Book Details:
- Format: Hardcover
- Publication Date: 10/26/2010
- Pages: 696
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More to Explore
Download the decades of Doonesbury timeline or read a Q&A with the author [PDF]. |
Book Description
Book Details:
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Product Description
Created by the team that brought you The Complete Far Side and The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, this massive-yet-elegant celebratory anthology marks Doonesbury's 40th anniversary by examining in depth the characters that have given the strip such vitality.
Created by the team that brought you The Complete Far Side and The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, this massive-yet-elegant celebratory anthology marks Doonesbury's 40th anniversary by examining in depth the characters that have given the strip such vitality.
On October 26, 1970, college jock B.D. met his inept and geeky roommate, Mike. Fourteen thousand strips later, the world of Doonesbury has grown uniquely vast, sustained by an intricately woven web of relationships--over 40 major characters spanning three generations. This book opens with an in-depth essay in which G. B. Trudeau surveys his sprawling creation as only he could. The volume's 1,800 beautifully displayed strips chronicle the key adventures and path crossings of the ever-evolving cast, from ur-characters such as Zonker, Joanie, Duke, and Honey, to relative newcomers such as Zipper, Alex, and Toggle. Dropped in throughout are 18 detailed essays in which Trudeau contemplates individual characters and groups of characters.
The book's literal centerpiece is a four-page foldout that maps in annotated detail the mind-boggling matrix of relationships. A feast of storytelling and a clarifying overview, 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective offers a unique way to experience one of the greatest comic strips ever.
A Look Inside 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective
(Click on Images to Enlarge)
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| Local Resident Injured in Iraq Blast | Miami County Sheriff’s Office, 10/26/1970 |
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| White House Press Corps | Doonesbury Zonker |
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This monolithic overview of G.B. Trudeau's landmark newspaper strip is the most comprehensive book on the subject imaginable, a must-read for both fans and those interested in what amounts to a chronicle of American society over the past four decades. The book reprints virtually all of the strip's significant story arcs in sensibly abridged versions, trimming the fat for newcomers yet retaining all of the narrative qualities that have made the series a riveting but topical narrative. Despite the age of some strips, the material holds up and the then innovative wry attitude of its cast (and, by default, its creator) remains fresh, compelling and frequently hilarious. Forty years have done nothing to dull the edge of Trudeau's left-wing political stance, and his gift for blending sociopolitical commentary and multigenerational serialized narrative have only been refined over time. Mike, B.D., Zonker, J.J., Alex, and the huge cast have become like friends to faithful readers, and leafing through the pages is like taking a long look through a family scrapbook. A gorgeous tribute to a seminal comic strip. (Oct.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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More About the Author
G. B. Trudeau's Doonesbury has tracked and explored 40 years of American culture through six wars and eight presidential administrations.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
85 of 87 people found the following review helpful
By Phanboy
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
First, I have to admit that I'm a lifelong Doonesbury fan, so I'm a bit biased, but this book is a huge and beautifully produced volume. From the same folks who produced the Complete Far Side and the Complete Calvin and Hobbes, with the same attention to detail and quality. The selection of strips is excellent, and there were quite a few, particularly Sunday strips from the early years, that I don't think have ever been reprinted before (and I have all the early paperbacks and every big anthology). The reproduction is excellent - and either they were all reproduced from the original art or the book was designed to make it appear as if they had. Either way, the art looks great. And Trudeau gives some new and unique perspective to each character and his 40 years with the strip.
On the downside, I found it odd that they printed some strips out of order and some publication dates that they gave were obviously incorrect. And I do wish they'd included more early Sunday strips, since as I said, many of these have never been reprinted. Since this was supposed to be a Doonesbury retrospective, I also would have liked to have seen some coverage of Doonesbury in other media (the animated TV special, the Life and Rolling Stone magazine features, the Broadway show that was actually in-continuity and moved the characters in the strip forward) as well as some of the few merchandising products that GBT sanctioned through the years.
