Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 18, 2024

That’s me … in about 400 years when I can afford to retire.

I’m hoping Trudeau is NOT retiring, though that’s pure selfishness on my part.

I wish he can think of something funny he could do about Biden. Guess he doesn’t have any material to work with.

PLEASE don’t quit, Garry. NOBODY can show us what a lying, hypocritical phony Trump is better than you! Which reminds me—the Orange Baboon was found guilty of 34 federal crimes! Why hasn’t he been sentenced yet?

Warren Buffet he’s not…

But I will admit, Trudeau had me believing there. Well done.

No, Garry.

Kim is much younger in Mike’s Day Dream!

Those little lines just below and to the side of the nose really conveys that the characters have aged.

Well, if Trudeau does exit the premises, I hope he takes all those buffoon characters with him!!

AS YOU WERE!

There will be no retirements and all leaves of absences and passes are hereby cancelled for every able bodied defender of American Democracy.

This directive will remain in effect until Project 2025 is eradicated and Fascism is isolated and contained once again.

Then when our mission is accomplished let us keep it that way but for more than 75 years this time. The American Experiment will survive and flourish!

For a stretch Doonesbury’s life was not fun: His wife left him and his career in advertising cratered. Trudeau found this handy for commenting on the economy and age discrimination but ultimately felt sorry for his titular character. A summer daydream — old college chum Bernie hires him and Mike starts a new life in Seattle — was suddenly revealed to be real life. Thereafter Michael Doonesbury prospered, remarried happily, started his own company, and saw his daughter turn out okay. This may or may not be his last summer daydream, but it’s an oblique shot at boomers — plus some older politicians — hanging on to power under the delusion they’re indispensable.

My father was offered early retirement as they didn’t want to pay him so much anymore. Turns out they had to hire 3 guys to do his job. LOL.

which is the dream and which the reality?

The loss of a world leader is regrettable. How he managed a country, and a comic strip simultaneously is remarkable, yet it may be superfluous or not. What’s in this coffee?

Trent has been with the company this whole time??

I’ll miss the artwork. I don’t know of another strip that is drawn so well.

One can tell it’s a dream because Kim is drawn differently in the dream than in real life!

I’ve been reading Doonesbury since the 1970s myself. That and “Tank McNamara” might be the strips I’ve continually read the longest. I know they won’t last forever, but just a little bit longer, please?

I’ll be retiring in six weeks and reconsidering has never once crossed my mind.

It seems to me that Kim suddenly looks old in that final frame. A bit of a down-turn to the corner of her eye, and she’s wearing a more matronly dress compared to what she’s wearing in Mike’s daydream.

didn’t last long, usually the fantasy goes a few weeks

If you don’t have personal stuff at work, you can leave on a moments notice. It’ll be like you were never there.

Interesting. This is the first time that one of Mike’s summer daydreams didn’t come true.

“MyVulch is basically your vision, Mike.”

Didn’t Alex come up with the concept and began operating it before Mike knew about it?

It may be my imagination but I think Kim looks younger in the “Summer Daydream” panels than the final “Reality” panel.

Of course, Garrry is likely lamenting through his alter-ego, Mike; the missed opportunity of ‘lost comic gold’ in not comically critiquing the bungled years of the Biden administration. Alas!

Donald should have installed a hidden room in that bathroom.

Please, Mr. Trudeau, don’t retire until after you’ve trained a successor, or a team of successors, to carry on your good work.

This reminds me of an earlier strip, where Mike’s “summer daydream” consisted of revisiting the past, because, as he told Kim, he didn’t need anything else to complete his life. He rhetorically asked her what was left to make their lives better. For a moment, Kim had a fantasy of her and Mike being surrounded by small children, then dismissed the question. Or Something Like That.

Since the obviously implication is that Kim wants children and since it’s just as obvious that she and Mike haven’t had any, I can but theorize that, when they got married, they, for whatever reason, made a pact to remain childless, and Kim eventually started to regret that. If she’s past her childbearing years (no idear one way or the other), that’s all she’ll have, regrets. :-|

Trent??What grave did you dig him out of?He’s been gone for decades

Given that the origin of myVulture was recently re-ran in the daily strips, this isa great time to realize Mike’s image of himself is a total daydream. It wasn’t his vision at all. It was dreamed up by Jeff and Zipper, he bought it from them on an extreme lowball thanks to Joanie, and Alex did the bulk of the buying.

I was waiting for the gotcha at the end!