Cuddly Kitten Day

We’ve celebrated Black Cat Appreciation Day – not once, but twice. International Cat Day. National Hug Your Cat Day. Recognized International Tiger Day. Twice. Even Garfield the Cat Day.

So, why not Cuddly Kitten Day?

Bill the Cat

With one of Garfield’s own no less.

How’s that, you ask?

We’re gonna tell ya, but first a little background on the source material.

Bloom County began its tenure in the newspaper strips Dec. 8, 1980. It ended its first incarnation Aug. 6, 1989. In between it merged the legendary Doonesbury and Pogo strips to lampoon the dream and reality of a decade.

Along the way, creator Berkeley Breathed would garner the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. It was only the second Pulitzer ever awarded for a comic strip. And, the last to date.

During Bloom County’s run Breathed would populate his fictional world with a colorful cast of characters and caricatures. Each would represent a person and demographic of the era.

Our guest of honor first graced the strip in June of 1982. The emaciated, strung-out orange tabby was introduced as a parody of the immensely popular Garfield.

What began as a one-and-done turned into one of the faces of the franchise.

Bill the Cat, or Bill D. Cat, was given the fictional pedigree as one of his inspiration’s illegitimate offspring.

In addition, Bill’s resume would include televangelist, Presidential candidate, heavy metal rock star and Chernobyl nuclear plant operator.

Not bad for an inarticulate feline of questionable parentage whose vocabulary consisted of Tasmanian Devil-esque spits and belches.

Following the strip’s voluntary demise Breathed would start and stop the series over the years.

No mater what’s happened since the initial run, Bloom County has become a time capsule for the 1980s and the politics and pop culture it roasted over a National spit.

Thanks, Bill.

And, Opus and Milo and Oliver and Steve and Cutter John and Michael. Most importantly, thank you, Berkeley.