IDW Publishing announced today the release of The Bloom County Library, a five-volume collection of Berkeley Breathed's well-regarded 1980s comic strip. The series will debut in October.

The books are part of the publisher's Library of American Comics imprint, and designed by Dean Mullaney.

"Fans have pestered me for years for this ultimate Bloom County collection in that polite, respectful badgering way that only fans can manage," Breathed said in a press release. "Thank God I can now tell them something better than just 'please remove your tent from my lawn.' I can say, 'It's coming!'"

The influential comic strip, which ran from Dec. 8, 1980, to Aug. 6, 1989, blended politics, cultural commentary, fantasy and humor, lampooning everything from AT&T and environmental activists to misguided government policies and televangelists.

The press release can be read after the break.

BLOOM COUNTY LIBRARY TO COLLECT ENTIRE RUN  OF CLASSIC AMERICAN COMIC STRIP

(San Diego, February 6, 2009) IDW Publishing is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of The Bloom County Library. Beginning in October 2009, each of the five volumes will collect nearly two years worth of daily and Sunday strips, in chronological order. This will be the very first time that many of these comic strips have been collected, and the first time in a beautifully designed, hardcover format. The books will be part of IDW's Library of American Comics imprint, and designed by Eisner Award-winner Dean Mullaney.

"Fans have pestered me for years," said Berkeley Breathed, "for this ultimate Bloom County collection in that polite, respectful badgering way that only fans can manage. Thank God I can now tell them something better than just 'please remove your tent from my lawn.' I can say, 'It's coming!"

Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed newspaper strips of modern times. Premiering on December 8th, 1980 -- a month after the election of Ronald Reagan as President -- the strip brought to the comics pages a unique amalgam of contemporary politics and fantasy, all told with hilarious humor and wit.

The beloved and quirky denizens of Bloom County include Opus, Steve Dallas, Bill the Cat, Milo Bloom, Michael Binkley, and Cutter John. Breathed was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1987 for his work on Bloom County. The strip was published in an astounding 1200 newspapers.

The phenomenon that was Bloom County spawned a merchandising bonanza, as well as two spin-off strips, Outland and Opus. The first paperback collection of the strip, Loose Tails, sold over one million copies. Bloom County paperbacks cumulatively sold over six million copies. At the height of the strip's popularity, Breathed walked away on August 6th, 1989.

IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier conceived the series. "I'm absolutely thrilled to be editing the Bloom County Library," said Dunbier. "This is a series that I can't wait to hold in my hands."

The Bloom County Library will also contain a series of  "Context Pages" sprinkled throughout the volumes. These pages will provide perspective for the reader, presenting a variety of real-life events and personalities that were contemporary at the time of original publication.