Sad news has come in over the wires from Bloom County.

Houston boy Berkeley Breathed has announced “Opus” will be no more come November 2.

“With the crisis in Wall Street and Washington, I’m suspending my comic strip to assist the nation,” Breathed said in a press release from the Washington Post Writers Group. “The best way I can help is to leave politics permanently and write funny stories for America’s kids. I call on John McCain to join me.”

Opus, we hardly knew ye. Actually, we knew you pretty well – your search for Betty Crocker, your active fantasy life, your strange obsession with Diane Sawyer, that one time your ass fell off. We realize you might still make appearances in Breathed's children's books, but we'll miss the PG-13 version. – Keith Plocek