Bloom County Complete Library HC Vol. 01Media Release -- Starting today, check out USA TODAY and help celebrate "Bloom County Week!" IDW Publishing and USA TODAY commemorate one of America's most iconic comic strips with this week-long promotion, featuring five strips with exclusive commentary from Berkeley Breathed himself. "Bloom County Week" will appear online at comics.usatoday.com, coinciding with the release of The Bloom County Library, Volume One, available in stores on October 6th.

Bloom County is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed newspaper strips of modern times. Created by Breathed, the strip premiered on December 8th, 1980 and featured the beloved and quirky denizens of Bloom County including Opus, Steve Dallas, Bill the Cat, Milo Bloom, Michael Binkley, and Cutter John. The strip, at its height, was published in over 1,200 newspapers.

Appearing in USA TODAY for the first time ever, "Bloom County Week" will feature five strips hand picked by Breathed, who also offers thoughts on the inspiration for each one, exclusively for this promotion.

"Looking at the strips after 29 years, I was shocked," said Breathed. "I couldn't have gotten away with much of it today. I'll owe so many insincere apologies to so many notable people after these reemerge."

The Bloom County Library Volume One showcases all of the first two years of this award-winning strip and kicks off a collection that will offer the first complete chronological Bloom County reprint. To enhance the experience, The Bloom County Library contains a series of "Context Pages" sprinkled throughout the volumes, providing perspective for the reader and presenting a variety of real-life events and personalities that were contemporary at the time of original publication. Breathed has also added his own commentary at points throughout the book.

"Berkeley continues to demonstrate why, after more than 20 years, people remember Bloom County so fondly," said IDW Special Projects Editor, Scott Dunbier. "The strips he picked for "Bloom County Week" are hysterical and so are his comments on each one! It's a real joy to work with him on this collection, and I'm positive fans will enjoy the book as much as we do."

The Bloom County Library, designed by the Eisner Award winner Dean Mullaney, is the latest collection from IDW and the Library of American Comics, whose catalogue features the award-winning Terry and the Pirates, Little Orphan Annie and Dick Tracy, among others. Future collections include Family Circus and Rip Kirby.

The Bloom County Library Volume One ($39.99, ISBN 978-1-60010-531-9) will be available in stores on October 6th.