dxa@bentley.UUCP (DR Anolick) (08/02/85)
Better late than never, here is my promised summary of responses.
Thanks to the twenty of you who took the time to answer.
Most of the below contains information from the various responses.
A few passages are credited to individuals.
WHAT:
Yes, Bill the Cat kicked away last year. He died in some sort of accident.
The accident was a coverup, he actually died of an extreme case of Acne.
WHO:
Bill was brought back to life by Oliver Wendell Jones. Oliver was described
as: the smart-ass black kid who was into genetic engineering experiments,
the little scientist kid, Bloom County's resident hacker and part-time genetic
engineer who is famous for saying "Piece of Cake" and "Aha you corporate
swabs, prepare to be boarded" as he breaks into company's computers.
HOW:
After his fatal accident (or after dying of acne), only his tongue could be
saved. Milo (or was it Binkley?) didn't know what to do with it, so he gave
it to Oliver, to have a decent burial. After many unsuccessful attempts
(some of the "failures" were interesting to say the least), Oliver managed to
perform the "greatest feat in genetics before bedtime" and cloned Bill.
Oliver also cured him of his acne at the same time
WHY:
Bill was nominated (by the Meadow Party) posthumously to run for president in
the 1984 election. Oliver cloned him in time for the Meadow Party convention
so that a dead cat needn't head the ticket.
[After the election I read somewhere that Bill and Opus received more write-in]
[votes than any other candidate. They even beat out Bozo the Clown -droyan ]
Bill the cat was brought back by popular demand. When Berke Brethed
spoke at MIT, he responded to a comment with "Bill would be pleased to
hear that." This brought on a rousing cheer of "HE'S STILL ALIVE!!! WE
KNOW IT!"
Anyway, such reader response was probably responsible for Bill's
mysterious reappearance in an epic comic strip where Bill returns just
after losing the election. (C. Forsythe CSDF@MIT-VAX)
Actually, when Burke Breathed started he didn't have the rights
to merchandise his characters. Bill the Cat's popularity was such that
he decided to kill him off rather than see someone else get the money.
After he got control, he brought Bill back. (seismo!brl-tgr.ARPA!ron)
[Somehow this doesn't sound right to me. Although Bill is popular, I always]
[thought Opus had the biggest following. Isn't ironic though that Bill has ]
[become so popular? After all, he was introduced to satire the popularity ]
[of a certain other comic strip feline. -droyan]
AFTER THE CLONING:
Unfortunately, Bill got into the wrong crowd, and ran off with the
Rajneeshees and ended up on a commune (in Oregon?). After a daring
rescue by Opus, he was put into the Betty Ford Clinic for Drug and
Alcohol Abuse due to his playing around with pills and booze. No further
mention was made of him until recently, when he was sprung from the
clinic after inheriting the fortunes of the deceased (?) Opus.
OTHER:
Details about Bill's return can be found in the third and
latest Bloom County book: Penguin Dreams. (ihnp4!uiucdcs!kaufman)
I'm curious how they're going to bring Opus and Cutter back. They certainly
weren't killed (Opus still appears in the Sunday strips).
[I'm curious about this myself. You know Opus won't be killed off, he is the]
[strips most popular character. But I do think that this has been a bit ]
[dragged out. And I really did want to see Cutter "Flash" the South African ]
[Ambassador. Oh well, I'll just keep reading to see what happens! -droyan ]
--
Droyan David Roy Anolick
ihnp4!bentley!{droyan|dxa} ^ ^^^ ^^
"First COCAINE..., then CULTS..., now REPUBLICANISM!
Just a fool for the latest passing fad, AREN'T YOU?!?"