A popular daily comic strip of the 1980s, Bloom County was written and drawn by Berkeley Breathed. During its run, the comic strip reveled in political, cultural, and social satire. Capturing popular attention with witty comment, the strip also offered a new perspective in the comics.

Bloom County began in 1980 with the setting of the Bloom Boarding House in the mythical Bloom County. Both boarding house and county appeared to be named for a local family, originally represented in the comic strip by the eccentric Major Bloom, retired, and his grandson Milo. Other original residents included Mike Binkley, a neurotic friend of Milo; Binkley's father; Bobbi Harlow, a progressive feminist school teacher; Steve Dallas, a macho despicable lawyer; and Cutter John, a paralyzed Vietnam vet. Over the years, the boarding house residents changed; the Major and Bobbi Harlow vanished and the human inhabitants were joined by...