom County‘s author Berke Breathed started publishing new Bloom County strips via his Facebook page in summer 2015 after a hiatus of 26 years! Last fall, the first collection of new strips has been published as Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope.
And something else I had felt cheated about: In March 2015, there had been a Bloom County Humble Bundle, and I had missed it. Again, imagine my joy, when a few days ago I realized, that there is another Bloom County Humble Bundle going on! Until May 9th, you can get a complete digital collection of Bloom County for as little as $15–though you might want to pay a bit more to support Travelling Stories or another charity dear to your heart.
It’s already over.