Bloom County (May 14, 1981) By Berkeley (Berke) Breathed
Artist: Berkeley Breathed (All)
1,283 Views - 3 Comments - 1 Like
Additional Images:
detail
May 12, 1981
May 14, 1981
June 8, 1981
June 23, 1981
Artwork Details
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DescriptionBloom County (May 14, 1981)By Guy Berkeley (Berke) Breathed (1957-) 7 x 18 in., ink on paper The second appearance of Michael Binkley, and the first in a full character reveal. While he was an ink-slinging student at UT-Austin, Breathed got noticed by The Washington Post, and he was recruited to do a nationally syndicated strip. A 1987 Pulitzer winner, he is known for Bloom County, Outland, and Opus. Bloom County premiered on December 8, 1980 and ran through August 1989. It was revived in 2015. Steve Dallas and Michael Binkley were both introduced in May 1981. Binkley is the first recurring child character, after Milo Bloom, to appear in the strip. As seen here, Binkley (who first appeared May 12 and gets his first name on May 18) originally appeared as a player on Milo's elementary school football team. The coach is Major Bloom, who uses the team to live out his fantasy of being a great military commander. Binkley is originally depicted as a stereotypical nerd; he is much smaller than the other children and has thick glasses, bad skin, and messy hair. He has about 8 total appearances in May, and then a week later (June 8, 1981), the more familiar poofy-haired version of the character appears for the first time. We presume these two Binkley’s are the same character, although a kid who looks like the one depicted here shows up once, on June 23. See the additional images and judge for yourself. May 12: first appearance May 14: second appearance (this strip) June 8: the more familiar version June 23: a kid that looks like the early May version appears Dedicated ‘All Best” by Breathed to “John Levine.” Social/Sharing |
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Todd Maston 
Member Since 2011
Posted on 11/2/2019
Nice to meet the man that beat me on that EBay bid! ;-) Well done and well deserved. You've got a great collection!
Brian Coppola
Member Since 2009
Posted on 11/2/2019
Todd Maston wrote:
Nice to meet the man that beat me on that EBay bid! ;-) Well done and well deserved. You've got a great collection!
Hi Todd. Thanks. And sorry about that. I was originally interested in how early it was in the run, and then I dug into the history of the Binkley character and that strip took on an added appeal. If it gives you any cold comfort, it was not a "near" miss. I had $780 on the hidden bid.
I like your story about being frustrated as a kid, seeing this art. I saw ads for this stuff in "The Antique Trader" during high school (mid-70s), and it was not until my first job out of grad school, in '82, when I started buying.
Todd Maston
Member Since 2011
Posted on 11/2/2019
Brian Coppola wrote:
Hi Todd. Thanks. And sorry about that. I was originally interested in how early it was in the run, and then I dug into the history of the Binkley character and that strip took on an added appeal. If it gives you any cold comfort, it was not a "near" miss. I had $780 on the hidden bid.
I like your story about being frustrated as a kid, seeing this art. I saw ads for this stuff in "The Antique Trader" during high school (mid-70s), and it was not until my first job out of grad school, in '82, when I started buying.
Win some, lose some. It's probably one of the more thrilling aspects of the hobby! I went for it for the exact same reason as you. I think it is fascinating to see how an artist's style evolves over time, especially among the comic strip artists. Again, glad it went to an equally big fan, and even more happy it's displayed on this site so we can all enjoy.
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