I've been a fan of Doonesbury, the comic strip, for a long time. In fact, I've trolled enough used book stores to collect books with the entire 30+ years of Doonesbury strips.
Gary Trudeau has done something very cool -- he's put the entire collection of strips online at www.doonesbury.com for the world to read. It's an amazing history of the United States since the early 70's. I've always appreciated how Trudeau has managed to capture the essence of political and social movements through his troupe of characters. He also has not shied away from controversy, having written in his comic strip stories about Vietnam, racial tensions, Watergate, AIDS, homeless people, tobacco advertising, and countless other topics.
This week he's jumped headfirst into one more: B.D., football jock and ardent conservative, got injured in Iraq, and has lost a leg. There was no warning that this was coming up: they just jumped into the story line on Monday with B.D. drifting in and out of consciousness.
Today's comic is doubly shocking: it's the first picture of B.D. missing a leg, AND it's the first time in three decades that we've seen him not wearing a helmet. A great literary device to show what a crucial moment this is for him.
I had a lot of respect for Gary Trudeau. It just doubled.
11:24:30 PM  ; ;
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