Guy Berkeley "Berke" Breathed (; born June 21, 1957) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, children's book author,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, known for his

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

s ''

Bloom County ''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, whe ...

'', '' Outland'', and ''

Opus Opus (: opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera ...

''. ''Bloom County'' earned Breathed the

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) *Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-prof ...

in 1987.

Early life

Born in

Encino, California Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History Etymology The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, the Spanish language, Spanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanis ...

, but raised in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Breathed attended Westchester High School in Houston.Berkowitz, Lana, "His latest opus: ''Bloom County'' creator finds a more constructive path writing children's books
", ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'', April 4, 2007

Cartooning career

Breathed was first published when he was hired part-time by the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...

'' to draw editorial cartoons for the newspaper. This job was short-lived; he was dismissed shortly after one of his cartoons (about a busing order imposed on the local school system) caused outrage. His first comic strip published regularly was ''

The Academia Waltz ''The Academia Waltz'' was Berkeley Breathed's first comic strip, published daily from 1978 to 1979 in ''The Daily Texan'' at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was a student. The strip focused primarily on college life, although it som ...

,'' which appeared in the ''

Daily Texan ''The Daily Texan'' is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of roughly 12,000 during the fall and spring semesters, and is among th ...

'', in 1978 while he was a student at

the University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. During his time at the University of Texas, Breathed self-published two collections of ''The Academia Waltz'', using the profits to pay his tuition. The comic strip attracted the notice of the editors of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', who recruited him to do a nationally syndicated strip. On December 8, 1980, ''Bloom County'' made its debut. It featured some of the characters from ''Academia Waltz,'' including former frat-boy

Steve Dallas Steve Dallas is a fictional character in the American comic strips of Berke Breathed, most famously ''Bloom County'' in the 1980s. He was first introduced as an obnoxious frat boy in the college strip '' The Academia Waltz'', which ran in the ...

and the

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran

Cutter John Cutter John is a fictional character in the 1980s comic strip ''Bloom County'' by Berke Breathed. Cutter, a Vietnam War veteran using a wheelchair due to paraplegia from a war injury, was one of the county's most well-liked citizens. Despite b ...

. At its start, the strip's style was so similar to that of another popular strip, ''

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

'', that Doonesbury's creator

Garry Trudeau Garretson Beekman Trudeau (born July 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist best known for creating the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip. Trudeau won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1975, making him the first comic strip artist to win a ...

wrote to Breathed several times to indicate their similarities.Ellen, Mary, "Berkeley Breathed, drawn back to 'Bloom County' but looking forward"
, ''Los Angeles Times "Hero Complex" blog''. Retrieved 2010-06-27. Breathed has acknowledged that he borrowed liberally from ''Doonesbury'' during his early career. In the ''Outland'' collection ''One Last Little Peek'', Breathed even put an early ''Bloom County'' side by side with the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip from which it obviously took its idea. ''Bloom County'' earned Breathed the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for

editorial cartooning An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

during 1987. The strip eventually appeared in over 1,200 newspapers around the world until Breathed retired the daily strip in 1989, stating that he wanted to terminate the strip while it was still popular. At that time, he said, "A good comic strip is no more eternal than a ripe melon. The ugly truth is that in most cases, comics age less gracefully than their creators". Breathed replaced the strip with the surreal Sunday-only cartoon '' Outland'' in 1989, which reused some of the ''Bloom County'' characters, including

Opus the Penguin Opus the Penguin (Opus T. Penguin) is a fictional character created by artist Berkeley Breathed. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters. Opus has appeared in several of Breathed's creati ...

and

Bill the Cat Bill the Cat, or Bill D. Cat, is a fictional cat appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip '' Bloom County'' in the 1980s and continuing in '' Outland'' and '' Opus'' in the following decades. Bill ...

. He ended ''Outland'' in 1995. In 2003, Breathed began the comic strip ''

'', a Sunday-only strip featuring Opus the Penguin, who was one of the main characters of ''Bloom County''. Several newspapers chose not to run the August 26, 2007, ''Opus'' cartoon because it might offend Muslims.Donaldson-Evans, Catherine, "Washington Post, Other Newspapers Won't Run 'Opus' Cartoon Mocking Radical Islam"
,

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, August 28, 2007 On October 6, 2008, Breathed announced plans to discontinue all work on comic strips with the final ''Opus'' strip to run on November 2, 2008.Stern, Sherry, "Berkeley Breathed says goodbye to Opus: 'I'm destroying the village to save it'"
, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', October 6, 2008 Breathed planned to focus on writing

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

. Breathed explained that he felt that the United States was going to face "tough times", and that he wanted to end the saga of his most memorable character "on a lighter note". The last ''Opus'' comic strip appeared on schedule, but in what may be a comic first, the final panel required an online link. The final panel of the strip showed Opus sleeping peacefully in the bed depicted in the classic children's book, ''

Goodnight Moon ''Goodnight Moon'' is an American Children's literature, children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was published on September 3, 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story. This book is the second in ...

