The Beginning Of An Era Starts Here

San Diego, CA (March 11, 2015) – Oh, the college years. Remember them? Or are you in the midst of them? Either way, aren’t they great? It’s a time for youth, freedom, curiosity, experimentation, and political comics. Well, at least it was for the budding American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. This May, fans will get a look into a treasure-trove of Breathed’s pre-Bloom County archives, artwork, strips, political cartoons, and much more with Berkeley Breathed’s Academia Waltz & Other Profound Transgressions.

“Honestly, I’d like to think that the early drafts of the U.S. constitution were wordy, infantile, tasteless, embarrassing but occasionally funny,” said Breathed. “And worthy mostly as a necessary step to get to the vital polished product coming after.  I really desperately want to think this. Everyone please forgive me.”

Published from 1978 to 1979 in The Daily Texan at The University of Texas at Austin The Academia Waltz was Breathed’s first foray into the world of cartoons and comic strips. Though focusing primarily on college life, Breathed’s work also made reference to the big news stories of the day and would prove to be the groundwork for the revered writer/artist’s renowned voice and style. Some of the characters from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Bloom County would appear here for the first time as well, including the legendary Steve Dallas.

“These are the earliest strips by Breathed,” said editor Scott Dunbier, “the ones that set the tone for all that was to follow. And unless he changes his mind about setting the dogs on me if I show up at his house again, the final book on Berkeley we can do.”

Berkeley Breathed’s Academia Waltz & Other Profound Transgressions will be released in the same 11” x 8.5” format as the Eisner Award-winning Bloom County Complete Library from IDW Publishing. Look for this beautiful 304-page hardcover wherever cool books are sold! BW • $39.99 • ISBN: 978-1-63140-076-6

And don’t miss out on the other Berkeley Breathed titles from IDW via the Humble Bloom County Comics Bundle! This amazing bundle features over 3,700 black & white and full color strips specially formatted for digital reading, plus tons of relevant background info written by Breathed himself.

Bloom County Complete Digital Library, Vols. 1 thru 9
Berkeley Breathed’s Opus: The Complete Digital Library Sunday Strips
Berkeley Breathed’s Outland: The Complete Digital Collection

This bundle is only available from 3/11 through 3/18, so get them while the getting is good. https://www.humblebundle.com/books

About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE and MY LITTLE PONY; Paramount/CBS’s Star Trek; Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 2000AD’s Judge Dredd; The Rocketeer; Toho’s Godzilla; Zombie vs Robots by Chris Ryall and Ashley Woods; Ragnarök from Eisner Award-winner Walter Simonson; and Little Nemo from the award-winning duo of Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez. IDW is also home to acclaimed imprints such as the Library of American Comics, which publishes classic comic reprints, Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio, IDW Artist’s Editions, and Top Shelf Productions.

IDW’s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Warner Brothers are producing a film based on Ashley Wood’s Lore; Michael Bay‘s Platinum Dunes and Sony are bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film, Alex Kurtzman is producing a movie based on Locke & Key at Universal.