The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos
Encyclopedia
The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos is the seventh collection of the comic strip series Bloom County
by Berkeley Breathed
. It was published in 1989.
It is preceded by Tales Too Ticklish to Tell
and followed by Happy Trails!.
The book includes "smell-o-toons", intended to enhance the Mary Kay storyline. At a pivotal point in the story, the reader is instructed to lift a flap and smell a scented strip.
Bloom County
Bloom County is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, where children often have adult personalities and vocabularies and where...
by Berkeley Breathed
Berkeley Breathed
Guy Berkeley "Berke" Breathed is an American cartoonist, children's book author/illustrator, director and screenwriter, best known for Bloom County, a 1980s cartoon-comic strip that dealt with sociopolitical issues as understood by fanciful characters and through humorous analogies...
. It was published in 1989.
It is preceded by Tales Too Ticklish to Tell
Tales Too Ticklish to Tell
Tales Too Ticklish to Tell is the sixth collection of the comic strip series Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. It was published in 1988. The cover image, of Opus sitting on the lap of George H. W...
and followed by Happy Trails!.
The book includes "smell-o-toons", intended to enhance the Mary Kay storyline. At a pivotal point in the story, the reader is instructed to lift a flap and smell a scented strip.
Synopses of major storylines
- OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
is coerced into the role of 1988 Meadow Party vice-presidential candidate. Presidential candidate Bill the CatBill the CatBill the Cat, or Bill D. Cat, according to the final Outland strip, is a fictional cat appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades...
is still in an alcoholic coma. The United Cocaine Smugglers, Pushers and Affiliate Scum offer a campaign contribution. (p1, 8 strips)
- BinkleyMichael BinkleyMichael Binkley is a fictional character in Berke Breathed's cartoon strip Bloom County.Michael, known to all simply as 'Binkley,' is a 10-year-old boy who lives at the Bloom County Boarding House with his father Tom . Binkley is in the same class as Milo Bloom, his best friend...
's father, a staunch DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, goes fetal with guilt for not believing that Jesse JacksonJesse JacksonJesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
is presidential material. OliverOliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in Bloom County, Outland and Opus, three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed.-Fictional character biography:...
's father is brought in to forgive him on behalf of blacks worldwide. (p3, 5 strips)
- Milquetoast the CockroachMilquetoast the CockroachMilquetoast the Cockroach is a fictional character in Berkeley Breathed's comic strips Bloom County and Outland. The character has also appeared in other works by Breathed....
is introduced, heckling OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
during a stump speech. The cockroach is also shown whispering subliminal messages to the characters as they sleep. (p5, 7 strips)
- Steve DallasSteve DallasSteve Dallas is a fictional character in the American comic strips of Berke Breathed, most famously Bloom County in the 1980s.He was first introduced as an obnoxious frat boy in the college strip The Academia Waltz, which ran in the University of Texas's Daily Texan during 1978 and 1979...
informs his mother that his father has not been dead for fourteen years, as she assumed, but has been reading the sports page in the den. The whole time, in which she married and divorced six other men, she had mistaken him for the dirty laundry. (p8, 3 strips)
- Bill the CatBill the CatBill the Cat, or Bill D. Cat, according to the final Outland strip, is a fictional cat appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades...
dates Cornelia Guest, prompting former lover Jeane KirkpatrickJeane KirkpatrickJeane Jordan Kirkpatrick was an American ambassador and an ardent anticommunist. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign and later in his Cabinet, the longtime Democrat-turned-Republican was nominated as the U.S...
to send him dead roses. Upon receiving a machine gun as a campaign gift from the NRANational Rifle AssociationThe National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
, the distraught cat shoots up the neighborhood. (p10, 9 strips)
- While intoxicated, presidential front-runner Spuds MackenzieSpuds MacKenzieSpuds MacKenzie was a fictional dog character created for use in an advertising campaign marketing Bud Light beer in the late 1980s. The dog first showed up in a Bud Light Super Bowl XXI ad in 1987...
smashes his car into Mother TeresaMother TeresaMother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
's. Further Spuds scandals are revealed, such as a paternity suit involving BenjiBenjiBenji is the name of a fictional dog who has been the focus of several movies from 1974 through the 2000s. It is also the title of the first film in the Benji series....
