Customer Reviews

A Right to Be Hostile: The Boondocks Treasury

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This comic works on several levels. First, Mr. McGruder is one of the most insightful political commentators today. His shots at Rush Limbaugh's hypocrisy, the Iraq war, the CIA "tip line." Second, while I have never met Mr. McGruder (nor have any hope of doing so), it is interesting watching the interplay of the four main characters, and imagining they represent four aspects of McGruder's psyche. The Grandfather, representing traditional values and history (fishing, homeownership, and Dorothy Dandridge (sp?)). Caesar, the creative, hip hop musical side. Riley, the struggle of coping with contemporary amerika's portrait of young black males--enjoying the thrills of being "bad," while ignoring how manipulated he really is. And Huey, my personal favorite, one of the last radical socialists in contemporary culture--an unapologetic leftist who is never not reading.....All four struggling to form a balance, a home on Timid Deer Lane....

The most important point though, is the strips are funny. If a comic isn't funny, you might as well be reading Mary Worth.

I did knock off one star, because this "treasury" suffers from the same marketing issues as the Bloom County books: Right to be Hostile has many, but not all, of the comics in the first two books. It also has comics that are *not* in the first two books. So, if you are a freakish, die hard, crazy fan--you need to buy all three books for a whole set. That's the only reason for removing a star (harsh, I know. But I'm an old crank).

As for two previous reviews, the person who called Michael Moore Mr. McGruder's "massa" is an insulting moron. His own prose demonstrates what a hopeless idiot he really is. The second review takes Mr. McGruder to task because Huey Freeman (named after Huey Newton, co-founder of the Back Panther Party) was upset about missing Kwanza--a holiday created by Dr. Karenga, founder of United Slaves (US). The reviewer is correct that US and the Party were enemies, and courtesy of J Edgar Hoover's FBI, US was outfitted with equipment & weapons, with the goal of destroying the Party. Karenga was (and probably still is) a dangerous, unsympathetic character. Nevertheless, I know many people who celebrate Kwanza for the message it carries--despite Karenga. If you read the strips, Huey is torn because he forgot kwanza--on the one hand, Huey is a radical socialist as opposed to a black cultural nationalist. Still, "Blackness" is his culture, and forgetting holiday was understandably upsetting--all of which led to my favorite strip, when Huey asks Riley for advice........My point is, Mr. McGruder is consistent, accurate, and draws a comic based on what he knows.

And is funny.

And Free Jolly Jenkins!

I've read the often ill-informed negative reviews here and it seems that most of the people deriding Aaron Mcgruder's work a) Don't know the meaning or purpose of satire, b) Didn't really read the book, c) Just have a personal agenda to badmouth the man.

First of all, McGruder's probably reading all these negative reviews and laughing to himself, preparing to post them on his website or use them in future strips. Congratulations for giving the man more ammo to prove his point. If the nuances of satire (espcially the obvious satire contained in this strip) are lost on you then I advise you to stay far away from every single episode of The Simpsons.

Second, it's odd so many people leap to call McGruder a hipocrite or a racist or whatever and site examples from the book to back these statements up when said examples do no such thing. McGruder never sings the praises of Kwanzaa and in the book even Huey comes to the conclusion that, as a holiday, it needs a lot of work before it can be considered legitimate. Also, Huey is a broadly painted caricature of a black revolutionary and the fact that he is never taken seriously by other characters in the strip shows that McGruder is poking fun at yet another stereotypical figure: The overzealous, conspiracy theory nut. True his personal politics spill over into the strip but he is far from projecting himself into the character of Huey Freeman; an immature, loney and misguided kid. And those who think he's a racist must have overlooked the fact that he lampoons black people far more than he does anyone else. As far as the kung fu getups on the cover, so what? McGruder's always said his art was steeped in Anime tradition and Asians are one of the few groups he hasn't directed his wrath at. Complaints about the cover are just desperate nit-picking.

And last, there will always be those ready to tear down an artist for no other reason than they like to spit vitriol and hate toward anyone who's successful on their own terms. That they would actually take the time to read McGruder's work cover to cover for the sole purpose of blasting it online is pretty amazing . . . If I don't like something I just ignore it. But, then again, I'm not petty either. But I doubt anyone really takes these folks seriously anyway.

Like someone else said, if you're curious about the book and unsure, you can always flip through it in the store before you buy it. I suspect real fans of The Boondocks already have it on their coffee tables.

Political satire was often the theme for most early American comics. Not only were they insightful, but oftentimes they contained a sarcastic humor that is absent from many of today's comic strips. Squeaky clean, "family values" (ie: family circus)taints the media of today, afraid to be daring, or ironically, the least bit funny. Physical humor is in, but social humor is dead. Then comes the Boondocks...
With probably the most biting social commentary around, it brings White American politics to Black America. The results are Huey (the commited Socialist who sometimes get's too serious for his own good) and brother Riley (the product of corporate hip hop culture). This book isn't just for blacks, fans of hip hop, or political junkies, but anyone who is fed up Garfield sleeping, Doonsbury lacking, or Ziggy doing whatever the hell it is Ziggy does.

