This Pulitzer Prize-winning strip was launched on December 8, 1980 in only twelve papers, a number that would eventually rise to a peak of 1,200 with a combined readership of over 75 million people. Licensing, especially of Opus, would transition Bloom County from cult favorite to a phenomenon, one poised to enter the American zeitgeist. On August 6, 1989, Breathed ended Bloom County. The Complete Bloom County Library reprints the entire original series in five volumes, plus stand-alone collections of Outland and Opus.