Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for October 07, 2009

So, am I correct in thinking that Doonesbury is now the oldest comic strip still being done by its creator?

It’s not impossible, but I wouldn’t think so quite yet; comic history is rife with 50+ year tenures, fueled by the fact that these guys tend to get their gigs in their twenties and can keep them for generations. I’m dropping a line on Don Markstein, who stands as good a chance as anyone of knowing.

We might as well talk about hair beads and tulips while unemployment slides down the tubes, the war in Afghanistan is getting bloodier, the Olympics goes to Rio, ACORN self-destructs, the “stimulus bill” is totally ineffective, Letterman violates federal sexual harassment laws, healthcare legislation is stalled, and Congress is busy devising new taxes to load onto businesses and the people to cover their new spending sprees.

The silence is deafening of late, except for the talking tulips.

True that.

On the other hand, Doonesbury can be so effective in dealing with such topics because the backstories like these help make us care about the storyline vehicles - the characters themselves.

Not to mention, it IS a comic - perhaps designed, at times, to take our minds away from all the real life !@$% we deal with every single day…?

I like me just the way I am too.

Somebody up thread needs a cryin’ towel.

How sweet of Leo .

…and don’t forget the Polanski tragedy.

Look at comics to complain about real life? Yeah, certainly makes sense to me!