Customer Reviews

Public Enemy #2: An All-New Boondocks Collection

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am wild about Aaron McGruder. He captures the very essence of political satire with his adorable characters in the Boondocks. I have watched him on Bill Maher and can certainly see why he has remained so popular. Huey and Cesar often ponder a world in which the Democrats regained control of the country, but realize that Kerry was just a punk. Grandad's crusty ways make me laugh every morning on the way to work, and Riley's thug attitude brings it all back to Earth, proving that even the most serious political pundit can have a sense of humor and still get his point across. I also think Aaron McGruder is hot.

The Boondocks is undoubtedly the most important mainstream comic since its obvious and admitted predecessor, Doonesbury. However, the connection these strips share is in purpose, because their contents are dramatically different.

Picture the white-picket fence tranquility of your stereotypical suburb within comfortable driving distance of the thuggish-ruggish city.

Everything is just peaches, and roses, and whatever else, until this family moves in. Now the old fella, Grandpa, he's cool because he's soooo old he's just happy to be living, and indifferent to most current affairs, because hey, at least he doesn't have to run from a crazy mob of Klan members like they had to in the old days.

His grandsons, however, are different. Riley, that pint-sized DMX/50 Cent/Ja Rule wannabe, brings the real ghetto (or so he and they think) to this used to be perfect setting. Even worse is older Huey, whose calls for revolution contain too much fire for this complacent community.

Throughout their daily lives, Huey rails against modern politics, race relations, and pop culture, while Riley embraces these and any other establishments that are either down with, or help his cause to get his swerve on.

What prevents this collection from receiving the five star rating I give the first collection is its incessant reliance on aforementioned topics, in lue of strips which work to expand on the vivid characters of the strip. In the last collection, many strips were dedicated to themes and issues immersed in current affairs, but they only existed within the context of this local community and its citizens. Every strip in this new collection calls attention to more recognizable and global topics/issues/people, and rarely within the context of simply this local community. The result is a sometimes tiring focus on Beyonce, Condoleeza Rice, GW, etc.

Regardless, University of Maryland alumni (Go Terps!) Aaron McGruder is still one of the most important writers of today. Through the genre of comics, he is able to reach a wider audience which includes those with short attention spans. He is one artist in the mainstream media who speaks the inarguable truth with ferocity and no holds barred. He challenges his cultural race, and indirectly the human race in general, to be upfront and honest about all the important issues we lie to ourselves about for comfortability and peace of mind: war, poverty, excessive living, immorality, and perverse freedom.
Pick this collection up as a way to lend laughter to your otherwise brimming dissatisfaction with these issues.

This is a collection of the newspaper comic Boondocks. I love this comic! If Doonesbury was the 70s, Bloom County the 80s, and Calvin and Hobbes the 90s (though not as political as the others), Boondocks is now. This collection seems to cover 2003-2004, including, of course, the Bush-Kerry election. McGruder really expresses the anger, disappointment, and fear of the election by those of the left in a way that I totally and completely relate to. There is obviously a debt to Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes in his comics, though with a bit more righteous anger. His lampooning of pop culture and frankness regarding race also rarely miss the mark. Even when I don't read the paper, I go online to read Boondocks. It makes me feel like I'm not alone, and reminds me of the humor in everything.

This is another McGruder outing and if you have not read him, do and see what the hype is about.
This young man is bitingly witty and focused in his observations.
Others have called him a racist, while it is more honest to say he is an equal opportunity skewer-er (yup, made that one up).
The book's main cast members are Riley: the thug in training;
Huey: the radical;
Ceasar: the conscience, and a host of others who shine a light on life in American that illuminates all our hypocrasy and fake-ness.
Read it and see that there is someone out there that is making it his job to see that we continue to think and hold discussions about American culture, life and government.

This second compilation of Boondocks comics, while not quite as fresh and funny as the first, still delivers the best wit and political satire on the comics page. Spanning months from March 2002 through the 2004 election, Aaron McGruder successfully pierces the balloon of media self importance in the run-up to the Iraq War. He also finds supreme irony with America "exporting democracy" after the dirty tricks and insider dealing of the last two elections. Ever the equal opportunity satirist, McGruder's lampoon of John Kerry's verbal equivocation still makes me laugh nearly a year after the 2004 election.

