The popular comic strip "Opus" will make its last appearance in newspapers, including the Maine Sunday Telegram, on Nov. 2.

The strip's artist and writer, Berkeley Breathed, announced Monday that he was retiring after 30 years in the comic strip business. Twice before Breathed ended strips, "Bloom County," and "Outland."

Breathed's retirement and the end of "Opus" was announced in a release issued by the Washington Post Writers Group, a syndicate for the Washington Post which markets editorial features and comics.

The release said that even though "Opus" would not appear in newspapers after Nov. 2, that won't be the end of it. Breathed is holding a contest asking readers to guess the fate of "Opus," and he will only reveal what that fate is in an Internet version of the strip.