J's Pages

In this collection, the Walden crowd has graduated and moved on to begin their careers. Mike and JJ relocate to New York where Mike works at an ad agency and JJ tries to make a place for herself in the NY art scene. BD and Boopsie are on the other coast, where Boopsie is an actress and spiritual channeler and BD is third string quarterback for the LA Rams. Mark is now working for National Public Radio, and Zonker enters medical school. Well, at least that's what his Uncle Duke calls it. In the background are the events of the mid-1980s: homelessness, musical artists raising funds for Africa, the Star Wars defense, Iran-Contra, and the AIDS epidemic. 

It's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link

Labels: Doonesbury, GarryTrudeau, OnMyShelf

// posted by John @ 10:49 AM 0 Comments

Okay, I've read a Ronald Reagan biography, so it's time to dig into the next Doonesbury collection on my shelf. This one covers 1980 through 1984. In addition to the 1980 election and the first Reagan administration, the collection covers: Zonker's stint on the professional tanning circuit, Mike's campaigning for John Anderson (and meeting J.J.), Honey's testifying against the Gang of Four, Joanie and Rick's marriage and the birth of their son, Mark's father's business adventures under the Reagan administration, and Duke's problems as an ex-hostage and attempt to start a charter boat business.  

LibraryThing link

Labels: Doonesbury, GarryTrudeau, OnMyShelf

// posted by John @ 5:18 PM 0 Comments

This Doonesbury collection features some strips from 1975-1978. Ongoing storylines include Duke's stints as governor of American Samoa and U.S. ambassador to China, adoptee Kim's new life in America, bicentennial recollections of minuteman Nate Harris, Ginny's congressional campaign, as well as various jabs at the Ford and Carter administrations. Having read biographies of both Presidents in the past year, I could better appreciate the political jokes. It makes me wonder if I should move on to the next Doonesbury collection I own, or wait until after I read a biography of Ronald Reagan.

 It's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link

Labels: Doonesbury, GarryTrudeau, OnMyShelf

// posted by John @ 9:15 PM 0 Comments

I've had this one on the shelf for a long, long time, but I haven't read it in a while. It's a collection of some of the strips from the first six years of the comic strip Doonesbury--1970 to 1975. It's been so long, it's kind of like I'm reading it for the first time. The first thing that struck me was echoes of Charles Schulz in the strips. If the early For Better or For Worse was Charlie Brown as an adult, these early Doonesbury strips could be Charlie Brown goes to college. But as I read further, my attention focused less on the art & the gags and more on the historical context. My knowledge of America in the 1960s and 70s has increased and I'm better equipped to appreciate the satire on changing mores, the Vietnam War, and the Nixon era than I was in my younger days. I came for the jokes but I think I'll keep it for the history. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: Doonesbury, GarryTrudeau, OnMyShelf

// posted by John @ 9:37 PM 0 Comments