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.

This Week in Doonesbury: “Still a Few Bugs in the System,” or GBT Does NFTs

I have a Google alert that notifies me when there’s news about Doonesbury or Garry Trudeau. Last week, the app sent me an ad for an auction of  a series of Doonesbury-branded NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. NFTs, simply put, are a kind of exclusive electronic “print” of a piece of artwork, and they are a … Continue reading This Week in Doonesbury: “Still a Few Bugs in the System,” or GBT Does NFTs

“Sickening Acts of Total Insanity” : Hunter Thompson, Duke and Garry Trudeau (The Gonzo Chronicles, Part X)

Since reanimating this project, I’ve focused on Duke’s time abroad, first as a colonial administrator in American Samoa and then as American ambassador to China, examining his symbolic role in Doonesbury. Beyond his original appearance as a caricature of Hunter S. Thompson, Duke personifies the selfishness, cynicism, and greed that increasingly defined American culture as, … Continue reading “Sickening Acts of Total Insanity” : Hunter Thompson, Duke and Garry Trudeau (The Gonzo Chronicles, Part X)

Perceptions So Frank and Candid They Were Practically Classified: Garry Trudeau in China (The Gonzo Chronicles, Part IX)

Nineteen-seventy-five was a good year for Garry Trudeau. Doonesbury was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, and GBT became the first comic-strip creator to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. Growing appreciation for Trudeau’s work landed him a spot on the cover of Time in February 1976.  Winning the Pulitzer wasn’t Trudeau’s only … Continue reading Perceptions So Frank and Candid They Were Practically Classified: Garry Trudeau in China (The Gonzo Chronicles, Part IX)