Originally published 18 August 1983.
This is final part of a 4 strip storyline, I think it stands on its own. But if you would like to read the full story I am posting them below.
Feel free to join us daily at !bloomcounty@sopuli.xyz for daily Bloom County strips.
Xanthelasmoidea is an old term that has been used to describe yellow papules of urticaria pigmentosa.
Xanthelasmoidea: An Unusual Case of Urticaria Pigmentosa | JAMA …
Just FYI
Not to be confused with Xanthoidea, the superfamily of crabs. (Genuinely did think for a minute that the comic strip was talking about some superfamily, given the “oidea” suffix.)
Yes, I think we’ve all been there.
Truly.
Breathed lamented not having a rich background in comic book history…
Speaking of cartoonist debt, I’d say that he probably owes a big debt to Trudeau (Doonesbury). Steve Dallas always felt like a Trudeau character, though I never enjoyed that strip much even though Bloom County was second only to C&H in my heart.
Breathed has never hidden the fact that he was heavily influenced by Trudeau. Before there was Bloom County, there was Academia Waltz, which was basically Doobesbury with a little humor… or Bloom County with less humor.
I never understood Doonesbury. It was too political for me where I was in life knowing nothing about politics, but I think it would also have been too on-the-nose for the adult I grew into.
You are not the only who never understood Doonesbury. I remember trying to read it and just never getting it.
Heck, I barely get Academia Waltz.
I think Doonesbury and some strips of Bloom County tackle current issues, so if you’re not familiar with the situation, it won’t make any sense.
For example how many people know why Bloom County called the AT&T logo “The Death Star”? Below a certain age, unless you’ve looked it up, you’ll have no idea why that’s funny.
I saw a Doonesbury strip, which might have been yesterday’s, making fun of the Natalie Harp situation. Funny now (kind of, but that isn’t Trudeau’s fault), but in 20 years it won’t make much sense at all unless you remember the details. She’ll be a footnote at most when historians write about this era, assuming she doesn’t turn out to be a Russian asset or something.
Yes, there’s a reason the daily news was traditionally printed alongside Doonesbury.
I don’t have the full context for old Pogo strips (another Breathed inspiration, I feel), but I’m rarely completely lost at sea.
