riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (10/04/83)
To the folks who were discussing Berke Breathed's syndicated
comic strip "Bloom County" a little while back: are you aware of
his earlier and (I think) funnier strip, "The Academia Waltz"?
Breathed got his start as a cartoonist here at UT working on the
"Daily Texan". As irreverent as "Bloom County" may be in comparison
with more typical newspaper comics, it amounts to little more than
a bunch of cute animal jokes in comparison with his earlier stuff.
Many of the "Bloom County" characters are watered-down remnants
of "Academia Waltz" regulars. Steve used to be Steve Dallas, arche-
typal frat rat and scourge of sorority row (until his girlfriend
Susie persuaded him to give up his virginity and move in with her).
Milo's deranged uncle (is he an uncle? whatever) is actually the UT
president Peter Flawn, who earned his immortalization in the strip
by declaring a (no joke!) "War on Mediocrity" when he took office at
the university. (Breathed's strips responded with Flawn in the trenches
and students and faculty running for cover.) "Bloom County"'s penguin
can even be viewed as a distant reincarnation of the "Academia Waltz"
star Rabies, in my opinion the star among obligatory comic-strip dogs.
Two books came out of Breathed's work for the "Texan". They may
be out of print now, but the true "Bloom County" heads among you might
try digging up a copy. The first of the two, "The Academia Waltz",
was published in 1979 by the Sterling Swift Publishing Co., 1600
Fortview Road, Austin, TX 78704. Each book cost a couple of bucks or
so.
As long as I'm here, I might mention that another cartooning
genius has budded in Austin's fertile soil. In my opinion he even
surpasses Breathed. I am talking about Sam Hurt and his weird and
wonderful strip "Eyebeam". In a demonstration of penetrating esthetic
insight, the powers-that-be decided to use Eyebeam characters for
machine names at UT; hence "ut-sally", "ut-eyebeam" and whatever else
will be coming on line in the near future. Since "Eyebeam"'s humor
is very visual, I won't try to describe it here; bug your colleagues
in Austin for copies of the strip via snail mail. (If you're a real
sucker and want to help Sam Hurt through law school, h i s book,
"I'm Pretty Sure I've Got My Death-Ray in Here Somewhere," can be
ordered for $4.95+$0.50 from Sam Hurt, 200 W. 31st, Austin, TX 78705.)
-- Prentiss Riddle
{ihnp4,ut-ngp}!ut-sally!riddle
riddle@ut-sally.UUCP
(These plugs were done out of the goodness of my heart and without the
knowledge of Berke Breathed, Sam Hurt or their publishers. So there!)decot@cwruecmp.UUCP (Dave Decot) (10/07/83)
Could somebody please tell me how to pronounce the name Berke Breathed ? Burky BreeTHd? Bair-ka Breth-ed? Is this his real name? Please respond by MAIL (that's the 'r' command, not the 'f' command... ...Hey! Stop that! GET AWAY FROM THAT f KEY!!!!) unless you have something earth-shaking, of course. Dave Decot ..!decvax!cwruecmp!decot