On Good Things on a Wednesday

One of those days… *sigh*

So, let’s talk about all the positive things about today!

Bloom County! I got the first volume of IDW Publishing’s complete collection of the classic 80s comic strip, collecting from its debut in early December 1980 to the end of September 1982.

I sat on the train home tonight flipping through the book. God, was Opus a one-note character when he debuted. God, was Milo a total jerk. Binkley’s nightmares, when they start to surface in 1984, are fabulous.

And the debut of Bill the Cat! He appears only twice in the book, both as Sunday strips, and he’s completely useless.

I didn’t remember that Charles and Diana were such prominent characters; there are several storylines that revolve around their marriage, her pregnancy, and the birth of Prince William.

Mick Jagger’s appearance was side-splitting. 🙂

It’s clear, just from flipping through the book, that Bloom County was a work in progress, and it took about a year for Berkley Breathed to figure out exactly what he was doing. Once it turns into something topical, once Breathed starts skewering the Reagan-era, Bloom County finds its angry, satirical voice.

And just in time. The Reagan-era needed its pretensions shattered.

Also today…

e.e. cummings’ birthday!

I learned this on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac today. Keillor gives an interesting biographical sketch of the American poet. I didn’t know, for instance, that cummings was a World War I ambulance driver and that he was friends with John Dos Passos.

Also!

I got the new Leisure Society EP today, A Product of the Ego Drain. I’ve heard two of the songs before — “A Passing Thought” and “Pancake Day.” The CD is pink, and it has a giant octopoid on it.

The odd track on the EP? A cover of the Gary Numan song, “Cars.” What makes it so odd? You don’t expect to hear an 80s New Wave classic done by a folk band with acoustic guitar, harps, flutes, and violins. It’s unique. 😉

That’s it. I’m out of stuff for today.