Happy 40th Birthday Doonesbury!
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Garry Trudeau’s acclaimed comic strip Doonesbury. That is spectacular in my opinion. Now, while I am admittedly a late comer to the whole Doonesbury thing (considering that the comic started before either of my parents were in college), I absolutely love Mr. Trudeau’s strip and read it, loyally, on a daily basis.
In many ways I think that Doonesbury can be seen as a precursor to other news related comedy, such as the likes of The Daily Show. It provides an intelligent and funny perspective on the current trends of the world. Furthermore, it has developed characters who can carry a story arc and make it more meaningful than just stale commentary.
Personally I think that Doonesbury might be one of the few good newspaper comic strips still around. No longer is the a Calvin & Hobbes, or Bloom County or even the absurd Far Side. Yet Doonesbury remains and is still chugging along with wonderful wit and thought.
So happy birthday Doonesbury, and congrats to you Mr. Trudeau and this four decades of great work. I hope you keep it up for years to come.
A bunch of stuf fon Slate.com celebrating Doonesbury’s 40th anniversary.