Bloom County: Difference between revisions

* [[Aborted Arc]]: In the early strips, most plotlines would be abandoned a few strips in, abruptly shifting to another setting. This happened some in later strips, too, i.e., the "Olive Loaf Vigilante" plot simply ceasing in the middle of Opus's trial, though a later comic revealed that he got off on a technicality.

** In the third collection book (1984-86), there's a storyline where Opus is getting ready for a date, which just abruptly ends; even Breathed seems confused by this, and asks anyone who knows the identity of his date to please write in and tell him. Then [http://john.seikdel.net/gocomics.php?date=850417&comic=blm a strip not too long after] showed Opus participating in a wrestling match to impress a woman who is an obvious [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] version of Cyndi Lauper. Breathed's comment for this strip reads "Oh, THAT'S who it was..."

* [[Amoral Attorney]]: Steve Dallas.

* [[Animated Adaptation]]: ''A Wish for Wings That Work'' was made into an animated special. During the ''Opus'' era, plans were made for a movie starring Opus et al. (which is why a line was drawn between his eyes), but it was canceled.

* [[Good Lawyers, Good Clients]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]]. Steve Dallas's clients are generally homicidal maniacs on trial for murder. Steve usually ends up getting them let off, [[Hilarity Ensues|with disastrous results]]. In a memorable instance, a little old lady on trial for killing her husband is put under house arrest--''in Steve's house''. He tries to sell the film rights to [[Disney]].

** Only after the other studios pass because the axe murders didn't involve any nubile, scantily clad young women.

* [[Heavy Metal Umlaut|Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut]]: Deathtöngue.

* [[Hockey Mask and Chainsaw]]: In an old movie shown.

* [[Insistent Terminology]]: In one arc, Opus becomes a garbageman, but insists that he be called a "waste management artisan".

* [[Interspecies Romance]]:

** Opus was engaged to Lola Granola, which was treated rather casually.

*** Heck, Opus almost exclusively pursued human women as girlfriends. The interspecies part pretty much never came up. Instead, women would be put off by Opus's lack of height, large nose, etc. One strip also had a woman putting an ad in the classifieds for a small waterfowl with a large nose which she would like to lavish "kisses and affection" upon. She gives her address to Opus (who was working in the Classified section at the time), leaving him to comment "With God as my witness, I haven't the slightest idea what I should do."

* [[Karmic Twist Ending]]: Spoofed in the arc where Oliver invents a device that turns people black. He uses it on a clueless Steve who, upon finally noticing, assumes it's punishment for occasional racism, delivering an imagined Rod Serling narration (to which Binkley responds "Ooh, sounds like a good episode!") and finally looking in some bushes for Rod.

* [[Last-Name Basis]]: (Michael) Binkley, to everyone else, including ''his own dad''.

* [[Mathematician's Answer]]: In the first election series, Milo grills Limekiller to see if he's Presidential material by asking "How do you stand on nuclear waste?" Limekiller's response is to balance precariously on one foot, which Milo approves.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Oliver seems to be a reference to Oliver Wendell Holmes, but what a nerdy black kid has to do with a former Supreme Court Justice....

* [[Missing Episode]]: For the longest time, Berke declined to reprint a very large number of strips, including most of the first two years, mostly because he found them unfunny and/or outdated. [[Platypus Comix]] [http://www.platypuscomix.net/otherpeople/bcc.html archived] a great deal of the missing strips ages before the first archive book (1980-1982) was released.

* [[Misplaced Wildlife]]: The [[Retcon]] of Opus living on his own made him a rather [[Egregious]] example.

** Not to mention the kids she had with Hodge Podge (see above).

* [[Moral Guardians]]: Hilariously subverted. In one series of strips, Lola Granola's mother (who has never liked Opus) sics the local priest on him. However, the priest is a very nice guy, and genuinely enjoys the music put out by Opus' death metal band<ref>Reacting to a song with the lyrics "Let's guillotine grandma/and put grandpa in the soup" with "Something to slip into the hymns next Sunday!", and giving Opus lyrics advice: "'Clearsil messiah from my shelf' doesn't quite rhyme with 'Zapping zits from here to Hell.'" "Gotcha."</ref>. You better believe Mrs. Granola wasn't happy with him.

* [[Shoot the Television]]: One strip featured a man shooting his TV.

{{quote| ''"Vanna White! Got her in mid-spin!"''}}

* [[Sliding Scale of Fourth Wall Hardness]]: Perhaps one of the only comics to slide all the way down the scale (from solid [[Fourth Wall]] to [[No Fourth Wall]]).

** It was first broken on August 9, 1981, when Major announced that he and Milo were going on strike. In the next-to-last panel, a hand reaches down and redraws them, putting them both in [[Wholesome Crossdresser|dresses]], to which Milo asks, "You ''had'' to provoke him, didn't you?"

*** The "chap on the dock" in question is pointedly drawn to resemble [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Mr. Thornhump]].

** Perhaps Berke's riskiest Take That came when the Disney corporation threatened to sue him if he didn't get rid of Mortimer Mouse (no, not that Mortimer Mouse), a character who looked like a washed-up, chain-smoking Mickey. Breathed removed Mortimer...but not before doing a three-week storyline in which he is kidnapped by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner. The gang storms the Magic Kingdom to rescue him, and many copyrighted Disney characters make unauthorized cameos. Eisner himself is portrayed as a petty, creatively-bankrupt bully, who in the finale is attacked with a chainsaw by Bill the Cat dressed as [[Friday the Thirteenth|Jason Voorhees]].

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Portnoy and Hodge Podge.

* [[T-Word Euphemism]]: In one story arc, the Bloom Picayune decides to do a frank, honest article about AIDS. The first draft, submitted by the obviously nervous editor, is ''full'' of T-words.