Customer Reviews

Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper

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The subtitle of the book is "Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper." Well, I read the newspaper, but as a committed reader of The New York Times, I don't have the opportunity to read the daily comic strips (since the NYT contains no syndicated daily strips). But I heard about The Boondocks and bought the book. What can I say? If there was a Mount Rushmore for cartoonists, Mr, McGruder belongs there. Not only are the strips funny, witty, and biting, but as a graduate of social and cultural analysis studies at Maryland, his perceptions are dead on. As McGruder writes, "the truth hurts." It hurts because your stomach hurts so bad from the laughing. Who else would think of putting an insulting blurb from the President of BET on the back cover of the book, if not a genius? As was written above and below, Huey and Riley Freeman move with their grandfather to the white suburbs of Woodcrest from downtown Chicago. It's their grandfather's dream and 40 acres, but Huey thinks that he is the mule. It is a town where the grammar school is named for J Edgar Hoover, and the junior high is named for George Wallace (or so Huey's grandfather mused). Riley's teacher was a nun and worked in a prison before becoming a teacher. Huey and Riley's neighbors include an interracial couple, their daughter, and a naïve white girl. Huey and Riley work hard to keep it real, but your laughs will come easy. I can't wait a next volume. I hope it includes Huey, Caesar and Mr. Tom Dubois' debate over Kwanzaa (budget Hanukkah? or a perpetuation of a fallacy of monolithic African culture?) Where is the line a Boondock's greeting cards?

I've known of Aaron McGruder's comic strip for a while but never actually got around to reading it (longtime fans will forgive me, I hope). Well, I got my hands on this collection and after catching up with everyone else I have to say that I have a new flag to wave. In fact, I'm kind of jealous. Boondocks is exactly the comic strip I would have created had I actually sat down and done it. Topics such as Hip-Hop, racial identity, stereotyping and poitics are all dealt with in an intellegent and non-condecending manner that's fresh in this age of stiffling political correctness.

It's refreshing to see hip-hop treated with the respect it deserves by someone who clearly loves the culture. The discussions about race and politics are honest and thought- provoking. Plus, like the best Calvin and Hobbes strips, Boondocks is just downright funny.

I have to admit that I had no idea that Mr. McGruder's strip had caused such an uproar. After reading the book I hit up the website and was treated to a very telling display of all the hate mail and negativity that has been spewed by numerous people. It's not surprising. One thing that I've come to realize is that a lot of people have a very low tolerance and understanding of social satire. That's why people don't "get" movies like "Fight Club" and bad mouth the current Spike Lee Joint "Bamboozled". And since Boondocks is social satire at its finest it will be doomed to misunderstanding and attack by people who don't "get it" and read more into it than they should. Populated by characters like Huey Freeman, a conspiricy theorizing revolutionary and Reily, his foul-mouthed, bling-blinging little brother, Boondocks is not your typical Sunday paper comic strip.

My favorite moment from the book involves Huey answering the phone and being presented with "exciting news" about new long distance service. Huey responds that he has exciting news too. . . "De La Soul is releasing a triple LP this year and The Roots are finally coming out with their long-awaited live album."

Well, I have exciting news too. . . The Boondocks strips are now collected in their first book. Pick it up.

I was happily surprised to see this in a bookstore -- I didn't even know it was out there. Guess nobody at Andrews McMeel is exactly breakin' their backs promoting this. Anyway, if 'Peanuts' owned the '50s and '60s, 'Doonesbury' owned the '70s, and 'Bloom County,' 'The Far Side' and 'Calvin & Hobbes' owned the '80s, who owned the '90s? There was a long, LONG dry spell before Aaron McGruder came along in 1999. He may yet own the new decade as well. What comic strip that originated in the '90s has been this consistently funny and relevant and biting? 'Dilbert'? It has its moments but mainly appeals to guys like Scott Adams. 'Fox Trot'? Thanks, but I prefer a strip that slams 'Star Wars' to a strip that has devoted entire weeks to 'Star Wars' homages.

'The Boondocks' has managed to offend both white and black people, which means it's doing something right. The nice thing is that it also manages to entertain both white and black people -- at least those who get the joke, who find humor in the goofiness specific to white people and the goofiness specific to black people. This isn't a get-whitey strip -- McGruder has a bit of fun at the expense of his protagonists, the ever-righteous Huey and his gangsta-wannabe brother Riley. Yet he also lets each of them have moments of clarity and insight. Even at his most ruthless, there's very little mean-spiritedness in McGruder's satire -- he's one of those satirists who has a kind of affection for the stupidities he's skewering, because he knows life wouldn't be as funny without them. (Perfect example: his ongoing digs at B.E.T.)

In all, this book is the beginning of what's shaping up to be a great career. Jump on board now.

I picked up a copy of the Boondocks by chance because I liked the sub-title (Cause I know you don't read the newspapers). Upon opening the book, I was exposed such intelligent, funny, and sharp prose and endearing, honest, well-thought out characters that I became an instant fan. The Boondocks is destined to be the next Calvin & Hobbes and/or Doonesbury, and I am excited to have discovered it during it's first publication in book form. Someday, when it is a household name and syndicated across the country I'll be able to see "I knew it when . . ." Lucky me. Pick up a copy as quick as you can, I promise you wont be dissapointed.

