Doonesbury: Heckuva Job, Bushie!

Doonesbury Annuals #50

by G.B. Trudeau

Mike's summer daydream may be the only place we'll ever hear a thorough mea culpa from Dubya. But while mistakes have been made, lessons have been learned, even in the White House, where the Abramoff scandal inspires an official Ethics Refresher Course: "Right, good. Wrong, bad." The president seeks to clarify: "Invasions are still okay, though. Right?" And through these troubled times, how does 43 sleep at night? Alas, not well. "It's the stem cells. I hear their cries." Heckuva job.Roland's ubiquitous epaulets have recently come home from Rummyworld, "that vast, tumultuous terrorist theme park that used to be known as Iraq." At its chaotic outer edges, in al-Amok, Proconsul Duke survives numerous assassination attempts and the alleged courting of his sidekick by Iraqi suitors. But the serious new action is in New Orleans ("Looting, graft, profiteering -- it's all about the skill set, Honey") and Team Duke, like Halliburton, embarks for the Golf Coast, and sets up a command post on a FEMA-provided cruise ship.

Elsewhere on the home front a fully-prostheticized B.D. is increasingly ambulatory, yet finds the struggle to reclaim his mind and emotions is by far the harder part of his journey. The collateral casualty count continues to rise as Zonker is forced to make a traumatic foray into the job market.

The option-aware Alex launches an ambitious seven-school college tour, including Walden, where she is clued to her father's unbuttoned-down past. "You were a communist?" "That communard " When campus total-insiders Jeff and Zip give her the ultimate tour, both are smitten by gal Doonesbury's formidable charms: "So how hot is she?" "Easy, Dude, that's my future wife."

Genres: Comics, Humor, Cartoon, Politics, Graphic Novels, Comic Strips

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2006

About the author

Garretson Beekman "Garry" Trudeau is an American cartoonist, best known for the Doonesbury comic strip. In 1970, Trudeau's creation of Doonesbury was syndicated by the newly formed Universal Press Syndicate. Today Doonesbury is syndicated to almost 1,400 newspapers worldwide and is accessible online in association with Slate Magazine at doonesbury.com. In 1975, he became the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer, traditionally awarded to editorial-page cartoonists. He was also a Pulitzer finalist in 1990. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1977 in the category of Animated Short Film, for A Doonesbury Special, in collaboration with John Hubley and Faith Hubley. A Doonesbury Special eventually won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Special Prize in 1978. Other awards include the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) Newspaper Comic Strip Award in 1994, and the Reuben Award in 1995. He was made a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993. Wiley Miller, fellow comic-strip artist responsible for Non Sequitur, called Trudeau "far and away the most influential editorial cartoonist in the last 25 years." In addition to his work on Doonesbury, Trudeau has teamed with Elizabeth Swados and written plays, such as Rap Master Ronnie and Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy. In 1988, Trudeau joined forces with director Robert Altman for the HBO miniseries Tanner '88 and the Sundance Channel miniseries sequel Tanner on Tanner in 2004. In 1996, Newsweek and The Washington Post speculated that Trudeau wrote the novel Primary Colors, which was later revealed to have been written by Joe Klein. Trudeau wrote the political sitcom Alpha House, starring John Goodman and Bill Murray. The pilot was produced by Amazon Studios and aired in early 2013. Due to positive response Amazon has picked up Alpha House to develop into a full series.

Reviews

[Anetq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catching up on the Bush era - Doonesbury still manages to be probably the best commentator on current events and american politics. Even if this one is 10 years old. I had kind of repressed the memories of Bush, but there he is *

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trudeau was on a hot streak in the 80s, largely because the Bush administration (read Karl Rove and Dick Cheney) delivered up so many sitting ducks. But there are also moving sequences on BD's confrontation with PTSD--the Puerto Rican VA counsellor Elias is a great new character--Zonker's gig at McFriendly's, and Alex's transition to college.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iraq war, but also important character stuff, Alex applying to college, BD dealing with wartime trauma

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blast from the past

I had mostly forgotten the George W. Bush presidency and this brought it all back. G. B. Trudeau hits all the high points.

[David]

On the 6th full read of the Doonesbury world... never gets old