Now - to explain the title of this review... Seeing this book, which Trudeau says represents about 13% of all the published Doonesbury strips, has made me really hungry for a complete reprinting, like IDW Books is doing with the fun, but less deserving Bloom County.... Read more ›
On the downside, I found it odd that they printed some strips out of order and some publication dates that they gave were obviously incorrect. And I do wish they'd included more early Sunday strips, since as I said, many of these have never been reprinted. Since this was supposed to be a Doonesbury retrospective, I also would have liked to have seen some coverage of Doonesbury in other media (the animated TV special, the Life and Rolling Stone magazine features, the Broadway show that was actually in-continuity and moved the characters in the strip forward) as well as some of the few merchandising products that GBT sanctioned through the years.
Now - to explain the title of this review... Seeing this book, which Trudeau says represents about 13% of all the published Doonesbury strips, has made me really hungry for a complete reprinting, like IDW Books is doing with the fun, but less deserving Bloom County.... Read more ›
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
By William Cook
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an excellent book for Doonesbury fans or for anyone who would like to see the genesis all the way up to the present. The only thing I did not like was that it leaves out all the cartoons relating to Watergate, Reagan, Monica, New Orleans, Dubya and other politically charged times as I was looking forward to that biting humor. Oh well. Even without that stuff it is great to see the evolution of the myriad of Doonesbury characters. If you are or know a Doonesbury fan, this book is well worth the $67 Amazon charges (versus $100 at bookstores).
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Rosalie
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This Doonesbury retrospective is a joy to have especially if one is the least bit nostalgic. Also a great volume for all us old hippies and hippie "want-a-bees." I have followed this "cartoon" almost since its beginning and after so many years a person feels that they know the characters as real people. The author has chosen the best of the best to illustrate the progression through the years and a big plus is the occasional musings on the main characters as he shares his thoughts on his characters minds. Interestingly, some of his insight has come after the character was developed.....and so you can see how they tend to take on a personality and evolve hardly without Garry's help.
Another plus for me is being able to sit and study the art work. It has always been fascinating to realize how one tiny ink mark can denote so much expression on the faces. Garry is a true master and this book reminds us of his skill at drawing, often audacious satire, and story telling as he took us through the good and bad of so many years.
Another plus for me is being able to sit and study the art work. It has always been fascinating to realize how one tiny ink mark can denote so much expression on the faces. Garry is a true master and this book reminds us of his skill at drawing, often audacious satire, and story telling as he took us through the good and bad of so many years.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Donald
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book is an extremely well done and complete compendium of the life and times of Doonesbury's world. It is hard to believe that the crew is 40 years old and still entertaining and educating us with such amazing insight and passion.
It does not, however, translate well on Kindle. The strips are almost impossible to read without a magnifying glass and there is no way to enlarge them to improve the situation. Changing font size or zooming does not affect the comics. Using PC or Mac Kindle with a very large monitor will no doubt make things better, but that defeats the reason you downloaded it to your e-reader in the first place.
It does not, however, translate well on Kindle. The strips are almost impossible to read without a magnifying glass and there is no way to enlarge them to improve the situation. Changing font size or zooming does not affect the comics. Using PC or Mac Kindle with a very large monitor will no doubt make things better, but that defeats the reason you downloaded it to your e-reader in the first place.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The first question to answer is this-- why buy this massive mountain of a book if, like me, you've already gathered every regular compilation of Doonesbury strips?
Open-ended narrative forms (comic strips, comic books, tv series, etc) present a challenge if they have a long and successful run. How exactly do you read them?
It's not a new problem. Dickens (and many 19th century fictioneers) wrote magazine serials, and you can make an argument that reading all of those chapters printed together as a "novel" is like watching your complete series dvd collection of LOST episodes and calling it a movie.
Walt Kelly used to edit together sections of the run of POGO into what were arguably graphic novels, but other than that, the best way to approach a run of a regular strip, particularly one that is only partially devoted to story continuity, remains elusive.