Aaron McGruder is a prime example of everything modern day cartoonists aren't, and that's a good thing.

What I find most interesting about the majority of the negative reviews so far is that quite a few people have forgotten that the Boondocks is a comic and as such, a piece of fiction. Huey, Ceasar and Riley are all fictional characters, a creation by Aaron McCruder, but not Aaron McCruder himself. Each character is set to give a different perspective on the situation. You'll notice that quite obviously these perspectives are often biased by the individual. But as I've read through the Boondocks for the last 3 years (or so, can't remember EXACTLY when it started) I've notice that Aaron McCruder makes strong cases for each character and why they are who they are. He even puts them in situations where they are wrong. Including Huey. This is true, authentic, and human. The assumption that Huey Freeman is Aaron McCruder, and Aaron McCruder is Huey Freeman is wrong. As such, to assume that Aaron McCruder believes and holds true to every one of Huey Freeman's statements and opinions is also wrong. This is a crafted piece of fiction, and the point it makes goes well beyond "Everything Huey Freeman says is true" but is in fact a dialogue and study on the various characters, and how they intereact with eachother and the world around them (in this case Timid Deer Lane). Aaron McCruder does in fact make serious political commentary about the world, but you can no more assume that he believes everything Huey believes no more than you can assume that he runs around trying to be a thug like Riley.
The thing that really concerns me is how many reviewers throw out accusations that Aaron McCruder is racist as easily as they throw out disgusting and racist comments straight at Aaron McCruder. This is wrong. Totally wrong, and little more can be said than that.
Finally, as far as the comments on Socialism are concerned, we currently live in a Capitalist country, which functions in a Capitalist manner. It was suggested in a previous review that Aaron McCruder should be working through a free server instead of paying for one privately, but you'll notice as this review is surrounded by all sides by various advertisements (as most websites are) that you have a choice to pay, or allow advertisers to make money off of your product. Either way, if you live in the capitalist country, some of your money/work will go to the capitalist process. It's ironic that this criticism of supporting private web companies and calling him (and Michael Moore) a hypocrit for dealing through big organizations is coming from reviews written on AMAZON.COM. Written on keyboards and computers that I doubt were acquired in any noble fashion that avoids supporting big business (It's cheezy, and self righteous but we could all use a look in the mirror before we start pointing fingers.)
In closing, the boondocks IS available for free. You can read it every day at www.ucomics.com or www.okayplayer.com I suggest you do.

Aaron McGruder's Boondocks is a daily dose of sanity in the funny pages. Biting, sarcastic, and funny, Boondocks has evolved from a plot and art-oriented strip (a la Calvin and Hobbes) to a more minimalist, political strip (a la early Doonesbury). Ever-present in an otherwise (almost) all-white funnies page, are subtexts of race and identity. Boondocks, amazingly, threads the needle with delicate wit, over-the-top satire, and touchingly human characters. Recommended.

Comparing this comic to Doonesbury is easy. Comparing this comic to Bloom County and Lil' Abner, now THAT'S praise.

Aaron McGruder can go from trashing BET and Star Wars one day, to lambasting American political policies the next, and never failing to get a laugh. His response to the knee-jerk patriotism that got him booted from the NY Daily News for reminding us that Bush Senior sent weapons to Afganistan years ago--The Adventures of Flagee and Ribbon, two loveable patriotic characters. Those characters reappeared in the basement months later, along with a rubik's cube a ColecoVision and all the other stuff people don't have a use for anymore.

This is not a hip-hop strip. This is not a strip about how cool it is to be black and hate whitey. This is the best piece of daily satire to come along in a long time. Pick up on it.

If you all spend your time looking for reasons to get ticked at McGruder, you are wasting your time. He slaps you in the face with them so you don't have to look. His strip is funny, insightful, and, yes, political. Until he stopped making commentary on interpersonal relationships, I thought his was the most complete comic strip being published. Now that Huey has withdrawn to sit in front of the TV set, I find him still funny, but too limited. I agree with most of his politics and he has the eye and the wit to even his most mean-spirited attacks funny.

I only wish he's bring back Jazmine, Riley and the interracial couple. His ability to weave a story on their interplay was priceless. Riley's constant quest for material gratification even under the guise of social justice (Free Shyne!), Jazmine's confusion about her multiracial background, even that irritating blonde singing all of the black sitcoms made people laugh, but also made them think.

And for you all to accuse him of appropriating Asian styles is sort of hypocritcal isn't it? I mean then we should be up in arms about all the Asian kids adopting hip hop style. And why don't we hear this about all of the White people who have straight up stolen Asian culture and claimed it as their own? McGruder is honoring anime with his style. he has never claimed to start the style nor has he ever suggested that Asians are not his influence.

Buy the darn books if you want comic strips that will make you laugh even after reading them for 30 times.