. BudweiserBudweiser (Anheuser-Busch)Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
fires Spuds as mascot, replacing him with the Care BearsCare BearsThe Care Bears are characters created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards. The original artwork for the cards was painted by artist Elena Kucharik. In 1983, Kenner turned the Care Bears into plush teddy bears...
. (p15, 6 strips)
- OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
starts smoking, in order to "taste the adventure". He saddles up Rosebud and heads out to "flavor country". Eventually, social disapproval leads him to quit. (p23, 9 strips)
- OliverOliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in Bloom County, Outland and Opus, three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed.-Fictional character biography:...
competes with Stephen HawkingStephen HawkingStephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
to discover a Grand Unification TheoryGrand unification theoryThe term Grand Unified Theory, often abbreviated as GUT, refers to any of several similar candidate models in particle physics in which at high-energy, the three gauge interactions of the Standard Model which define the electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions, are merged into one single...
. (p26, 5 strips)
- The Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
rules that "male only" clubs are unconstitutional, and thus Bloom County must introduce a female character. PortnoyPortnoy (Bloom County character)Portnoy is a character in Berke Breathed's comic strip Bloom County. Portnoy was one of the critters that could talk, and was often surly mouthed and bigoted, usually leading Hodge-Podge, his best friend, to have to cover his mouth. When Bill the Cat became a televangelist denouncing "penguin...
and Hodge-PodgeHodge-Podge (character)Hodge-Podge the rabbit is a fictitious character from Berke Breathed's comic strip Bloom County. His best friends are Portnoy and Cutter John. Hodge is extremely politically conservative and fanatical about most things, though often ignorant and naive about just what those things are...
protest, while BinkleyMichael BinkleyMichael Binkley is a fictional character in Berke Breathed's cartoon strip Bloom County.Michael, known to all simply as 'Binkley,' is a 10-year-old boy who lives at the Bloom County Boarding House with his father Tom . Binkley is in the same class as Milo Bloom, his best friend...
's father, Steve DallasSteve DallasSteve Dallas is a fictional character in the American comic strips of Berke Breathed, most famously Bloom County in the 1980s.He was first introduced as an obnoxious frat boy in the college strip The Academia Waltz, which ran in the University of Texas's Daily Texan during 1978 and 1979...
, OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
, and MilquetoastMilquetoast the CockroachMilquetoast the Cockroach is a fictional character in Berkeley Breathed's comic strips Bloom County and Outland. The character has also appeared in other works by Breathed....
dream of their ideal female. Later, Spuds MackenzieSpuds MacKenzieSpuds MacKenzie was a fictional dog character created for use in an advertising campaign marketing Bud Light beer in the late 1980s. The dog first showed up in a Bud Light Super Bowl XXI ad in 1987...
reveals that not only is he actually female, but so is some unnamed member of the Bloom County cast. After some pandemonium, including accusations and self-inspections, the mystery female is found to be Rosebud the Basselope. (p28, 29 strips)
- Ronald-AnnRonald-Ann SmithRonald-Ann Smith was a character in Berkeley Breathed's comic strips Bloom County and Outland.Named after Ronald Reagan, Ronald-Ann was a young African American girl "from the wrong side of the trax" in Bloom County. Appearing late in the strip's run, Ronald-Ann was presented as a polar opposite of...
is introduced. (p43, 2 strips)
- OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
is called before the Republican Un-American Tendencies Committee as a suspected "liberal". The label sticks (literally), and MiloMilo BloomMilo Bloom is a fictional character in the American comic strip Bloom County. He was originally the main character, but was soon overshadowed by his best friend Michael Binkley and later on by Opus the penguin.-In Bloom County:...
