I've been reeling from some seriously bad news in the cartooning world, nay, the whole world at large. Berkeley Breathed, who as some of you know is a hero to me, is retiring Opus AGAIN, and this time, he says, it's for good. Knowing his penchant for fucking with our emotions, it's likely going to be a sad ending, jerking those tears, and nothing I say will stop him.

What a bastard! He already broke my heart TWICE by retiring Bloom County and then Outland (of course, I only started reading his comics long after the fact, but my heart was broken anyway!, and when he came out of retirement to do Opus, I was more than thrilled, I think I actually got on my knees and thanked the baby Jesus. He's been like an uncle to me, he taught me so many important rules about cartooning, I hold him just as high as Bill Watterson and Walt Kelly and he's dumping me! He's left a note on the bedside table and packed his bags in the night.

Now, now when the world needs him the most, the world of comics is falling apart and people are caring less and less about them, the most important and flavorful parts of our newspapers -- and the world in general, falling prey to the cynicism and carelessness and lack of imagination that he and cartoonists everywhere fight against! We need him and his neurotic tubby big-nosed penguin in the world, we need his sublime humor, his whimsical vision, his unmasked political satire -- damn it, we need Bill the Cat's furballs! Now, in this time of great crisis, he is leaving us forever.

He said his reason for doing so was to keep from being turned into a grump by this very system, and to turn his sights instead to doing more children's books, which sounds lovely, but I selfishly turn up my nose at his personal life and call it all baloney. Cartoonists aren't supposed to do what makes them happy, they're supposed to do what makes ME happy!

Oh am I depressed.


Anyway, there's at least one cartoonist in the world who hasn't retired yet (possibly because no one has paid me to do this...) So enjoy and happy Wednesday! I won't leave you.

In fact, in this week's installment, we're gearing up for a party...