Berkley Breathed is one of my role models. The artist behind Bloom County, Outland, and Opus (the titular penguin being the element that ties all three strips together), he’s a master of that perfect mix of sincerity and satire that resonates so well with me. Next to Bill Watterson, he’s one of the few to have elevated the comic strip to something like art.
Consequently, it’s a little heartbreaking to hear he’s retiring in two weeks. He argues that, in the current cultural climate, the tone of Opus will be “impossible to maintain”. When the journalist offers that perhaps these dark times are when satire is needed most, he responds (here’s where it intersects my little online, media-centric universe):
It’s not so much dark times now, as profane and loud. Satire you’ll have, oh dear me, indeedy yes. “Vomitous” and “awash” are two words that come to mind. It used to be that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. How antediluvian. Rather, everyone will now want a satirical YouTube film with 15 megabytes. Rather, the real dearth in our world will be sweetness, comfort, thoughtfulness and civility.
It’s a complaint that rings of old fogey-ness, but, when asked if he’ll ever return to the medium, Breathed offers a reply that rings of the wit and irreverence I grew up on:
Is this it? Are you ruling out the possibility of ever doing an episodic cartoon ever again?
It is, as Breathed puts it, the “perfect dodge from unpleasant candor”. Which is, I believe, how I’ll end this post.
tl;dr fidgety old unfunny man finally gives up, goes out to end miserable life.
