So lovely to see my friends from Bloom County again! And this is much easier than trying to read on Facebook. ( )

Still beautiful after all these years. ( )

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bloom County was the Doonesbury of my generation. It was printed in my college newspaper and was the first comic I read every day in the student union between classes. I had a Bill the Cat t-shirt.

I was a little scared about this book. What if it was like those “Beatles” songs that were remixed and released long after John was dead. The ones that sucked. The ones that were the musical equivalent of trying to run a Keurig cup for the 5th time and getting something that was a diluted bland version of the original.

Well this isn’t like that at all. Our beloved characters pull their Rip Van Winkle act and it works. Filled with both social and political commentary, these strips retain the same edge yet gentle nature that I remember and loved. Breathed’s political lambasting is quite even handed, blasting both Trump and Hilliary in equal measure, as good satire should, since both are equally deserving.

All doubts are banished. Bloom County is back and still great. Let’s just not wait another 2 decades for the next installment, please?
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I used to always read the Bloom County strip in the newspaper. Newspaper? A tortilla made from water and grated trees. Overseas I used to get Bloom County in "The Stars and Stripes." That newspaper arrived in batches allowing for binge reading. The days of the cold war brought the basselope and Opus' SDI solution. Oliver Wendel Jones accidently put his father's Jaguar in orbit around Pluto. While in boot camp a friend sent me the Sunday edition Bloom County were the gang sing "Let's Get Liberal" in tune Olvia Newton John's "Physical." Bloom County followed me around my time in the Marines and was always a welcome break from the seriousness of the military. I mean, who could forget "Deathtöngue"?

It seems Opus has been taking a nap... for the last 25 years. He finds himself in 2016 with all the new technology and no Bush and Clinton (he thinks). The good news is that all his friends are back and they haven't aged. It's a struggle to adapt and there are mistakes. Opus posts a private Steve Dallas video on Twitter thinking Twitter is a chatroom for birds. Berkely Breathed brought back Bloom County last year on Facebook and this is the first collection of the story so far.

There have been some changes in Bloom County over the years. The Starship Enterpoop has been replaced with the Aluminum Falcon and characters from that other space saga. Binkley anxiety closet is armed with a new orange haired anxiety. Opus and Bill run for president, mainly for matching campaign funds. Opus' platform is simple: two spaces after a period. Surprisingly a popular platform until the font lobby starts offering money.

This book was the first I am hearing of Bloom County's return. I guess being a bit like Opus, I prefer Twitter to Facebook. Regardless, it is great to have the guys back. I did read this book in one day. It was hard to put down after a twenty-five-year break. ( )

I am old enough to have read Bloom County when it was still being printed in the paper. When it showed up on Facebook one day as a reboot I was thrilled. What I didn’t like was I didn’t always see it thanks to how Facebook works. So needless to say I was glad when the printed version of the strips was announced. The introduction was great and it explained a bit about why the stopped doing the comic. But what I liked about this collection wasn’t just the intro but that he put fans comments about the series in the book and the love that people have for the series really shines through.

This isn’t a huge collection but it does give people an alternative to scouring the web for all the strips. That we are going into an election and several of the strips are about Opus and Bill’s run I think it was smart to get this out before November.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
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