I became addicted to Bloom County back in the 80's. What started out as a Doonesbury pastiche turned into one of the best little strips produced. Great characters, fun story lines and relevant issues were daily fare. Who didn't love Opus and Bill?
I followed the adventures of Opus and friends after the original strip ended and turned into a Sunday only strip, Outland. I was saddened when it folded too. Apparently the creator, Berkley Breathed, felt a need to do other things and that Opus had his run. He tried again a decade or so later with the same results- Opus and the Bloom County gang retired for good and Opus left in such a way that we were unsure if perhaps he had been put to sleep.
It was hinted that the strip would end soon, and Opus had a visit from Elvis, who told him he should pick a place that he wanted to be forever, because there will be no changing after he 'dies'- or in this case, retires from the media permanently. Considering Elvis is stuck on a toilet forever, this is good advice! Opus tries to go to a tropical island and winds up in an animal shelter instead, waiting for his end. Instead, he was able to retire to one of his favorite little books, Goodnight Moon.
Mr. Breathed had grown attached to Opus to the point where he did not want to use him as a mouthpiece for what he considered to be a nasty turn in American politics.
In an e-mail to the Los Angeles Times, the 51-year-old Breathed wrote, “30 years of cartooning to end. I’m destroying the village to save it. Opus would inevitably become a ranting mouthpiece in the coming wicked days, and I respect the other parts of him too much to see that happen. The Michael Moore part of me would kill the part of him that was important to his fans.”
I respected that, as part of the Opus charm was his naive and hopeful spirit. In that he reminds me of Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character. He gets kicked around, lives through horrible experiences and still has faith in his fellow man to do the right thing. He never sees humanity as bad or good, but he meets a lot of bad and good people. And the bad people could be better if they tried, so they aren't condemned, just tolerated until they learn to find compassion and humanity. I like that! And from a cartoon character, no less!