''. This panel was available only online, and the

Humane Society of the United States Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International (HSI), is a global nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scop ...

page that displayed it was later removed. Breathed said that he had no regrets in leaving political cartooning, as he believed the atmosphere became too bitter for him to make quality cartoons.Vick dog inspired 'Bloom County,' 'Opus' creator
." ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

''. October 13, 2009. Retrieved on October 13, 2009. In July 2015 Breathed hinted at a return to the strip when he posted a photo to Facebook of him at his computer, starting a cartoon entitled "Bloom County 2015". He added: "A return after 25 years. Feels like going home." The strip was later posted to Facebook. He subsequently began posting new ''Bloom County'' strips via Facebook, on an almost-daily basis by January 2018; (In 2016, "''2015''" was dropped from the new strip's name.) In 2021, Breathed penned a series of strips featuring characters from Bill Watterson's ''

Calvin and Hobbes ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was Print syndication, syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly described as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin a ...

''. Panels featured Watterson's Calvin as Spaceman Spiff and Hobbes the Tiger.

Other works

Breathed's syndicated and Facebook cartoon work has produced at least thirteen cartoon anthology books, as of January 2018. Starting in 1992, he designed a greeting card and gift ensemble collection for

American Greetings American Greetings Corporation is a privately held American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting ...

, featuring the "Bloom County" characters

, and

Milquetoast the Cockroach ''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, whe ...

. As of January 2018, Breathed has produced ten children's picture books. Two were made into the animated films: ''

A Wish for Wings That Work ''A Wish for Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story'' is a children's book by Berkeley Breathed that was published in 1991. It was made into an animated television special that same year. The book and special feature characters from Breathed' ...

'' (

Amblin Television Storyteller TV Distribution Co., LLC, doing business as Amblin Television, is the television production division of Amblin Partners. It was established in 1984 by Amblin Entertainment as a small-screen production arm for Steven Spielberg's ''Am ...

Universal Cartoon Studios Universal Animation Studios LLC, formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios, is an American animation studio and a division of Universal 1440 Entertainment, an home entertainment division of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, which in tur ...

, 1991) and '' Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big'' (

Nickelodeon Movies Nickelodeon Movies Inc. is an American Filmmaking, film production company based in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California and owned by Paramount Global. Originally founded in 1995, it serves as both the film production division of Nickelodeon Pro ...

, 2000); one was made into the motion-capture film ''

Mars Needs Moms ''Mars Needs Moms'' is a 2011 American animated science fiction comedy film co-written and directed by Simon Wells, produced by ImageMovers Digital and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Berkeley Breathed book of the same title, the ...

'' (

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, 2011). Another animated film; ''

Hitpig! ''Hitpig!'' is a 2024 animated comedy film directed by Cinzia Angelini and David Feiss. The film comes from an original story by Berkeley Breathed, rooted from his 2008 children's book ''Pete & Pickles''. Breathed also wrote the screenplay alo ...

'', which Breathed himself loosely adapted from his book ''Pete and Pickles'', was produced by

Aniventure Aniventure is a British content creation and intellectual property company based in London, England and set up in 2013 to produce family-oriented feature animation. Aniventure works with production partners to take feature film concepts from pit ...

, and released in 2024. Breathed's writing has also been featured in numerous publications, including ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', ''

Boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

'', and ''

Travel and Leisure Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

''. He produced the cartoon art for the closing credits of the Texas-based 2003 film ''

Secondhand Lions ''Secondhand Lions'' is a 2003 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tim McCanlies. It tells the story of an introverted young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who is sent to live with his eccentric great uncles (Robert Duvall and Michael C ...

'', which featured a strip called ''Walter and Jasmine''. The panels that Breathed drew for ''Secondhand Lions'' appear in his cartoon anthology book ''Opus: 25 Years of His Sunday Best'', in which Breathed terms them "the comic strip that never was". Breathed has been a supporter of the

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

group

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

and illustrated the cover of earlier printings of PETA's cookbook '' The Compassionate Cook, or, "Please Don't Eat the Animals!"'', T-shirts, and other merchandise. Breathed cameos as himself in the 2004 short film '' Tim Warner: A Life in the Clouds'', a fictional tale about an unhappy cartoonist and his unfunny strip, ''The Silver Lining''.

Personal life

Breathed is a fan of outdoor activities such as

powerboat A motorboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine; faster examples may be called "speedboats". Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the inter ...

ing and

motorcycling Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. For some people, motorcycling may be the only affordable form of individual motorized transportation, and small-engine displacement, displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in ...

. In 1986, he broke his back in an ultralight-plane crash, later incorporated into a ''Bloom County'' storyline in which Steve Dallas breaks his back after being attacked by an angry

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn, His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Gl ...

. Breathed also nearly lost his right arm to a boating accident. Breathed has said that he is an atheist, yet he does not fear death more than "sharing a room in a detox center with a sobbing

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...

". On May 18, 2008, in his comic strip ''Opus'', Breathed announced he was suffering from a condition known as

spasmodic torticollis Spasmodic torticollis is an extremely painful chronic neurological movement disorder causing the neck to involuntarily turn to the left, right, upwards, and/or downwards. The condition is also referred to as "cervical dystonia". Both Anatomical_te ...

