Anyone seen Opus yet?

indigo · Joined: 28 May 2002 Posts: 669 Location: Portland, OR

Has anyone seen Berke Breathed's new Opus comic strip yet? I guess it just started this last week, but I don't get the paper, so I'm curious to get anyone's take on it this early in the game. I imagine it'll be awhile before a collection is available, since it's only weekly.

(like I should criticize him on THAT)
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AntiEntropy · Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2003 6:47 pm Post subject:

Uh, yeah.

Jury's still out. Wink

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Iain · Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 352 Location: Mesa, AZ, USA

I agree. The artwork was gorgeous, but the gag was only so-so, and... I guess I was expecting it to be a bit more political. But it definitely has my interest until at least the next one.

- iain hamp
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AntiEntropy · Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 9:13 pm Post subject:

This week was a bit better...

I might just read it, especially since it takes up a half page of my color Sunday funnies.
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One slip, one fall / A turn of the head change it all
A look ahead, a look behind / A blink of the eye at the wrong time
Cruise Control, --Bruce Hornsby

Iain · Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 352 Location: Mesa, AZ, USA

It uh... still hasn't gripped me. Again, though, the artwork is top notch, easily the most attractive thing to look at in my Sunday comics.

- iain hamp
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Rocket Mouse Productions Web and Graphic Design

AntiEntropy · Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:08 pm Post subject:

You know what's funny? It's the little things. Here is this huge, half-page, color strip and the thing that tickles me is that Opus is wearing (along with several other floatation devices) an inner tube with these words written on it, up-side down: "If you can read this, flip over."
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One slip, one fall / A turn of the head change it all
A look ahead, a look behind / A blink of the eye at the wrong time
Cruise Control, --Bruce Hornsby

indigo · Joined: 28 May 2002 Posts: 669 Location: Portland, OR

A thread I found over at comicon.com lays into it pretty deep, mostly criticizing the artwork. Seems that many people there don't appreciate the depth of the shading - though I can understand the concerns that it's just not reproducing as well as Breathed may have expected. Newsprint has a way of screwing up even the best art.

Looks like some are criticizing him even coming back at all. My question is, has there been any political content at all yet? I know that one of BB's reasons for coming back was because he regretted not having a forum to voice his feelings over the 9/11 shockwaves - I was certainly expecting something more volatile from last week's introductory strip (haven't seen this recent week's comic).

And should we start taking bets yet on when Bill the Cat returns? I remember with Outland, BB swore that the only character that would make the transition was Ronald-Ann, but it wasn't long before Opus and Bill showed up to breathe some life into the strip.
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JKCarrier · Joined: 30 May 2002 Posts: 23

Dunno if it's the coloring or just the printing, but the strip looks *awful* in my local paper. Over-saturated and airbrushed to death -- looks like a bad Image comic. Hopefully Brethed (or whoever's doing the coloring for him) will get a better handle on the process as they go along.

The first two strips were ok, worth a chuckle, but nothing outstanding. Probably just needs some time to warm up, he's been out of the game a while. Fingers crossed.
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