Doonesbury: Got War?

Doonesbury Annuals #48

by G.B. Trudeau

"Rear Admiral Steve Kunkle, commander of the carrier strike force, grimaced at a Doonesbury comic strip from the Japan Times . It showed a Navy pilot thinking 'Oops!'" As Doonesbury shifts to a wartime footing, the strip's major players find themselves pre-positioned for the coming cakewalk. Weekend warrior B.D. leaves the Fighting Swooshes of Walden in the care of acting Coach Boopstein, returning to the sands of Kuwait as Camp Blowback's Public Affairs Officer. Among his Roland Hedley, veteran of a grueling combat training program designed to keep media folk from getting capped. Offshore, the irrepressible Morale Officer Lieutenant. Tripler goes live ("Good MORNING, regime-changers!") to lift the shipbound spirits of his pre-swarthy charges, while offstage, Viceroy-in-Waiting Duke prepares to answer empire's call. 

Stateside, Mike takes up a flanking position on the sofa to log some serious CNN time, while the Reverend Sloan girds his loins for "Look for us on TV-we'll be a million strong." Marching to the beat of a different cause, Zonker's old surfing mentor tries to enlist Z in a desperate fight to liberate Left Coastal access. Protests Zonk, "What can I do? I am but one dude!" Meanwhile, Jeff Redfern is but one CIA intern, yet he manages to launch a Predator drone and, using basic Nintendo training, knock out an Al-Q ammo dump. Also taking a hit, Trent Lott, busted for giving props to segregation. "I was trying to say I was down with the hood!" he backpedals, realizing too late that Mr. James Crow has finally left the house.

With Alex declaring eco-jihad on SUVs, and Elmont launching a daily assault on coherence as on-line blogger "Jenny McTagart, Girl Pirate," it's hard to see a peaceful world ahead. But Jimmy Thudpucker can. Waging war on the recording industry, he and other filesharers have a vision of ultimate change de regime : "The suits die off, and Pepperland will be free again."

Genres: Humor, Comics, Comic Strips, Politics, Cartoon, History, Nonfiction

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

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

[Oriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come on, is anything better than Doonesbury?

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early 2000s, the Iraq War. Shouldn't be as funny as it is when Trudeau digs in.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Afghanistan, Iraq, beginnings of 2004 election, first appearance of ten gallon hat switched out for imperial helmet

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

War, what is it good for?

Black and white sequential art, with color panels for Sunday. A mixture of opinions from a cast of characters that numbers in the thousands.

[SpruceAlmighty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comedic look at an era I can barely remember!

[Clark Hallman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got War? A Doonesbury Book by G.B. Trudeau (2003): This book is made up of Trudeau’s Doonesbury comic strips that include humor, and political and social satire mostly about the first Persian Gulf War in Iraq in the early to mid-1990s. It provides strips addressing political decisions and stances by President Bush, the military commanders, economists, politicians, teenagers, college students, and others. It stresses the unwise decision-making regarding the economic, political and military strategies of those times. Yes, it is humorous and includes Trudeau’s well-known characters like B.D., Boopsie, Zonker, and others. Unfortunately reading it now in 2015, I had a hard time connecting with and appreciating the characters’ beliefs and actions. However, I still enjoyed it.

[Chase Zablocki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the book Got War is interesting, and funy so far. In the book it jumps between the Irak war, wight hows, and a college.
There's some funy Characters the book. There's also Preidential debates .

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doonesbury: Got War? by G. B. Trudeau (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2003)(741.9573). Doonesbury prepares for the Gulf War. My rating: 6/10, finished 7/26/2014.

[David]

If only the political material was invented... On the other hand, love Coach Boopsie!
On the 6th tour through the entire Doonescape. It never fails.