Bibliography

;Cartoon compilations *''The Academia Waltz'', Sterling Swift, 1979, *''The Academia Waltz: Bowing Out'', Bantan Hall, 1980 *''

Loose Tails ''Loose Tails'' is the first collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published by Little, Brown and Company in 1983. At least two different editions exist; the contents and front cover art are identical but ...

'', Little, Brown & Co., 1983, *'' Toons for Our Times'', Little, Brown & Co., 1984 *''

Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things ''Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things'' is the third collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1985. It is preceded by ''Toons For Our Times'' and followed by ''Bloom County Babylon''. The book's ...

'', Little, Brown & Co., 1985, *''

Bloom County Babylon ''Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness'' is the fourth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1986. It is preceded by ''Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things'' and followed by ' ...

: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness'', Little, Brown & Co., 1986, *''

Billy and the Boingers Bootleg ''Billy and the Boingers Bootleg'' is the fifth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1987. It is preceded by ''Bloom County Babylon'' and followed by ''Tales Too Ticklish to Tell''. Prior ...

'', Little, Brown & Co., 1987, . Contained a flexi-disc featuring two songs by

Billy and the Boingers ''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America (Unit ...

*'' Tales Too Ticklish to Tell'', Little, Brown & Co., 1988, *'' The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos'', Little, Brown & Co., 1989, *''Classics of Western Literature: Bloom County 1986–1989'', Little, Brown & Co., 1990, *''Happy Trails'', Little, Brown & Co., 1990, *''Politically, Fashionably, and Aerodynamically Incorrect'', Little, Brown & Co., 1992, *''His Kisses Are Dreamy but Those Hairballs Down My Cleavage!'', Little, Brown & Co., 1994, *''One Last Little Peek'', Little, Brown & Co., 1995, *''Opus, 25 Years'', Little, Brown & Co., 2004, *''Bloom County: The Complete Library: Volume One: 1980–1982'',

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

, 2009, *''Bloom County: The Complete Library: Volume Two: 1982–1984'', IDW Publishing, 2010, *''Bloom County: The Complete Library: Volume Three: 1984–1986'', IDW Publishing, 2010, *''Bloom County: The Complete Library: Volume Four: 1986–1987'', IDW Publishing, 2011, *''Bloom County: The Complete Library: Volume Five: 1987–1989'', IDW Publishing, 2011, *''Outland: The Complete Library: Sunday Comics: 1989–1995'', IDW Publishing, 2012, *''Opus: The Complete Library: Sunday Comics: 2003–2008'', IDW Publishing, 2012, *''Berkeleyworks: The Art of Berkeley Breathed: From Bloom County and Beyond'', IDW Publishing, 2013, *''Berkeley Breathed's Academia Waltz and Other Profound Transgressions'', IDW Publishing, 2015, *''Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope'', IDW Publishing, 2016, *''Bloom County: Brand Spanking New Day'', IDW Publishing, 2017, *''Bloom County: Best Read on the Throne'', IDW Publishing, 2018, ;Children's books *''

: An Opus Christmas Story'', Little, Brown and Co., 1991, *'' The Last Basselope: One Ferocious Story'', Little, Brown and Co., 1992, *'' Goodnight Opus'', Little, Brown and Co., 1993, *''Red Ranger Came Calling'', Little, Brown and Co., 1994, *'' Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big'', Little, Brown and Co., 2000, *''Flawed Dogs: The Year End Leftovers at the Piddleton "Last Chance" Dog Pound'', Little, Brown and Co., 2003, **Breathed said that ''Flawed Dogs'''s intended audience is different from the intended audiences of his other picture books. He said that ''Flawed Dogs'' would be "perfect" for 8–12 year olds, but that he would not read the book to his (in 2009) 5-year-old son. *''Mars Needs Moms!'',

Philomel Books Philomel Books is a children's literature imprint of Penguin Books USA. The imprint was founded by Ann Beneduce, who was succeeded as publisher by Patricia Lee Gauch. Philomel publishes the series of children's books '' The Ranger's Apprentic ...

, 2007, (adapted into the film '' Mars Needs Moms!'' released in 2011) *''Pete & Pickles'', Philomel Books, 2008, *''Flawed Dogs: The Shocking Raid on Westminster'', Philomel Books, 2009, *''The Bill the Cat Story: A Bloom County Epic'', Philomel Books, 2016,

Awards

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

, 2010 *

, 1987 * Golden Duck Award for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction for ''Mars Needs Moms!'' 2008 Picture Book

References

External links

Berkeley Breathed Interview
by Tasha Robinson for ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...

'' "A.V. Club" August 15, 2001
"The penguin is mightier than the sword"
interview at Salon.com, November 20, 2003

*

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

.
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breathed, Berkeley 1957 births Living people Artists from Los Angeles American atheists American humorists American satirists American satirical comics writers American satirical comics artists American comic strip cartoonists American editorial cartoonists American people of Irish descent American people of Norwegian descent American political artists American surrealist artists Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners Moody College of Communication alumni Austin American-Statesman people People from Encino, Los Angeles Inkpot Award winners