As an aside, besides Huey (the main character and "radical scholar"), my favorite character is Jazmine. As a girl who also struggles with being biracial occasionally, I think she does a wonderful job of representing this aspect of race in America. Aaron (the artist behind the Boondocks) handles a potentially volatile topic with consistant clarity and beauty. Check out Boondocks.net and look at the 7/23/00 comic (under the "Strips" link) to see what I'm talking about. If your reading this Aaron (maybe?), Thank you from the heart.

Bloom County. I have to mention it because Boondocks draws from Berke Breathed's legendary 80s strip endlessly. From the children with mature perspectives to the pacing of the humor, the inspiration is clear. But Boondocks succeeds in being original and entertaining for a few reasons:

1. New Perspectives: Boondocks is almost always dealing with the issues of the day, which makes it fresh. It is also from a mostly black perspective, as so few comic strips are or ever have been.

2. More radical than Bloom County or anything I've ever seen in the papers.

3. No talking animals. At least none that I've seen.

None of this makes it better or worse than it's predocessors, but rather unique and refreshing. It's one of those strips that is very fun to look to each day for a radical, humorous perspective on what's being jammed down our throats by the media at the time.

The main character, Huey, acts as both the voice of the strip but a comical figure at the same time. There is a lot of wisdom in what he is saying and that gets across, but at the same time his personality and approach are constantly being poked fun at. Aaron McGruder seems to be indulging in healthy self-satire without making a mockery of his political views, and I assume that is quite tough.

All in all, if any strip deserves to be the next Calvin & Hobbes, this is it. Nevermind Dilbert - and put Garfield to sleep, already.

"The Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read the Newspaper," by Aaron McGruder, is a collection of comic strips that tell the story of the Freeman brothers. Huey and Riley Freeman are two young African-American boys who have moved from Chicago to a nearly all-white neighborhood with their grandfather. McGruder mines the saga of these strangers in a strange land for some potent humor and cutting social satire.

McGruder has developed some of the best comic strip characters I have ever read: Huey, a pint-sized revolutionary and conspiracy theorist with a huge afro; gangsta wannabe Riley; their crochety grandfather; Jazmine, a mixed-race neighbor girl at odds with her ethnic heritage; "Psycho 'Star Wars' Guy"; and more. Typical plots involve Huey starting a neighborhood Klanwatch, delving into the "Santa Conspiracy," etc. Along the way there are jokes and slams involving Star Wars, UPN, and BET.

"The Boondocks" is a comic strip with both brains and heart--unafraid to be controversial, but also unashamed to explore the humanity of its characters. Is it a "Peanuts" for the 21st century? I don't know, but I do know it's good stuff.

Aaron McGruder is responsible for giving me a reason to want to read the comics again. He's that good. Everything about this strip, from the characters to the artwork and subject matter, leaps off the page and makes an impression. McGruder pulls no punches and makes no apologies, and that's exactly what makes his work so appealing to so many people (and appalling to some others). Not since Gary Trudeau has there been a comic strip artist who dared to make his work topical and timely, while still being hilariously funny. Unfortunately, we live in an age of people are afraid to think, or at least to think anything other than what they're told, and who wouldn't dream of questioning the status quo. After 9/11, MacGruder was one of a small few who dared not march in lockstep and instead was not afraid to level justified and pointed criticism at the American public and its so-called leaders. Fortunately, there hasn't been any real damage to the popularity of his work, perhaps because he simply has the courage and talent to say in his work what so many of us are also thinking in this age when speaking up can earn one socioeconomic punishment. Not only does he said it, but he says it well and with terrific humor. Here's hoping McGruder and "The Boondocks" are around for a long, long time to come.

I loved the book, and i have read every single boondocks cartoon since its debut. For anyone who misses Calvin and Hobbes, and wants something similar to doonesbury, this comic strip is for you. You dont need to be black to understand the messages of this book, or find it amusing. I am white, and completely unconnected to hip-hop, and i loved it. McGruder tackles major issues with a wonderful mix of satire and fantasy. Whether Riley is attacking people with a toy lightsaber, or Huey is attempting to get out of yard work, this book is fun and a great read. The strip turns some people away because it has sparked controversy. People have been upset that Huey has not blindly followed his government and gone a' warmongering since 9/11. The alternative to a controversial comic strip is yes, you guessed it, the dreaded FAMILY CIRCUS!!!!! FREE JOLLY JENKINS!!!!!!!

The man below me seems to find it some how helpful to be condescending towards any sort of thing that defiles the "white supremacy" I have absolutely nothing against white people in any shape or form, but this man speaks complete ignorance. The only thing that differs from people is their culture, not their skin, eye color, hair color, or anything else. To be negligent towards other cultures is pure idiocy. People constantly fear what they don't understand and does this nothing but allow ignorance to reign. The Boondocks is a comic and just as simply it is comical. It's a funny little pass time, I don't see anyone deciphering any Garfield comics. So to get back to what this commentary is really about, Boondocks is a great comic with some interesting insights. Peace, stay golden!

I've been reading Boondocks for the past few months, even going so far as to look for it online when I forget to grab a newspaper. It is by far the most intelligent, witty and even occasionally, deep comic strip in production today.

After only the first few reads, I was an instant fan and actually anticipating, rather than dreading, the first book to be released by McGruder.

His humor has the capacity to go beyond race and politics and touch at the very core of what social satire is all about, intelligent commentary......

So if you do turn to the strips in your paper looking for sad little cheese-puff humor, drawn and written from a sheltered perspective, stay away from the Boondocks, because it, my fellow reader, is a strip written for people with vision and conscience.

Hey Huey, It's Revolution Time!