Customer Reviews

Night of the Mary Kay Commandos Featuring Smell O-Toons

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This, the penultimate Bloom County collection, is of course spotlighted by the whole Mary Kay Commandos storyline, but there's so much more going on in this book, which covers roughly November 1987 - December 1988.

1988 was the year of the Bush/Dukakis Presidential election, and true to form Breathed has Bill the Cat and Opus running for office on the Meadow ticket again - thoroughly skewering the whole political process as they do so. In another extended continuity, the gang inadvertently creates the next "designer drug" craze - "Dr. Oliver's Cat-Sweat Scalp Tonic," a miracle baldness cure that the feds soon deem illegal "due to reports of rude 'Ack'-ing side effects" - in a storyline that deftly parodies both sides of the drug-legalization issue. It's as relevant today as it was fifteen years ago. Next, the 1988 Supreme Court ruling that traditionally "male-only" clubs are unconstitutional is grist for the satirical mill, as the almost 100%-male cast of Bloom County suddenly finds themselves having to add a woman to their number... which descends into all-out panic when it's revealed that one of the animal characters is secretly female!

And in the sequence that gave this book its title, Opus discovers his mother is alive and well... and a prisoner of Mary Kay's animal-research division. Breathed has admitted this was his most personal storyline; the idea of using animals to test cosmetics, and even using animal by-products to *make* said cosmetics, needless to say is anathema to an animal lover such as him. Having already visited this theme during the "hair tonic" story, here Breathed goes after Mary Kay with both guns blazing... but it's not *all* one-sided, as a militant PETA-esque organization takes some lumps as well.

Through it all, Breathed continues to hone his craft, all but completely moving away from representational art to the sort of surreal, almost Seussian landscapes that would define the latter days of Bloom County and Outland, and continue into his childrens' books. New characters that would play a key role in these later developments, such as Ronald-Ann Smith and Milquetoast, are introduced. The "new and improved" Steve Dallas is used to poke fun at the "sensitive male" stereotype, which in its own way is almost as irritating as the "old and inferior" Steve.

Bloom County is arguably the best comic strip of the 1980s. This book is a prime example of why.

Which is interesting, considering that it's very late in the run of the series, and for the most part, the earlier strips are funnier. But this one's the exception to that rule; most of the political satire here is as relevant today as it was 16-17 years ago, and just as funny.

This book covers Bloom County from late 1987 through the end of '88. In addition to the title continuity (which sees Opus once again searching for his mother, this time at a Mary Kay cosmetics-testing lab), the dreary days of the '88 Presidential campaign are recounted here (Bill & Opus are once again running on the Meadow ticket), the gang turns into bootleggers when their miracle hair tonic is ruled a controlled substance, and everyone goes into a panic when new federal legislation demands that a female character be added to the cast - and one of the animal characters is secretly a girl! See Spuds Mackenzie as a presidential frontrunner, see Opus take on the life of a farmer, see the debuts of Milquetoast and Ronald-Ann, see Opus attempt to join the ranks of tobacco addicts, and more! This is the period that Mr. Breathed fully realized the surrealistic style that would define the latter days of Bloom County, and carry over into Outland. The Mary Kay continuity alone, however, makes this a must-read.

"Even their uzis are pink!!!" The Mary Kay Salesladies are still running amok across the country like Opus after Boinger practice! Though, now that I think of it, my opinion of them was never so skewered before discovering Bloom County...Berke Breathed at his best!

The Mary Kay moratorium occured in 1989 and they banned animal testing in 1999. This trade paperback compilation of comics was printed in 1989 which means that the strips therein appeared first newspapers during 1987 and 1988. Thus, while Mary Kay would (I am sure) deny that they make corporate choices based on Sunday paper comic strips, the fact remains that Breathed was criticizing M K before they agreed to the moratorium, not after.

I am a long time Bloom County Fan and I loved this book - as really all of the books! I just wanted to point out that Mary Kay cosmetics actually stopped animal testing after these comics hit the papers and consumers . . . how wonderful is that? Comics really CAN change the world . . .

Even though the book arived quickly and it was not torn, it was in very OLD condition (discolored) and smelled like SMOKE horribly. I have never bought a NEW book that smelled like that. It actually made me appriciate the fact that I quit smoking 6 years ago.

Great Book by Berkeley Breathed. As always this author has a great sense of humor for kids and adults.

berke breathed is once again as funny as ever in this edition of bloom county. Attacking Mary Kay and other cosmetic companies as well as the US's war on drugs in a brilliant and hillarious way. Berke Breathed has done it again, definitly a good buy.

Night of the mary kay commandos is a must for any one
who is a fan of bloom county or Berke Breathed.
Its what I think is the best comic strip ever made.
And books!!! Well the strips are the books. The characters
are very fun and well developed. Like blinky the kid whos tryin to get his dad back with his mom or opus the obnoctious and yet sad, depressed penguin, Oliver the geniuse and Bill the cat.

The mary k commandos is the basic point of this story and how
they invade Bloom County.
Also you see opus at an animal testing facility were they test there purfumes on rabbits. Opus is looking for his mother who is at the facility. Its a damn shame these books are out of print. But If you really want to get these books just get em off amazon. They have Bloom County.

I am 10000% sure you wont find this book or any bloom county book at a book store. Maybe at a really old comic book store but I doulbt it.
Bottom line if youre a big BC fan then get this book.