Oh, the college years. Remember them? Or are you in the midst of them? Either way, aren’t they great? It’s a time for youth, freedom, curiosity, experimentation, and political comics. Well, at least it was for the budding American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. This May, fans will get a look into a treasure-trove of Breathed’s pre-Bloom County archives, artwork, strips, political cartoons, and much more with Berkeley Breathed’s Academia Waltz & Other Profound Transgressions.
“Honestly, I’d like to think that the early drafts of the U.S. constitution were wordy, infantile, tasteless, embarrassing but occasionally funny,” said Breathed.
“And worthy mostly as a necessary step to get to the vital polished product coming after. I really desperately want to think this. Everyone please forgive me.”
Published from 1978 to 1979 in The Daily Texan at The University of Texas at Austin The Academia Waltz was Breathed’s first foray into the world of cartoons and comic strips. Though focusing primarily on college life, Breathed’s work also made reference to the big news stories of the day and would prove to be the groundwork for the revered writer/artist’s renowned voice and style. Some of the characters from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Bloom County would appear here for the first time as well, including the legendary Steve Dallas.
“These are the earliest strips by Breathed,” said editor Scott Dunbier, “the ones that set the tone for all that was to follow. And unless he changes his mind about setting the dogs on me if I show up at his house again, the final book on Berkeley we can do.”
Berkeley Breathed’s Academia Waltz & Other Profound Transgressions will be released in the same 11” x 8.5” format as the Eisner Award-winning Bloom County Complete Library from IDW Publishing. Look for this beautiful 304-page hardcover wherever cool books are sold! BW • $39.99 • ISBN: 978-1-63140-076-6
And don’t miss out on the other Berkeley Breathed titles from IDW via the Humble Bloom County Comics Bundle! This amazing bundle features over 3,700 black & white and full color strips specially formatted for digital reading, plus tons of relevant background info written by Breathed himself.
Bloom County Complete Digital Library, Vols. 1 thru 9
Berkeley Breathed’s Opus: The Complete Digital Library Sunday Strips
Berkeley Breathed’s Outland: The Complete Digital Collection
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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