Editing Bloom County (section)

==Publication history and production==
<!--Comparisons between Bloom County and Iowa **need to be referenced from secondary sources that describe aspects as similar**-->
''Bloom County'' originated from a comic strip known as ''[[The Academia Waltz]]'', which Breathed produced for ''[[The Daily Texan]]'', the student newspaper of the [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]]. The comic strip attracted the notice of the editors of ''[[The Washington Post]]'', who recruited him to do a nationally syndicated strip. On December 8, 1980, ''Bloom County'', syndicated by [[The Washington Post Writers Group]], made its debut and featured some of the characters from ''Academia Waltz,'' including former frat-boy [[Steve Dallas]] and the [[paraplegic]] [[Vietnam War]] veteran [[Cutter John]].

Breathed set ''Bloom County'' in a small town. Breathed said he made the choice because he had followed a girlfriend to [[Iowa City, Iowa|Iowa City]], [[Iowa]]; Breathed commented, "You draw—literally—from your life if you’re going to write anything with some juice to it. I did just that."<ref name="ICv2int">"[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/15842.html ICv2 Interview: Berkeley Breathed]." ''[[ICv2]]''. September 17, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2009.</ref>

Breathed's hand-printed signature on his strips was usually presented in mirror image, i.e. right to left.<ref>[http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/07/30/my-statement-on-ie6 My Statement on IE6], www.globalnerdy.com</ref>

Breathed's award of the [[Pulitzer Prize]] in [[editorial cartooning]] in 1987 for ''Bloom County'' was controversial.<ref>[http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/comics/article/43048-berkeley-breathed-sets-the-record-straight.html Berkeley Breathed Sets the Record Straight], Sam Thielman (May 4, 2010)</ref><ref name="Solomon1987">{{cite news |last=Solomon |first=Charles |date=November 26, 1987 |title=Strip That Split the Cartoonists |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24859341/strip_that_split_cartoonists_by/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=Los Angeles, CA |volume=106 |issue=358 |edition=Main |department=View |pages=1, 42 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Because the cartoon appeared on the comics page, and not on the editorial page, the win was disapproved of by many members of [[Association of American Editorial Cartoonists]].<ref name="Charney2005">{{cite book|last=Goldstein|first=Kalman|editor-last=Charney|editor-first=Maurice|title=Comedy: A Geographic and Historical Guide|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Og4ntxFQP2cC&pg=PA133|year=2005|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32714-8|page=133|chapter=9. American Political Cartoons and Comics}}</ref><ref name="Solomon1987"/>

Breathed cited the controversy over the release of ''[[Go Set a Watchman]]'' as the factor that led him to resume ''Bloom County''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Rossen, Jake|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/86133/thbbft-talking-bloom-countys-berkeley-breathed|title=''Thbbft''! Talking with Bloom County's Berkeley Breathed|work=[[Mental Floss]]|date=2016-09-15|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>