''Loose Tails'' is the first collection of the comic strip series

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, wh ...

by Berkeley Breathed. It was published by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

in 1983. At least two different editions exist; the contents and front cover art are identical but later editions swapped out the serious author biography on the back cover for a parody one. It is followed by ''

Toons For Our Times ''Toons for Our Times'' is the second collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1984. It is preceded by ''Loose Tails'' and followed by ''Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things''. Synopses of major ...

''.

Synopses of major story lines

Senator Bedfellow ''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 ...

faces some antagonism when visiting

Bobbi Harlow Bobbi Harlow is a fictional character in Berke Breathed's comic strip ''Bloom County''. A schoolteacher, Bobbi is popular among her students, particularly Milo Bloom and Michael Binkley, who both harbored crushes on her. However, the Conservatis ...

's fourth-grade classroom. "How'd you launder the Libyan kickback money,

?" (p1, 4 strips) *

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 Uni ...

takes

on a date, in his gold Jeep with a license plate that spells out "HORNY". (p3, 3 strips) *

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 be ...

rolls into Bloom County, sweeping

off her feet both literally and figuratively. (p6, 6 strips) * Santa Claus visits Milo, and describes his recent labor trouble. After Santa's elves go on strike, the president fires them and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers. (p10, 9 strips) *

Otis Oracle ''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 ...

is named Grand Wizard of the local Moral Majority chapter. (p16, 3 strips) * Milo works as waiter at the county New Year's Eve party. (p18, 6 strips) *

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and Princess Di discuss baby names. "Prince Butch." (p22, 3 strips) * Milo, in his capacity as Bloom Beacon reporter, harasses

. (p23, 5 strips) * Opus is introduced as Binkley's new pet. (p27, 3 strips) * Milo and Binkley organize a nuclear weapons protest demonstration, and visit a college campus to recruit. (p29, 5 strips) * Milo is arrested for giving a school report on penguin evolution. Penguin evolution versus "scientific penguinism" is debated in the subsequent Penguin Trial. (p34, 7 strips) *

Major Bloom ''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 ...

is harassed by the house cockroaches. (p39, 3 strips) *

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

visit Bloom County to play the school dance, causing consternation among the Moral Majority. (p41, 8 strips) *

meets

's mother. (p46, 2 strips) * Binkley's father takes Binkley hunting. (p49, 4 strips) * Milo tries to dig dirt on

. "Will you confirm that you sunk Jimmy Hoffa in your backyard pond?" (p51, strips) * Everyone dons radiation masks following a leak at the Bloom County nuclear power plant. Milo sings the "Split-Atom Blues" with the critters, who have been advised to avoid breathing until Tuesday. (p57, 5 strips) * Opus is accidentally sent to the dog pound, where he shares a prison cell with a switchblade-wielding canine. (p59, 4 strips) * The Bloom County neighborhood baseball game shows Binkley to be an incompetent pitcher, and

an overconfident shortstop. (p70, 6 strips) * A town meeting is called to propose a nuclear arms freeze. (p74, 4 strips) * The revolting

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 also ...

is introduced as a marketing ploy. "Start looking for '

' shirts, tote bags, mugs, toys, wallpaper, lunch pairs and

toilet seat cover A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of a round or oval open seat, and usually a lid, which is bolted onto the bowl of a toilet used in a sitting position (as opposed to a squat toilet). The seat can be either for a flush toilet or a dry toi ...

s." (p79) * Quiche Lorraine,

's cousin, is introduced when Bobbi sets her up with

. (p82, 4 strips) * Opus and the critters take over a

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

, outraged that birds are being served as food. "Sir, some of my best friends are chickens." (p87, 3 strips) * Opus's relatives in the

Falklands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

are caught in and confused by the war. (p89, 4 strips) * The gang goes to see "Space Raiders of the Lost Extraterrestrial Shark" at the local theater. "No flightless seabirds admitted under the age of two." (p93, 5 strips) *

teaches his new son the ways of monarchy. (p96, 3 strips) *

substitute-teaches

's class, and takes them on a field trip to a bar to "observe the human condition". (p98, 6 strips) * Milo shoots his first low-budget film, "E.P. - The Extraterrestrial Penguin" starring Opus as E.P., Binkley as the Boy, and Quiche Lorraine as a giant alien cucumber. (p102, 4 strips) * Milo and Binkley form a band and rock out. Binkley gets carried away. (p104, 5 strips) * Milo's Meadow is leased for oil exploration. (p107, 3 strips) * Opus gets work as the Bloom Beacon's film critic, thanks to his extensive vocabulary: "Flop". "A disaster". "Terminally putrid". (p109, 3 strips) *

again attempts to win

's affections, even going so far as to compose a love sonnet: "In my dreams / you're all I sees / Boobs, butt, and knees / Be my main squeeze." (p121, 5 strips) * Blondie is introduced, and immediately captures Binkley's heart. He asks her out to see ''

Pink Floyd The Wall Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

'', and the critters show up as chaperones. (p129, 9 strips) * Milo directs the school's Christmas pageant, with Opus starring as a cow. (p140, 5 strips) * Milo again works as waiter at the Bloom County New Year's party. Opus is a surprisingly effective bouncer. (p146, 6 strips)

References

{{Bloomcounty Bloom County Books by Berkeley Breathed Little, Brown and Company books 1983 books