Bloom County Babylon
| Company type | Book |
|---|---|
| Industry | Comics |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Founder | Berkeley Breathed |
| Products | Comic strip compilation |
Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness represents the fourth compilation of the Bloom County comic strip series created by Berkeley Breathed, released in 1986.
This oversized volume comprises roughly fifty percent of its material drawn from condensed story arcs previously published in collections such as Loose Tails, Toons For Our Times, and Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things, along with several strips from the inaugural year not available elsewhere. The latter half presents an entire year's worth of fresh comics exclusive to this edition.
Additionally, the book features a brief illustrated narrative titled "The Great LaRouche Toad-Frog Massacre."
Summaries of Key Plotlines
- Oliver is gifted a Banana Junior personal computer for Christmas. (p115, 9 strips)
- Opus, labeled the "Olive Loaf Vigilante," is incarcerated after assaulting street mimes. (p124, 16 strips)
- Following romantic disappointments, Opus dates Alf Mushpie, a feminist who opposes men and romantic relationships, culminating in her using mace on Steve Dallas. (p133, 20 strips)
- Oliver creates an "electro-photo-pigment-izer" aimed at altering the South African ambassador's skin tone to protest apartheid. Cutter John pilots a helium balloon "shuttle chair" to Washington DC but unintentionally takes Opus along. They become lost over the Atlantic and are presumed dead. (p144, 26 strips)
- A memorial for Opus reveals he left his savings to Bill the Cat. (p154, 12 strips)
- Milo extracts Bill from rehabilitation; Steve capitalizes on Bill's recovery by featuring him on the Late Night with David Letterman show. Bill adopts Republican views and dates Jeane Kirkpatrick, who gifts him symbolic chocolates referencing Nicaragua. (p159, 21 strips)
- Opus returns suffering from amnesia, forgetting both himself and his friends. (p167, 19 strips)
- Oliver hacks into the Pravda news system but mistranslates a headline about Mikhail Gorbachev, leading to confusion. (p175, 4 strips)
- Steve Dallas and Bill the Cat are taken hostage by a taxi driver. (p176, 8 strips)
- Oliver forecasts that Halley's comet will impact Earth within six months. (p184, 8 strips)
- Steve Dallas receives a visit from his mother. (p187, 9 strips)
- Opus is assigned to the "Lifestyles" section at the Bloom Beacon newspaper. (p192, 4 strips)
- Opus undergoes rhinoplasty at the "Joan Collins Paint and Bodywork Clinic," but negative reader feedback results in his original nose being restored. (p194, 11 strips)
- After several unsuccessful marriage proposals, Steve contemplates acquiring an Asian mail-order bride, sparking criticism from community groups. (p198, 7 strips)
- Oliver's Banana Junior computer becomes outdated but resists being discarded with one final hack. (p201, 3 strips)
- Bill is unmasked as a Communist spy exploiting Jeane Kirkpatrick to pass secrets to the Soviets; both he and Opus are arrested. During a press conference, a vigilante shoots off Opus's nose; Steve negotiates a plea deal sentencing Bill to the electric chair. (p204, 30 strips)
- Hearing false celebrity news triggers Opus's recovery from amnesia; he recalls his Atlantic ordeal with Cutter John aboard the shuttle chair. They survived weeks stranded on barren islands before capture by a Soviet submarine; Opus was released as an irritant. (p216, 16 strips)