Trudeau's answer on this occasion is to filet down to the strips that dealt with his cast of characters, so that this gigantic beast pays almost no attention to the political and societal figures who have populated the strip, except where they intersect the arcs of Mike, Joannie, Mark, BD, Duke, etc. Here stories like the disintegration of Mike and JJ's marriage and his courtship and marriage to Kim are compressed and clear, instead of disappearing into the larger noise of the strip.
So this book features very little of Trudeau the political cartoonist and focuses instead on Trudeau the novelist of the comic pages, and the sweep and growth over that forty-year span is exhilarating, like a light Russian novel or a really long jazz solo. It highlights how Trudeau has used and re-used his materials, and how he has let his characters grow in ways that are both sweet and hilarious.... Read more ›
Open-ended narrative forms (comic strips, comic books, tv series, etc) present a challenge if they have a long and successful run. How exactly do you read them?
It's not a new problem. Dickens (and many 19th century fictioneers) wrote magazine serials, and you can make an argument that reading all of those chapters printed together as a "novel" is like watching your complete series dvd collection of LOST episodes and calling it a movie.
Walt Kelly used to edit together sections of the run of POGO into what were arguably graphic novels, but other than that, the best way to approach a run of a regular strip, particularly one that is only partially devoted to story continuity, remains elusive.
Trudeau's answer on this occasion is to filet down to the strips that dealt with his cast of characters, so that this gigantic beast pays almost no attention to the political and societal figures who have populated the strip, except where they intersect the arcs of Mike, Joannie, Mark, BD, Duke, etc. Here stories like the disintegration of Mike and JJ's marriage and his courtship and marriage to Kim are compressed and clear, instead of disappearing into the larger noise of the strip.
So this book features very little of Trudeau the political cartoonist and focuses instead on Trudeau the novelist of the comic pages, and the sweep and growth over that forty-year span is exhilarating, like a light Russian novel or a really long jazz solo. It highlights how Trudeau has used and re-used his materials, and how he has let his characters grow in ways that are both sweet and hilarious.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A big book
I like Doonsbury a lot and and there is plenty of it here. This book is a monster. One could not hope to read it in consecutive sittings. Read more
Published 26 days ago by Al Brenner
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's Doonesbury...so hard to go wrong
The only thing wrong with this collection is that it doesn't have absolutely every single comic Trudeau has done. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Greykell Dutton
5.0 out of 5 stars
For Doonesbury Lovers
I think Trudeau is one of the great cartoonists or graphic writers of my time. In this beautiful, big volume are collected a healthy sample of 40 years of his work. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ed Moritz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic tome for an established fan
This is like the Flashbacks book on steroids.
Very attractive slip cover and hardback binding, great print quality, and of course tons and tons of content. Read more
Very attractive slip cover and hardback binding, great print quality, and of course tons and tons of content. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Hammerklavier
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it!
This is just a great book from a detail, character, design, and historical perspective. I have not finished but really enjoy it.
Published 2 months ago by Tracy Meng
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceeded my expectations!
Loved the strip for many years and this is a true collectors edition. I love it, even though it needed to trim certain strips to fit it "all" in. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Douglas Bowker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Comic Book Ever
Bought this item for my husband for Father's Day as he really loves Doonesbury. He is always reading it. Loves the way it follows everything and the people time line it includes. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Virginia C. Racine
5.0 out of 5 stars
I nearly fell over when I first saw this book!!
I have been a fan of Doonsbury as long as I can remember.I don't know exactly when I first came across the "strip" ,but I have been a fan for many years and have collected most of... Read more
Published on May 23, 2011 by J. Guild
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hernia
Gary Trudeau's new book, 40: A Doonesbuty Retrospective, presents 13% of the 14,000 published strips from the past four decades of this comic strip. Read more
Published on March 5, 2011 by Stephen T. Hopkins
5.0 out of 5 stars
40: Doonesbury Retrospective
Trudeau's work still is funny and fresh and re-reading the old strips takes me back 40 years. When the book arrived, I sat in my office for two hours flipping through it and found... Read more
Published on March 2, 2011 by Hether
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