Customer Reviews

Doonesbury Deluxe: Selected Glances Askance

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nostalgia comes from odd corners sometimes - as in one of these mid-1980s strips, early on, where Mike refers to his new office in the World Trade Center. Field trips through Reagan's brain look different now than they did then, because of Reagan's subsequent losses to Alzheimer's. Even references to Miami Vice seem quaint now. Side-comments on college life are as salient (and discouraging) now as ever.

Then there are the Doonesbury characters themselves: Mike and J.J., struggling with career and marriage, Boopsie's career as professional floozie and her life with B.D., Zonker's surreal daily life, and Uncle Duke's latest scams - the ones he pulls and the ones pulled on him. My favorite may be Dr. Whoopee, an AIDS-era invention with his door-to-door condom sales, subscription services, and catering for major events at frats and sororities.

Half soap opera, half social commentary, this is one look at American history as it was happening. I know that daily and Sunday strips aren't the most rigorous of historical documents, but they're very immediate - especially to those of us who remember when these strips were new.

//wiredweird