On 13 September 2022, Iranian police arrested twenty-two-year-old Masha Amini for not wearing her hijab in the prescribed manner. The police beat her severely; three days later she died from cerebral trauma. In response, under the banner of “Women, Life, Freedom,” Iranians protested Amini’s death, Iran’s systematic oppression of women, and the regime’s very existence. … Continue reading “What a Breath of Fresh Air!”: Doonesbury on Iran and the Veil.
Tag: Joanie
“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.
“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.
“Well, Great. A Massive Coronary”: Death and Dying in Doonesbury
There have been, by my reckoning, five significant Doonesbury characters who have died (not counting Duke, who has “died” twice, once when he was mistakenly declared dead after being taken hostage in Iran in 1979, and once when he spent some time as a zombie in the employ of Haitian strongman Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier). … Continue reading “Well, Great. A Massive Coronary”: Death and Dying in Doonesbury
“Where a Man is Judged by His Moves”: Doonesbury Goes Disco
Recently, I watched Studio 54, a documentary film by Matt Tyrnauer that chronicles the rise and fall of the famed Manhattan discotheque that was the hottest spot in New York City in the 1970s. In its heyday from 1977 – 1979, the club, owned by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, attracted crowds that included A-list … Continue reading “Where a Man is Judged by His Moves”: Doonesbury Goes Disco
Selling Reagan to Black Voters: Doonesbury in the 1980s
Last year, I decided to re-read the complete run of Doonesbury and write about the strip in order to better understand both Trudeau’s work and its times and to start learning about the language and aesthetics of comics more generally. A year later, I’m about halfway through the strips (I just finished 1997), but I’m … Continue reading Selling Reagan to Black Voters: Doonesbury in the 1980s
This Week in Doonesbury: #MeToo Runs for Office.
On Sunday, March 4, Garry Trudeau began a storyline that brings together three themes that have been central to Doonesbury for many years: feminism and the political empowerment of women; the challenges facing American soldiers and veterans; and electoral politics. Melissa Wheeler, a former army helicopter mechanic, asks Joanie Caucus for help with her political … Continue reading This Week in Doonesbury: #MeToo Runs for Office.
This Week in Doonesbury: A Missed Opportunity.
On 14 January, Garry Trudeau addressed the single most important social, cultural, and political issue of our time: the movement by women to raise awareness of, and fight back against, systematic sexual abuse by men in a number of fields, including politics, the entertainment industry, the news media, sports, and the tech world. In recent … Continue reading This Week in Doonesbury: A Missed Opportunity.
Reading Doonesbury 