Doonesbury Revisted
December 13th, 2002 - 2:20 am
I think Trudeau was trying to insult Bush, but his shot went wide.
So I’m not sure which is funnier — the comic strip, or GT’s bad aim.
I think Trudeau was trying to insult Bush, but his shot went wide.
So I’m not sure which is funnier — the comic strip, or GT’s bad aim.
I have always seen Trudeau’s Doonesbury and Berke Breathed’s Bloom County as two apples from the same tree: savvy, sarcastic, self-described “white liberals” with a penchant for lampooning through cartoon characters.
The Reagan years provided an enormous breadth of material for both men to take shots at; they arguably enjoyed their prime through the 1980s. Bush’s victory in 1988, however, proved to be a sort of vindication of the Reagan-conservative ideology. What began as a little eight-year sojourn expanded into twelve years too much for either man, it seems. Breathed lost his stride after the 1988 election and immediately set his strip to self-destruct, pitifully fading away into the forgettable wist of Outland.
Trudeau soldiered on, but he left his heart in the Eighties. Like most aging liberals, he’s confused, frustrated, obstinate and bitter. Very bitter. And frequently unfunny.
certainly not as unfunny as some people we could name, or click on their links.
i’d submit that, like all good comics worth their salt (and do you know what salt is worth on the open market these days?) trudeau is firing grapeshot at everybody in the situation, poking his finger into everybody’s ribs.
witness the beginning comic in this series and tell me he’s not making fun of the iraqi’s tendency to lie, hide, and manipulate.
and prior to this storyline he had a great few days showing the media getting their training in bootcamp for the upcoming war…showing all the reporters to be whiney, self-indulgent cry babies.
not what i would call an angry, very bitter, aging liberal.
ps, politics aside, i always thought bloom county was not an apple from the same tree, but a bad xerox copy, made when the machine really needed more toner, of the same document.
Yesterday’s was better.
“Is it true only 13% of American kids can find Iraq on a map?”
“Yeah, but all 13% are Marines.”
Semper Fi!
not what i would call an angry, very bitter, aging liberal.
Yeah, but then you slammed Bloom, so I’ll take both comments with a chunk of market-value salt. Bill the Catt, man! Aaacck! Priceless.
Seriously, though, Trudeau’s insulting side “Wow! Thanks, evildoers!” shows a humorist who can barely laugh, taking himself so seriously. Breathed, ever-goofy, saw his occupation as it was: ink-penned people jabbing at world events.
By a coincidence I read Bloom County Babylon last night.
Breathed was uneven, but when ‘he was even’, he was better than Trudeau. He also had the perception to head out more or less on top.
Trudeau has been one steady decline since the strip came back after a hiatus. Like an aging prima donna, You’ll have to drag him off stage.
we’ll just have to agree to disagree…never fouhd bloom county entertaining.
these days i am a fan of zits and mutts, and anyother one syllable strip ending in a “t” plural
Foxtrot. Mustn’t forget Foxtrot.
Ah, yes. Foxtrot. The subliminal/background antics alone are worth the price of admission.
Skippy:
As a high school teacher of math and science, I find myself hysterical at least once a week reading ‘Zits’. I find my pupils appearing regularly…
In my class I have the strip where Jeremy is slouching in his chair making negative comments mentally. I love the last frame’s comments: “Teach me, I dare you.”
Also I keep track of who is ‘RichAndAmy’ each day.
Life’s little pleasures…