‘TOON TALK

“Say it ain’t so, Opus”: Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berke Breathed has announced plans to discontinue his popular comic strip, “Bloom County,” on Aug. 6 and begin a new Sunday-only strip in September. “A good comic strip is no more eternal than a ripe melon,” said Breathed in a prepared statement. “The ugly truth is that, in most cases, comics age less gracefully than their creators. ‘Bloom County’ is retiring before the stretch marks show.” A rowdy, often controversial comic featuring Bill the Cat and Opus the Penguin, “Bloom County” debuted in December, 1980, and quickly became one of the most popular strips in the country.