Editorial Review

This first big "bible" of Read more

Reviews (16)

Horrible, cheap black & white printing of a great book
Despite what the item description says, there are no color pages in this cheap reprinting.The pages are printed only in black and white, and are printed in very poor quality.What a shame, because the book itself is fantastic.I have an original printing of this book and love it.I ordered this reprint as a gift and had to return it because of the poor print quality.I wish I had noticed the other reviews about this problem (listed below) before I wasted my time and money!

great book, horrible edition.
The product information states that this book has 80 full-color pages.Indeed, the original printing of this book from years ago (which I own), does have color pages.But this version does not.Instead, this version has what look to be cheap black and white photocopies of the color pages, rendering the text on these pages almost unreadable.For $18.99, this is a sad ripoff.I planned to give it to a friend as a birthday present, but I'm sending it back instead.I'd rather give someone a late present than something of such embarrassing low quality.

Babble on and on and on
Bloom County is on my short list of all-time favorite comics. The original form, before short-lived "Outland" or the current "Opus", is long gone, though. Picking up this book was a wonderful piece of nostlagia.
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Subjects:  1. Comics & Cartoons    2. General    3. Humor    4. Wit and humor    5. Art techniques & materials    6. Drawing & drawings    7. Humor / Cartoons   

Reviews (10)

Excellent for Bloom County readers
I bought this book at a ued bookstore in fairly bad shape, but it was excellent.
Berke Breathed is great
Bloom County was one of the greatest comic strips ever to have existed, and possibly the best comic in the whole decade of the 1980's and that was when Calvin and Hobbs (by Bill Watterson) and The Far Side (by Gary Larson) were in their prime. A little dated, but still funny
Close your eyes and go back in time 20 years. Ronald Reagan is in the White House and getting ready to run for a second term against Walter Mondale. Disco, Heavy Metal, and Michael Jackson compete for space on a new network, MTV. In the funnies, Bloom County provides a humorous take on American society. This collection from 1983 and 1984 can take you back to those golden days when the Soviet threat made terrorists seem insignificant. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Cartoons & Comics    2. General    3. Humor    4. American English    5. Cartoons & comic strips   

Reviews (8)

Told You!
Ok for you Get Fuzzy fans, this is what I am talking about. On the cover of this collection we see Berkly Breathed using the Bruce Springsteen album collection set(from Christmas 1987) for inspiration. Take a look at the cover, Are You Bucksperienced just plagerizes this idea.

Bloom County4.... or 5.... depends on....
Okay - Bloom County Babylon, the 4th Bloom County book was really a compilation of material contained in the first 3 books. So.... depending on if you want a chronological collection of the BC Strips, or to complete ALL of the BC Books, this is either the 4th or 5th volume of Bloom County, and Berkeley Breathed is still in high-gear producing the funniest 'toon strip I've ever read.And by "funny" I mean laugh-out-loud, roll on the floor, tears streaming down my face, people coming into the room to see "WHAT are you laughing at?!!!?" kind of laugh. B.B. just kept getting better
Bloom County was without a doubt the most insightful, funny, and beloved comic strips of all time. It's rabid following has never gotten over the disappearance of Opus and the Gang from the funny papers. That's because nothing has ever been able to take it's place. Could you imagine Opus, Bill, Steve, and Milo tackling today's issues? What besides G.W. Bush and Saddam would be in the anxiety closet. Alas, we can only remember the good times.Read more

Subjects:  1. Comics & Cartoons    2. Comics & Graphic Novels    3. Form - Cartoons & Comics    4. Humor    5. Wit and humor    6. American English    7. Art techniques & materials    8. Drawing & drawings   

Reviews (6)

Very possibly the best of the Bloom County collections.
This collection does a marvellous job of walking the fine line between the hilariously funny and the absurdly silly. Some of the other Bloom County collections fall off of that line and land in the absurdly silly zone; for the most part, this one avoids that flaw. A must for any fan of the collection, and a good place to start for someone who isn't familiar with it. Of course, anyone too young to remember the '80s may miss some of the then-topical political references (a murderous alien that looks like a cute, telegenic puppy testifying before congress a la Ollie North, for instance) but for the most part, even if the reference is unfamiliar to the reader, the humor is only reduced, not lost entirely.

Nostalgia so soon?
Bloom County was and still is one of my favorite strip comics ever. It was often topical, referring to presidents, sitcoms, and other Americana of its day. Such subjects, when they appear, give this comic a dated look, almost like watching the Marx Brothers.
Humor and political insight unparalleled
Berke Breathed was one of those rare political cartoonists whose political insight was the same weight as his humor. "Bloom County" was his greatest vehicle. Some other cartoons have great political scope but just don't make you laugh out loud--"Doonesbury" and "Mallard Fillmore", particularly. While others fake political insight, but are very humorous. "Tales Too Ticklish to Tell: Bloom County" is as good as any of the other Bloom County anthologies, but it's the inclusion of a Bloom Picayune that makes this an extra treat, and serves as a reminder that this strip was special for its time. Boy, do I miss it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Cartoons & Comics    2. General    3. Humor    4. Wit and humor    5. American English    6. Cartoons & comic strips   