informs OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
that the Meadow Party has dropped him from the ticket, replacing him with an "ultraconservative right-wing nut" to compensate. (p44, 10 strips)
- Ousted from politics, OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
tries farming. After studying proper chewing-tobacco protocol, he grows "one-half bushel corn, two pounds chemically fattened tomaters, one yam", for a total loss of $37 million. Disaster strikes the farm, but government subsidies come quickly. (p48, 7 strips)
- The press discovers that Bill the CatBill the CatBill the Cat, or Bill D. Cat, according to the final Outland strip, is a fictional cat appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades...
spent the VietnamVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
years serving in the Canadian National Moose Mounties. (p52, 4 strips)
- OliverOliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in Bloom County, Outland and Opus, three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed.-Fictional character biography:...
extracts sweat from Bill the CatBill the CatBill the Cat, or Bill D. Cat, according to the final Outland strip, is a fictional cat appearing in the works of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, beginning with the comic strip Bloom County in the 1980s and continuing in Outland and Opus in the following decades...
in an attempt to invent a "revolutionary new underarm deodorant". He discovers that the deodorant causes rapid hair growth, and successfully markets the product as "Dr. OliverOliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in Bloom County, Outland and Opus, three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed.-Fictional character biography:...
's Cat-Sweat Scalp Tonic". But due to "ack"-ing side effects, the Surgeon GeneralSurgeon General of the United StatesThe Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
declares the tonic illegal. Formerly ten cents per bottle, the newly controlled substance is now worth $25,000, and MiloMilo BloomMilo Bloom is a fictional character in the American comic strip Bloom County. He was originally the main character, but was soon overshadowed by his best friend Michael Binkley and later on by Opus the penguin.-In Bloom County:...
, OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
, and OliverOliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in Bloom County, Outland and Opus, three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed.-Fictional character biography:...
find themselves with a smuggling operation. Crime rates rise, prisons overflow, and gangs fight on OliverOliver Wendell JonesOliver Wendell Jones is a fictional character in Bloom County, Outland and Opus, three comic strips by American cartoonist Berkeley Breathed.-Fictional character biography:...
's lawn. Finally, Congress legalizes the tonic, and crime ceases immediately. (p54, 27 strips)
- OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
reads that his mother is alive, and has been taken to a cosmetics lab. OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
infiltrates the Mary KayMary KayMary Kay, Inc. is a privately held company that sells skin care and cosmetics products. Mary Kay World Headquarters is located in Addison, Texas, United States, a Dallas suburb. Mary Kay Ash founded Mary Kay Inc. on Friday, September 13, 1963...
animal testing lab and witnesses the horrors of animal testing. Before he can reunite with his mother, he is caught in a firefight between the Mary Kay Commandos ("Even their Uzis are pink!") and the Animal Liberation Guerrilla Front. OpusOpus the PenguinOpus the Penguin is a character in the comic strips and children's books of Berkeley Breathed, most notably the popular 1980s strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an "existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters...
is liberated to his natural habitat, a 7-Eleven ice machine. According to the author, this sequence was at least partly responsible for Mary Kay's 1989 moratorium on animal testing. (p68, 19 strips)
- In the run-up to election day, Albert GoldmanAlbert GoldmanAlbert Harry Goldman was an American professor and author.Born in Dormont, Pennsylvania, Albert Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines...
publishes The Lives of Bill D. Cat: Vegisexual, Nazi, Liberal. Bill's standing in the polls plummets, and the Meadow Party gets so desperate as to accept Walter MondaleWalter MondaleWalter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
's offer to join the ticket. Despite MiloMilo BloomMilo Bloom is a fictional character in the American comic strip Bloom County. He was originally the main character, but was soon overshadowed by his best friend Michael Binkley and later on by Opus the penguin.-In Bloom County:...
s's increasingly unethical campaign tactics, Bill loses to George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
. (p78, 18 strips)