At the very beginning of the strip (December 1980), the central setting was the Bloom boarding house run by the grandparents of Milo Bloom. As the strip continued, various boarders moved into the boarding house. The cast features a variety of humans and anthropomorphic animals.
Human characters •
Michael Binkley: Sometimes referred to by his last name, he is initially introduced as a classmate of Milo Bloom, and shown to live with his father, Tom Binkley. Binkley is characterized by his high anxiety, which is frequently reflected in the form of the "anxiety closet", the closet in his bedroom from which personifications of his anxieties appear. •
Milo Bloom: An adolescent boy and the strip's original protagonist, he is initially shown to be a resident of the boarding house with his grandfather, referred to as Major. In early strips, he is characterized by his active imagination. After the boarding house element is dropped from the strip, he becomes a newspaper reporter and
straight man to the others. •
Steve Dallas: Previously appearing in
The Academia Waltz, he is Bloom County's sole defense attorney. A macho and irresponsible chain smoker and former "
frat boy", Dallas spends most of his free time either trying to seduce women or concocting get-rich-quick schemes, including forming and managing a
heavy metal band. His girlfriend Bobbi Harlow and unnamed mother have appeared in the strip as well. •
Cutter John: A wheelchair-using Vietnam War veteran, he is known for being the subject of attraction for other women in the strip, as well as for his re-enactments of
Star Trek with the animal characters. •
Oliver Wendell Jones is an African-American schoolmate of Milo and Binkley. He is a young
computer hacker and gifted scientist. Jones's parents also appear in the strip regularly, often to express disdain for their son's actions.
Animal characters •
Bill the Cat: Introduced in June 1982 as a parody of the comic character
Garfield, he is characterized by his disheveled and mangy appearance. He is killed off in a 1983 story arc, but subsequently brought back to life as a more prominent character. From there, Bill the Cat takes on a variety of roles, including
cult leader,
televangelist, and heavy metal musician. In a story arc, his brain is replaced with that of
Donald Trump. •
Hodge-Podge: A rabbit who is a friend of Cutter John. He is politically conservative and fanatical about various issues, despite the fact that he is extremely ignorant about those same issues. •
Opus the Penguin: An anthropomorphic penguin; while originally introduced as Binkley's pet, he is later shown to be wholly independent. He is characterized by his naive and optimistic personality, addiction to
herring, and attempts to date human women. One of his recurring storylines is his attempts to locate his estranged mother. Opus later appears in Breathed's follow-up comic strips
Outland and
Opus, three children's books, and a television special entitled
A Wish for Wings That Work. •
Portnoy is a groundhog, although his
species was a mystery until October 1983. He is characterized by his grouchy personality and disdain for Opus. ==Publication history and production==