Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!

Doonesbury Annuals #5

by G.B. Trudeau

The popular cartoon-strip satirizes the participants in the Watergate scandals

Genres: Comics, Humor, Politics, Cartoon, History, Comic Strips, 20th Century

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

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

[Jon Nakapalau]

More from Mark Slackmeyer and the gang. A look back on the chaos that was the early '70's; a generation of young people going from flower power to Watergate; a war that seemed to canabalize young men without end; women demanding equality here and now. A fantastic 'snapshot' of that tumultuous time!

[Mitchell Friedman]

Sure its mostly Watergate. But in a fun way. And then there is Joanie's divorce. And Phred going to Laos. Actually it was a pleasant little book. Not especially funny or clever. And depending on you knowing a lot of names if you are going to care a lot. 3.5 of 5.

[David]

5th read ... never gets old

[Craig Werner]

Solid Doonesbury from the Watergate era (hence the title). A couple of really memorable sequences--Joane Caucus going back to Denver to get her divorce; Mark starting his radio show; VC Terrorist Phred being traded to the Pathet Lao.

[Lise]

Love it, love it, love it!

[Rex Hurst]

We are really starting to see the series come into its stride in this collection. Timely, sarcastic, yet not self-righteousness. There was a touch of it in some of the early books, the sort many people have when they're young, but now we see a well-rounded artist, capable of adapting viewpoints that might not necessarily be his own into his work. Again, since Doonesbury discusses current-events (or current events of the early 70s), a lot of material is very dated, and various references may be lost on people not familiar with that time.

[Scott]

Coming out in 1974 with strips from the first half of 73 – the next title in the series (What Do We Have for the Witnesses, Johnny?) takes us through the rest of 73, so between the two I calculate they collect about 81 percent of the daily strips. Trudeau is in fantastic form here, probably helped out by the general idiocy of the Nixon administration as Watergate unfolded. Five stars.

[Karen]

Entertaining as ever. I do like Phred.

[Kenneth]

Doonesbury strips from about 1973-74, which reflect the goings on of that time - the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, the college scene at elite schools, the Nixon Watergate era, etc.

[Vakil]

Found this a free library and thought I would give some old Doonesbury a chance. I just don't get it.

[Ryan]

Very Good.

[Deelish]

Kind of relatable to what is going on in politics today.

[Leslie]

I'm on a kick. This one's Watergate Era.

[Jim]

this is so close to being a 6 star book

[Michael Kitchen]

Another wonderful find at this year's Bookstock in Livonia, MI. Watergate era stuff.