OPUS : 25 Years of His Sunday Best

Rating:
Summary: The Glory of Opus!
Review: I have just received this book after a long pre-order time and I laughed out loud the moment I opened it. Not at any particular strip as I've yet to fully read and enjoy them, which I know I will, but at the inside cover art. You'll know what I mean when you get your copy in your hands.
I'd read Bloom County faithfully for many years and Outland for it's entire existance. Collected the compendiums and some merchandise.
Feeling a kinship with the "little penguin that could" makes me even more pleased to have all of his best adventures in one place. The book is very aesthetically pleasing, printed on slick paper and with beautiful attention to detail, colors and clarity.
If you were ever a fan of of Bloom County, Outland or just Opus himself, do yourself a favor and pick this book up. I guarantee a smile and some very sweet memories. If you are new to Opus and Co., I'm sure you'll be hooked after you read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: Initially I was excited when a compilation of Opus cartoons was released. I was THE Bloom County fan for years; purchased every book published, and, like many fans, was disappointed when he "retired" the strip.

One of my biggest gripes about this mess is that Breathed, or the publisher, couldn't seem to find enough classic Opus/Bloom County material to fill its pages. And there's a ton of it out there! Why bother including "Outland" at all? Frankly, it wasn't that good; most newspapers that carried Bloom County dropped Breathed like a hot potato when Outland was first pitched.

The charm and innocence that epitomized Opus was the way he was drawn in the early Bloom County days. It looks to me like all of the strips in the new book, or at least the Bloom County ones, were redrawn, and not particularly well.

In the introduction to the Outland portion of his book, Breathed states, " I was the first to quit a perfectly good and embarrassingly profitable comic strip." You're right Berke, and my guess is, you're trying to make up the money you've lost with this dirge.

Rating:
Summary: About As Good As It Gets...For Me, Anyway!
Review: Thoughts of a 'Bloom County' filled childhood are welling up inside me right now, and just knowing that a NEW Berke Breathed book is on the shelves gives me the shakes...I love it!! "Penguin Dreams..." was the first comic-strip collection that changed my life, and by introducing me to the power of Opus and the gang, showed me the dimensions the format could have. Alongside such masterworks as Peanuts, Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, 'Bloom County' sits comfortably with the best of the best.

For anyone reading this who might be unaware, Berkely has resurrected Opus in the gorgeous Sunday-only 'Opus'...but it's only available in print! It's certainly the most beautiful comic strip I've ever seen, in terms of aesthetic value, and if nothing else, a breath of fresh air to see Breathed once again have a voice in this age of higgedly-piggedly.

Keep at it! (and watch 'Second Lions' for more great B.B. artwork!)