I saw a couple of cute Bloom County cartoons this week. Steve Dallas, the longtime chain-smoking sleazy lawyer of the strip, has a serious crush on Sue, the mother of Sam, a sick little boy Steve met in the hospital and has taken a liking to.

Steve has been smoking in Bloom County/Outland/Opus since 1981. It’s a very, very deeply entrenched part of his persona. He almost never doesn’t have the cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Steve visits Sue, smoking right in her face and she takes the cigarette out of his mouth and throws it away. Then, of course, slams the door in his face because he thinks she is a waitress at Hooters.

A very subtle moment. Steve Dallas’ character has changed from the 1980s. Berke Breathed is giving him a heart. Might Steve be forced to quit so he can be around Sue and Sam? I think it’d make a really funny storyline. And maybe it’s Breathed sending a signal that it’s time for Steve to quit.