Reviews (6)

Bloom County Volume Two
These strips aren't just funny.They're laugh out loud, roll on the floor, tears streaming down my face, people coming into the room to see "WHAT-are-you-laughing-at?!" funny. So glad this is still in print
I had no idea this book was still around. I had picked it up in the mid-eighties, lent it to a friend in the early nineties, and it was gone. I never thought I would see it again. What a surprise to find it again. Immediately, I picked it up and started where I had left off years ago... roaring with laughter. This collection of Bloom County golden oldies is hysterical and clever. The years have been very kind to this strip because it is as fresh as it was during the Reagain administration. Pick up "Toons for Our Times: A Bloom County Book of Heavy Metal Rump 'N Roll" and laugh your rump off!

If ever there was a reluctant hero...
The first time I ever picked up a Bloom County book at a bookstore in the mall...and this was the book.After a few pages, I found myself having to close the book in order to gather my wits about me, wipe the tears off myface, then attempt to forge farther ahead...usually having to immediatelyclose the book because glancing at the same page instantly initiatedanother wave of helpless laughter.Had this only happened once, I couldhave dealt with it as the adult that I believed myself to be...but, sinceit happened every few pages, I realized myself to be captivated in thetormented world of Opus and friends.Unfortunately (and much to mysurprise, I didn't really care), this resulted in more than a few patronsof the bookstore in question to raise their eyebrows in my direction.Iwould like to thank the kind person that finally joined me (they picked upa copy of their own) and together we chortled together, pausing at times toclose our books at our respective pages to momentarily regain ourcomposure. Whimsical, thoughtful, introspective, silly, hilarious,thought-provoking...If you never read another comic, even if you thinkyou're too old for silliness, you owe it to yourself and Berke to readthis...and yes, I bought the book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comics & Cartoons    2. Comics & Graphic Novels    3. Form - Cartoons & Comics    4. Humor    5. Cartoons & comic strips   

Reviews (6)

Bloom County: The Beginning
Here you will find the beginning of one of the most inspired comic strips ever put to paper.No other strip made me laugh as hard, or as often, as "Bloom County".In fact, pretty much nothing else in the whole wide world made me laugh as hard as this divine creation of Mr. Berke Breathed.Here we are introduced to the Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Cutter John and by far the best-known comic Penguin ever - Opus. The first collection of a great comic strip - great fun
This is the first collection of Bloom County cartoons and a great place to start enjoying the fun. Bloom County is a fictional place populated with as eclectic a group of characters as you will find anywhere. Eccentric humans, a talking penguin, and Bill the Cat take on the societal follies of the early eighties with a humorous point of view. Berke Breathed's Glory Days!
Bloom County had something special, more than just the jokes. As you read the strip, you cannot help but get involved with the characters.Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Cartoons & Comics    2. General    3. Humor    4. Art techniques & materials    5. Drawing & drawings   

Reviews (2)

the best of Bloom
This is vintage berkeley.I enjoyed a lot of his stuff from that time period.Many political references that just made fun of the people of the time.Doesn't get more ironic or insulting than that in just a few frames.I liked the read and the way the characters evolved.Yea, Opus!Good stuff.

Classic BC/O Primer
I'd already owned all of the Bloom County and Outland books, this being my last purchase.I had seen it in the bookstore when it was published, but figured I already had the strips contained therein - why spend the extramoney?I happened one day to be flipping through the book when I read theintroduction, specifically the first page of said intro.There, in colorbolder than life, was a painting from, Breathed claims, his early years,entitled Geshundeit.It was precisely this abrupt style of humor thatbrought me into the BC fold.The golden years of Bloom County, withBreathed's pithy observations of the late 80's, kept me there.If you wantto understand the following Breathed has, this volume is the perfect placeto start. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Cartoons & Comics    2. General    3. Humor    4. Cartoons & comic strips    5. c 1980 to c 1990   

Reviews (2)

The end of an era...
Bloom County's departure from newspapers on 6 August 1989 was met with only moderate sadness, as within a very few weeks most of those same papers would begin carrying Breathed's follow-up strip, the Sunday-only Outland.But it was still a very sad event for those of us who had followed the strip from its earliest days as a "rural Doonesbury" to its emergence as a surrealistic, fourth-wall breaking, somewhat sentimental, and delightfully askew look at the follies of the world we all share, as seen through the eyes of Opus the penguin, arguably the Pogo of the late twentieth century, and his friends at the Bloom Boarding House. Brought a tear to me eye!
I remember reading this book early 90's and it literally made my stomach ache with sadness to read the final 10-15 pages.Opus had always been the tear-jerker character of the series and the way Breathed plays him in the final books of Bloom County is really sad for true fans.The nice part is what he does to Steve.All I can say is "HE's BAAAACK".(He's bad!)Great book for true Bloom County fans.Read more

Subjects:  1. Humor