Last time out looking at Doonesbury in the Carter years, we focused on how Jimmy Carter’s early presidency was defined by symbolic gestures like cutbacks to limos for government officials, a live presidential phone-in, and wardrobe choices calculated to reinforce his “down home” vibes. This time, a look at how Garry Trudeau wrote about one … Continue reading “Catchy Lyrics about Busing and Abortion”: Doonesbury, Rock’n’Roll, and Politics.
Dylan, Doonesbury, and Me
Bob Dylan’s on the road again, playing more dates on his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Hope springs eternal that God will allow for the possibility that both Mr. Dylan and I will remain alive long enough for our paths to cross at some local concert hall sometime soon. I’m currently writing something about some … Continue reading Dylan, Doonesbury, and Me
“But Duane! He Won the Election!”: Political Symbolism and the First Ten Days of the Carter Administration.
Our last look at Doonesbury in the Carter years ended just after Jimmy Carter’s inauguration, with Zonker and his friend Nemo the Begonia discussing the new president’s political navieté. Nemo saw Carter’s campaign stump-speech touchstone about wanting to lead a government that was as unselfish and kind as the American people as a sign of … Continue reading “But Duane! He Won the Election!”: Political Symbolism and the First Ten Days of the Carter Administration.
Random Thoughts on Alex Doonesbury (Still) Not Being Dead, X’ed-Out Comic-Strip Eyes, and Hogan’s Alley.
About a month ago, Garry Trudeau drew a strip about Elon Musk’s rebranding of Twitter as “X.” In the final panel, Alex Doonesbury, after pointing out to Toggle how the letter X had numerous negative associations – ranging from an unknown quantity, to error, to death – is rendered with her own eyes X-ed out. … Continue reading Random Thoughts on Alex Doonesbury (Still) Not Being Dead, X’ed-Out Comic-Strip Eyes, and Hogan’s Alley.
This Week in Doonesbury: Alex Is (Probably) Not Dead.
About a month or so ago, Garry Trudeau did an interview on Bud Mishkin’s Before the Cheering Started podcast. He mentioned that he rarely shows his freshly-completed strips to his family; for him, that would be as weird as a lawyer showing their partner a recent brief they had been working on. There’s a great … Continue reading This Week in Doonesbury: Alex Is (Probably) Not Dead.
“Cronies, Retreads, and Tokens”: Jimmy Carter Goes to Washington
Something I’ve returned to as I’ve examined Doonesbury during the Carter years is Jimmy Carter’s self-presentation as an “outsider,” an alternative to the lies and corruption that had soured many Americans’ faith in government after the twin crises of Vietnam and Watergate. The story of B.J. Eddy – the Head Tulip from the White House … Continue reading “Cronies, Retreads, and Tokens”: Jimmy Carter Goes to Washington
BJ Eddy Gets the Ax: Doonesbury in the Carter Years, Part VI
Recently, I wrote about how Garry Trudeau felt frustrated with his writing about the 1976 elections, much of which focused not on the presidential race, but on Ginny Slade’s Congressional campaign. That story had a lot of moving parts, some new, many of which became permanent fixtures of the strip: the introduction of Lacey and … Continue reading BJ Eddy Gets the Ax: Doonesbury in the Carter Years, Part VI
“The Bittersweet Ambiguities of Youth”: Garry Trudeau on Love and Romace on the Comics Page.
I’m still working on the next instalment of my series about Garry Trudeau’s coverage of Jimmy Carter’s presidency: in the meantime, let’s look at a bit of Doonesbury-related ephemera. In February 1973,* New York magazine ran a special issue: “Couples: The Art of Staying Together." Alongside “Videotaping Your Marriage to Make It Better” and Gail Sheehy’s … Continue reading “The Bittersweet Ambiguities of Youth”: Garry Trudeau on Love and Romace on the Comics Page.
“Out Back, Catchin’ Frogs”: Jimmy Carter Meets the Policy Establishment.
When Democratic domestic policy advisor Arthur Rumsey and his foreign-affairs counterpart, Sutton, came to brief candidate Jimmy Carter before the 1976 debates, Miss Lillian Carter, the family matriarch, made it clear that she – and as an extension the campaign – was leery of their Establishment credentials: decent folks didn’t need experts to tell them … Continue reading “Out Back, Catchin’ Frogs”: Jimmy Carter Meets the Policy Establishment.
“Then You Admit He’s Shrewd”: Miss Lillian, Amy’s Lemonade Stand, and Jimmy Carter’s Southern Populism. (Doonesbury and the Carter Years, Part IV)
During the 1970s, the Walden College football team’s huddle was a frequent site of political debate and a forum for one of Doonesbury’s central characters to express his personal brand of Republican politics. On 10 October 1976, Walden’s star quarterback B.D. used the huddle to solicit donations for his favorite charity, the Young Republican Club. … Continue reading “Then You Admit He’s Shrewd”: Miss Lillian, Amy’s Lemonade Stand, and Jimmy Carter’s Southern Populism. (Doonesbury and the Carter Years, Part IV)
Reading Doonesbury 