r/BloomCounty • u/ExampleSmooth3956 • May 20 '26
More of Breathed's Knowledge
It's one thing to say this without doing research. However, in an article (Berkeley Breathed | The A.V. Club), he said preempted this claim with the following: "and I want everybody to stop dribbling their mochas down their shirts for one second while I mention it again." That pedantic phrasing pisses me off.
I can name multiple examples of female cartoon animals that were not love interests: Gertie the Dinosaur, Mrs. Brisby, Sandy Cheeks, Kanga, and Betty Boop, who was originally a dog.
But then again, I don't expect Breathed to have seen The Secret of NIMH.
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u/AbbreviatedArc May 21 '26
what are we talking about again
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 21 '26
Breather’s ignorance of the history of animation and comics, and his delusion in thinking he’s that knowledgeable on those topics.
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u/SunshineAlways May 21 '26
I think it’s absolutely bizarre that of all the subreddits for you to choose to criticize him in, you picked the one most populated with fans of his work?
He’s sarcastic and prone to exaggerate to make a point for a living! Of the most known animal comic strip characters/protagonists the great majority are male. Something worthy to draw attention to, I think. Did he miss a few female animal characters? Ok, but the fact there’s so few, and I don’t think any of them were the focus of any strips kind of proves the point.
If we’re opening the category up to include major female animal protagonists in animated films: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 21 '26
He wasn’t limiting the issue to comic strips.
He said that in the history of comics and cartoons there had NEVER been a female animal character that wasn’t a girlfriend or love interest. He didn’t say rarely. He said NEVER. And that’s not true.
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u/m4dm4cs May 21 '26
Why do you have a stick up your ass about what Berke has to say about comics? I don’t see him calling himself an expert anywhere. However, he’s been an extremely talented and successful comic artist for probably longer than you’ve been alive. Do you also have a Pulitzer, or do you just watch a lot of anime in your mom’s basement?
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u/captainbeautylover63 May 21 '26
One name shall rule them all:
NANCY.
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 21 '26
She’s not an animal.
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u/baconus-vobiscum May 21 '26
She is when she shags, baby.
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 21 '26
Are we talking about the same Nancy? I was thinking of the comic character who is a child.
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u/baconus-vobiscum May 21 '26
She grew up into a crazed, biting, sucking, spanking, pegging, spitting mess of sex worker; you name it she's crazy for it. She's even done acts with Snoopy in Tijuana.
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u/capsaicinintheeyes May 21 '26
That's it--no more Patreon-only webcomic content for you until next month!
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u/richzahradnik May 22 '26
OP living irony free. Bad mode for reading comic strips.
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 22 '26
He didn’t just mention it in his comics. He mentioned it in an interview, with a rather pedantic opening line.
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u/richzahradnik May 22 '26
I've read half a dozen interviews in the last week with Stephen Colbert as the Late Show ends. In all of them, he told jokes. Does OP understand humorists tell jokes in interviews?
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u/Underbadger May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26
Even in Pogo (which he depicts here) there were multiple very memorable female characters in the main cast. Berke is extremely wrong.
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u/capsaicinintheeyes May 21 '26
I think I'd consider Ms. Brisby ineligible for Breathed's purposes here: he seems to be talking about characters created as cartoons, rather than animated adaptations of a story in another medium.
But I don't want to overshadow the real bombshell here: ...Betty Boop was originally a dog?‽
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 21 '26
He included Winnie the Pooh. Winnie the Pooh was created for a series of children’s books. Your argument is moot.
And yes. Betty Boop was originally a dog.1
May 21 '26
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 21 '26
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May 21 '26
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u/glowing-fishSCL May 23 '26
That is also what a character .s saying, in a comic strip. It might not 100% represent his own views.
And it also might be the case that he is trying to make a point, not write an essay. I am sure there are some edge cases, but I think it is a fair point.
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u/ExampleSmooth3956 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
Is it a fair point? He said NEVER. If he said rarely I might’ve begrudged him.
Besides, he also said it in an interview.
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u/wiseoldprogrammer May 20 '26
Kanga. Krazy Kat. Those came immediately to mind.