McGruder's critique of black networks like UPN goes over my head, as does his jabs at embarrassing black entertainers. I'm not black, but I could use a few hints about why those he targets deserve his ire. His series of strips about trying to get a boyfriend for Condoleza Rice, though, are still terrific, as are his jabs are the "super Nasty Jesus movie" (Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"). Topical and funny are the strips when Granddad tries to explain homosexual marriage to grandsons Huey and Riley. They kids know more about it than he does, but every time they try to clarify Granddad's stammering statements, they end up getting sent to their rooms. This period also saw Bill Cosby getting a higher profile as he tried to get blacks to talk right and dress nice. McGruder respects Cosby and to some degree his message (note the lampoon of "Black English Month" on page 43), but can't help portraying him as raving and barely coherent.

9/11 must have taken a lot out of McGruder, because it took him nearly a year of strips to get his game on. But even a wounded Boondocks is better, fresher and more thought-provoking than much of what lands in the comic pages, or the op-ed pages for that matter.

I get the Boondocks comic strip e-mailed to me daily so when I read the last two books, I was disappointed when I read the same jokes. But for some strange reason, I fell out laughing rereading the same jokes this time. Maybe it's because I enjoy someone knocking Bush more than I do. I don't know. Either way, this was a classic read.

I've been a big fan of "The Boondocks" ever since its debut back in April 1999. I haven't laughed this hard at a dailies strip since "Calvin and Hobbes". Aaron Mcgruder's work is pure genius. Nothing is sacred; Mcgruder picks on everything and everyone: from the questionable programming on UPN and BET to Condoleeza Rice.

However, I think that Mcgruder needs to back off the political humor a little bit sometimes and bring back some of the earlier characters - like Cindy McPhearson. Cindy was the constant thorn on Huey's side and the funniest character (her attempts to imitate Snoop Dog and other rappers were hilarious), but she inexplicably disappeared from the strip almost four years ago. Of course if she ever appears in the cartoon, I'll probably would be a little more forgiving.

As far this current collection goes, it has many funny moments (check out Caesar's idea for "The Most Embarrassing Black People Award"), but it is not as good as the first two compilations (i.e., "Because I Know You Don't Read the Newspaper" and "Fresh in '01...You Suckas!") Four out of five stars. Oh yeah...and bring back Cindy!

I'm a white conservative. OK? But I love "Boondocks."

If you're not familiar, "Boondocks" is essentially a comic strip about two black brothers who have relocated to the 'burbs to live with their Grandad. The strip focuses on the older brother "Huey" (if you don't get that one just stop reading) as he tends to be the lone voice of reason. Huey is politically active, aware, and radical. This is sometimes taken to the point of absurdity. The flip side of his coin is his brother "Reilly." He want's to be a gangsta with all his might, but ends up being ill-informed and at times down right stupid.

Mcgruder does a masterful job of tackling social ills, and his own liberal views, with out being at all dogmatic. One of his favorite targets is black popular culture, and there are plenty of shots at BET, rap, and sexual exploitation. What he doesn't do is play the race card over and over again. This is well thought out, intellegent commentary and satire. You can tell when he looks in the mirror, Mcgruder sees a grown up version of Huey, and also sees the humor in all his "black rage." That's what "Boondocks" is about. It's OK to be angry at social injustice, but it's also OK to laugh at the absurd.

I did and still do think that the show is hilarious, but the books blow it away. This graphic novel supersedes any and all comedic expectations. An exceedingly wonderful spin on racial humor and life in general. Not much else to say other than that it is one of the best comics of all time.

Ignore S M's comments about Aaron McGruder. He has posted the same message for all of the Boondocks collection. It is obvious that he is not very aware of Mr. McGruder's comic collection.

Boondocks are not for people who are hypersensative to the issues of race. The comic is not focused on the issue of race. This comic deals with political issues, entertainment news, and famous world figures. These comics are for people who see a little bit of themselves in the characters and don't mind laughing at what they see.
There are always those few people who complain about an artist, comedian, etc. who isn't politically correct. This is America and a free country.

If you like the strip, I would encourage you to check out the Boondocks TV show on Cartoon Network. I cannot wait till the series comes out on DVD!!!