A while back, I posted about the return of Berke Breathed to the comics page with Opus, an extension of the popular character from the seminal and brilliant Bloom County comic strip of the 80s and early 90s. So far, I haven't had a chance to see any of the new stuff from Breathed, but if you read this review from uBlog, I haven't been missing much:

The bad news: it's terrible. Somebody said "witty" and Breathed heard "brittle." They beamed "This is a landmark opportunity" and Breathed came away with "Make it ham-handed flummery." I keep thinking about the Sex Pistols' late-90s "reunification" tour, the first of several nostalgia-reapings: Q. Mr. Lydon, why are you and the other sexagenarian Pistols on the stage again, performing full-throated anthems about fatalist nihilism to fans one-third your age? A. Eh, what's this about rebellion? We're here to nick the last bob out of your back pocket, mate.

Well, it's just one opinion, but it's certainly disappointing. The reviewer has already given up on the strip, preferring to purchase old Bloom County books instead. I wish I could get my hands on one of the new strips to see for myself. Anyone else have any insight on the Return of Opus?

UPDATE: I had a chance to see today's Opus while I was out at Panera having dinner, and I didn't think it was all that bad. It was on the same level as Outland, which in my mind is no compliment. It was a bit too dark, except for the penultimate panel, but the topic itself was pretty standard Opus-dream fare from before. Hopefully, Breathed will take this out of Outland territory sometime soon.

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