on april 1, 1985, the first "bj birdy" comic ran in the "toronto star", created by shanahan. in a preview article, he commented on the character: "i see him as an underbird but he'll definitely be his own bird. he'll get the odd quip in his favor, he'll second-guess like fans do but, most of the time, everything will fall back on him. of course, he might develop into something totally different. i have ideas but that isn't to say they and b.j. won't change. situations that b.j. got into at the stadium were limited but this way the sky's the limit. he can fall off stadiums, go through walls, do silly, little things. there's total freedom." the character often criticized jays management. the "globe" noted that fans "had grown abusive. broadcasters question the reason for his existence. the team's front office offers only middling support." the newspaper noted a negative bent to the comic, with many strips taking shots at those groups. when paul beeston was asked about his opinion on a strip centering on him, vice president he commented "what comic strip? i didn't know he had one." in another strip, bj birdy's mother is about to hit mascot-hating broadcaster tony kubek on the head. he commented that the strip was based on real situations, "when i distort something, i only tone it down." despite—or perhaps because of—its controversial nature, the comic was not successful, and was soon cancelled.