Customer Reviews

Fresh For '01... You Suckas: A Boondocks Collection

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Fresh for '01, You Suckas" makes a great gift. Forget about the people that complain, "The characters always look so angry," or "This is a racist comic strip...". Aaron McGruder has created the best daily comic since Calvin and Hobbes. Perhaps the most socially aware comic since Doonsbury. Find out what all the fuss is over. See if these characters are causing strains in race relations and "inciting angry black children to riot". Huey and Riley are much more real and amusing than other "steppin' and fetchin'" comic characters. The Grandfather still wonders what's wrong with his boys, Cindy is still obsessed with mainstream black entertainment, and Ceasar is just a rockin' Emcee. Whatever opinion you draw from the Boondocks, it's unlikely that you will ever forget it. FREE JOLLY JENKINS!

It seems like most of these reviews were written by people very familiar with The Boondocks. I bought this book on a whim after seeing McGruder's work in The Broke Diaries by Angela Nissel and a negative "letter to the editor" article about his comic strip.

I absolutely love this comic strip now and would have read the "funny pages" a long time ago if I'd known it offered a timely, smart, grown-up alternative to Family Circus.

McGruder speaks through youngsters for my generation, raising relevant issues but never losing the humor. No one is safe from his wit; not Puffy nor presidential candidates.

Not to mention, the artwork is awesome. I enjoyed the subtle shadings in the comic strip and his silly art in The Broke Diaries.

If you're not sure what all the fuss is about or you get your news online like me and haven't touched a paper in years, catch up with this collection. The Boondocks might actually make you start buying the paper again.

Aaron McGruder never ceases to amaze me with his eternal wit! He provides comic relief to issues that would normally bring me dangerously close to rage or tears. Issues such as racial/color complexes, politics, and the dire condition that public schools are in. Some of the comics take me back to my college days (although these young gentlemen are in grammar school) when teachers would ask me "So, Harriet...what do BLACK people think about this issue?" (yeah, as if I can answer for millions of African descendants worldwide).

At any rate, I commend Mr. McGruder for his boldness through the eyes of Huey, Riley (Esco), and the new character Caesar, giving the neverending shout out to BROOKLYN, BABY! WHAT?! WHAT?! As well as all Chicago heads (my origin) BUK! BUK! BUK! Keep on speaking the truth!

I think the greatest compliment that I can give to McGruder is that even when I disagree with what he is saying, I still laugh at his observations. This is the best comic strip of all time because it never goes for sappy "awww" moments. It is devoted to showing McGruder's political beliefs through humor and it works. Some of the best stories in here are Riley joining the NRA, Huey's outrage at the X-Men movie, and Grandpa's census job. Even better than the first. Buy them both.

All right, you Amazon Eastsidaz, lissenup. This here review's fresh from the DJ Da Man, so don't you be dissin' this playa or the Boondocks, knaawmsayin?

Having read of Huey Freeman's antics on the FBI anti-terrorism hotline in The Nation magazine, I had to find out more, so I started out with Fresh For '01... You Suckas! The fun and frolics in the day of removed Chicagoans Huey, Riley, their grandfather in the white suburb of Woodcrest, was a refreshing blast of new air for me.

In this collection, we are introduced to Michael Caesar, better known as Caesar, a Brooklynite in dreadlocks stranded in white suburbia. In comparison to the perpetually angry and depressed revolutionary Huey and his younger brother Riley, who is "Mr. Thug Life," Caesar seems to be the most normal, as he thinks Huey takes things too seriously at times, but is nevertheless drawn in to his friend's sense of purpose, which is to give more than just lip service to James Brown's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and Proud" anthem. And he's the only one who can cut the obnoxious Riley down to size.

Seeing things from a black perspective is interesting and refreshing to say the least. Huey rips on movies for not representing blacks properly. I discern how he longs for more days when blacks were more militant, in the early 1970's. He probably sees Shaft and Coffy as the epitomy of black pride. For him, the revolution needs to start NOW!

The best antics involve Huey's grandfather getting a job as a census taker. He delegates authority to Huey, but torn between his desire to stay true to his anti-establishment ways and helping his grandfather, delegates his assignment to Riley, who has a blast harassing whites. Huey in turn ditches lawn cutting duty to go watch The Patriot with Caesar.

The mainstreaming of urban culture and language to make white people more hip is seen with Cindy, a cute white girl who sits behind Huey in school and is into Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, and ODB. She means well, trying to connect with Huey in her interest in black pop culture while being clueless to his opposition to the mainstream. She tries to impress him by humming theme songs to old school black shows and even does her spin on the "WHAZZUP?" commercial. In the end, all she does is annoy Huey even more, but at least she's open to more black artists and pop culture, even if it is mainstream and corporately packaged. Cindy's funnier than Eric Cartman doing Flavor-Flav in South Park.

This collection covers the early to late stages of the 2000 election. I don't know the time period each collection spans, but I assume the next collection will deal with the 2000 election results and hopefully see Huey's calls to the FBI hotline, and brother, I can't wait for it to come out. Keep'em coming, Mr. McGruder. And to Huey, Caesar, Riley, and the rest of the gang, peace out, y'all.

Fresh For '01...You Suckas! is a collection of cartoon strips featuring the political charged but always interesting world of Huey, an African-American city kid displaced into the unfamiliar world of white suburbia. A richly multilayered comic strip of great humor and keen insights, Fresh For '01...You Suckas! will provoke thought and improve racial discourse while provoking a laugh-out-loud response from the reader. Aaron McGruder has quite evidently tapped into his own experiences as a long black facing growing up in Columbia, Maryland to give his characters and their observations a true to life dimension that is wonderfully facilitated by his compelling sense of satire.

A few comic strips have wit, charm and intelligence. Some fewer have bite, courage and acerbic character. None have had all that plus the political relevance of Pogo since Walt Kelly took on the KKK and HUAC back in the late '50's ... except Boondocks. Aaron McGruder is a worthy successor to Walt Kelly, imho, plus he's never worked for Walt Disney. As a defrocked Iowa Democrat, I have all the wrong credentials to recommend this book, but my short list of favorite outrageous authors these days does include, besides Ann Coulter, Aaron McGruder. Bravo.

I read the Boondocks every day in the Washington Post. I have been a fan since day one, and I loved the first Boondocks comic collection. This latest, Fresh for '01 You Suckas, is actually better than the first one!

What makes this compilation so much better is the introduction of Michael Caesar, a Brooklyn transplant. He is as intelligent as Huey but much more fun-loving; he provides the perfect foil for Huey. I love seeing their interactions. Caesar has become my favorite Boondocks character (sorry Huey). WHERE BROOKLYN AT?!

I was a bit disappointed that Mr. McGruder didn't delve deeper into the 2000 presidential selection; then again, such a debacle was probably too much for even Huey to deal with! Riley and Cindy MacPherson provided their own brand of comic relief, as did Granddad. Jazmine wasn't as prominent in this collection, but still made her presence known. Yet and still, I recommend adding this one to your bookshelf.

I find the Boondocks very truthful and outgoing.Aaron McGruder is not afraid to touch subjects that some people are afraid to speak on. His insight on the Sept. 11th Bombing was both truthful and made people aware of some things some people would rather not have brought to light. Also, its maaaaaaaaad funny.

I could not believe how funny this comic strip is! McGruder "keeps it real" by using the Freeman family characters to depict many aspects of African-American culture. Their coexistence within an all-white community is truly funny, and Huey's discourse often provides food for thought. This is what I want from a book: interesting characters, believable dialogue, and bust-out-loud laughter. Bottom line: I loved it!