To see these spirited reviews, both positive and negative, has been eye-opening, if not enlightening. I'm glad to see people from both sides weighing in not only on the book, but on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) and the results of McGruder's commentary as well.

First off, I would like to review the book. I will establish a little context first; I am an Asian-American college student who attends a "liberal" school. You can read however much into that you would like. I read The Boondocks regularly, but I have not read the other collections. I am a fan, but not a devoted follower...yet.

"A Right to Be Hostile" provides hilarity and wit from front cover to back. As a minority, I found myself laughing at how McGruder illustrates the polarity between White Society and these "Pilgrims in an unholy land." But is the polarity exaggerated?

There's a strip on page 34 where a white woman and her daughter are walking on a sidewalk. When the mother sees puny Riley, complete with wifebeater, she, as Riley recalls to Huey, "straight-up YANKS her daughter to the other side of the street!" (McGruder's emphasis).

Huey: Knowing you, you're probably PROUD of that incident
Riley: NO DOUBT! It's about time folks here recognize who runs this place!!

It's funny to hear young Riley boasting about how he lords over white suburbia like some "ghettoized" criminal kingpin. But underneath the incisive humor and exaggeration are real issues, in this case racism. I've had moments where I felt discriminated against, though not in as blatant a form as presented in the strip. McGruder's strength is that he addresses and attacks these real issues of racism and politics. It would not be The Boondocks without McGruder addressing these issues.

To see other reviewers lambasting McGruder and this book simply because of his leftist, socialist views frustrates me because they simply do not see the point. McGruder isn't telling his readers to accept his viewpoints. All he's saying is to "Read, Dummy!" Think about the exaggerations. Maybe there's some truth behind them.

One reviewer claimed The Boondocks was deteriorating because of the focus on the two main characters, Huey and Riley, and the constant anti-Bush propaganda McGruder espoused. I consider this a fair critique, but even McGruder claims that this direction "was a better alternative than doing a bunch of insincere family humor" in his introduction to "A Right." "Honesty is the best policy"; if Trudeau suddenly shunned any politcal topic from his comic, how would longtime fans react? I realize that the tone may have become a little more somber, a little more disillusioned, a little more "Huey-ish" but I would argue that the comic is no less effective, and no less humorous even with its constant critique on the Bush administration. The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, and Doonesbury are just a few widely regarded sources of satire that frequently use politics as a source, but I don't recall seeing or hearing of such disagreement about any of them.
Moreover, comics have survived, even thrived upon a focus on select characters, namely "Calvin and Hobbes" created by Bill Watterson, one of McGruder's comic heroes.

But I digress. I find McGruder's book extremely appealing in its incisive satire of many issues people are afraid to discuss: black culture, American patriotism, politics, racism, alienation and disenfranchisement. To be honest, I find myself drawing comparisons to Wattersons's "C and H"; I enjoy the sharp dialogue about life from two youthful yet intelligent and underappreciated characters. The dialogue alone merits enough entertainment.
If Watterson un-retired and became a liberal black counterculturalist, the comic might look something like this.

After six years, the comic strip "The Boondocks," the brainchild of the young and talented, Aaron McGruder, is still surrounded by controversy. The satirical comic strip takes an in your face approach on such topics as Black culture, patriotism, racism and politics. Some papers have found the comic to be too much and have dropped it from their publication, while others have moved it to the editorial page. He shares his views through four main characters who represent different aspects of Black identity. First there's Huey, the young revolutionary, who watches the news, critiques the presidential debates and has an FBI surveillance file. His younger brother Riley, wants to grow up to be a kingpin, is a die hard of Hip-Hop culture and wants to be the first person to get away on COPS. Their grandfather is their primary caregiver and he represents the traditional views of Black culture. Jazmine, their neighbor is biracial and has identity issues that Huey has no qualms about setting straight

McGruder has strong views on the state of our nation and uses the characters of "The Boondocks" to speak for him. Some may not want to read this comic treasury because you may find someone you admire under McGruder's wrath. Everyone from the President of the United States on down to the Hip-Hop star of the moment is subject to be the topic under fire, he holds no punches. With this third collection, McGruder showcases some of his best work. The comic has an underlying message and it's delivery is hilarious. I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks and my sides hurt. I love Aaron McGruder's wit and his courage to continue to produce his work under the scrutiny of his many critics. If you really want to know what I am raving about I suggest you pick up a copy of A RIGHT TO BE HOSTILE.

Reviewed by Aiesha Flowers
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I won't waste my time heaping praise upon Huey and his crew, because as far as I'm concerned they ROCK. Edgy, funny, contemporary commentary of the day to day. If anyone says otherwise it' usually because hes struck a nerve. How do I know? Because the right always gets all freaked out when they check him out. Get a clue guys. #1 you're not the target audience #2 It's a comic strip for gods sake #3 At some point you'll have to stop attacking the source (and their hair) when you can't think of anything slightly intelligent to say. I thought maybe a few of these reviews would blame Clinton for the things coming out of Huey's mouth. #4 Study irony and sarcasm and maybe you might see some truth in the strips.