Doonesbury: Red Rascal's War

Doonesbury Annuals #53

by G.B. Trudeau

Readers and critics were wowed by G. B. Trudeau's epic masterpiece 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective, and they'll rejoice when they see this beautiful follow-up volume. Featuring an innovative format and an all-new collection of strips, Red Rascal's War is the first all-color Doonesbury book ever.Both Trudeau and his fans have followed Doonesbury's ever-expanding cast through four decades of cultural turbulence and change. With its arresting cover and rich interior, Red Rascal's War showcases the most recent additions to a body of work the New York Times admiringly refers to as "a sprawling masterwork.""[Trudeau is] Dickensian in his range of characters," writes Garry Wills in The New York Review of Books. "Trudeau has just kept improving, year after year, in part because he stays so close to changing events. . . . He has never been better than in the last six years."From the exploits of Afghan legend-in-chief Sorkh Razil to the pipe dreams of Malibu's top nanny Zonker Harris, and from the "no more chill pills" intervention by Obama's aides to the way-cool love of a headbanging war vet and his MIT-grad gal, Doonesbury marches wildly on."What else is guaranteed to make you think, feel nostalgic, and laugh out loud at least once a page?" --Karen Holt, O Magazine

Genres: Comics, Humor, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Politics, Cartoon, Comic Strips

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2011

About the author

Garretson Beekman "Garry" Trudeau is an American cartoonist, best known for the Doonesbury comic strip. In 1970, Trudeau's creation of Doonesbury was syndicated by the newly formed Universal Press Syndicate. Today Doonesbury is syndicated to almost 1,400 newspapers worldwide and is accessible online in association with Slate Magazine at doonesbury.com. In 1975, he became the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer, traditionally awarded to editorial-page cartoonists. He was also a Pulitzer finalist in 1990. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1977 in the category of Animated Short Film, for A Doonesbury Special, in collaboration with John Hubley and Faith Hubley. A Doonesbury Special eventually won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Special Prize in 1978. Other awards include the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) Newspaper Comic Strip Award in 1994, and the Reuben Award in 1995. He was made a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993. Wiley Miller, fellow comic-strip artist responsible for Non Sequitur, called Trudeau "far and away the most influential editorial cartoonist in the last 25 years." In addition to his work on Doonesbury, Trudeau has teamed with Elizabeth Swados and written plays, such as Rap Master Ronnie and Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy. In 1988, Trudeau joined forces with director Robert Altman for the HBO miniseries Tanner '88 and the Sundance Channel miniseries sequel Tanner on Tanner in 2004. In 1996, Newsweek and The Washington Post speculated that Trudeau wrote the novel Primary Colors, which was later revealed to have been written by Joe Klein. Trudeau wrote the political sitcom Alpha House, starring John Goodman and Bill Murray. The pilot was produced by Amazon Studios and aired in early 2013. Due to positive response Amazon has picked up Alpha House to develop into a full series.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

In addition to the Red Rascal storyline, this collection contains some real gems - the tweets of Roland Headley, Alex and Leo's continuing romance, Mel's struggles to deal with being raped by her superior officer, Sam's Sarah Palin doll going really, REALLY rogue, Duke's attempts to salvage BP's image after the oil spill and Jeff's firing of a gun at a Bagram wedding that accidentally shoots down a USO helicopter. Good stuff!

And what a treat to see every comic in color!

If you're a Doonesbury fan, this one is worth adding to your stash.

[Lesa Neace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was reading Doonesbury before I really understood a lot of the material. This is Trudeau's most recent collection and deals with both the classic and next generation of characters. Another interesting aspect of the comic strip is that the author lets his characters age and evolve as time passes instead of leaving them forever static. Never one to shy away from controversy, Trudeau combines current events with the characters' lives in thought provoking ways. Managing to make you see and empathize the character's point of view even if you don't always agree with it. Even after all this time Trudeau's work is still fresh and entertaining.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because I read that Doonesbury had done such a great job creating a wounded Iraq war veteran. This veteran is a good character, but I was more impressed by how pitch perfect Doonesbury's satire of modern life and Washington are.

[Anetq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still love the way Trudeau manages to weave the stories and people into this grand picture of the world.

[Tristan Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This (I believe) penultimate collection of Trudeau's "sprawling masterwork" (NY Times) displays the brilliance and clever repartee that the cartoonist is known for. I will run out of superlatives before I run out of space. If you'll forgive a comparatively short review, let me just say that what Trudeau called "investigative cartooning" is in fine form. Published in 2011, this collection is like a trip through Yesteryear to me, replete with echoes of political and societal issues that still hold true today. The last few pages of this collection show the first gestures of the Angry Mango's attempt at an election bid. The rhetoric depicted there hasn't mellowed with age; it is, however, another example of Trudeau's prescience.

I must quote "Marvelous" Mark Slackmeyer's observation: "Nine years ago, we were attacked. 3000 people died. In response, we started two long, bloody wars and built a vast homeland security apparatus -- all at a cost of trillions. Now consider this. During those same nine years, 270,000 Americans were killed by gunfire at home. Our response? We weakened our gun laws."

I share this to help celebrate the NRA's declaration of bankruptcy.

[Daniel Mala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fell behind on Doonsebury. Hilarious political commentary as always. It always amazes me how many characters that maintain appearances in this comic strip. Red Rascal ends in the Obama years so I still have a couple of books till I’m current. Since I’m a weird one in that I went back to the beginning several years ago and read the whole strip chronologically I have no clue how to recommend new readers to Doinesbury. Maybe wade in slowly and google search characters to get a synopsis. Anyway, love the strip and the satire!

[RebL · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a young teen in the 1980s I clearly remember when I became aware enough of world politics to understand what was happening in "Doonesbury." This collection of First Obama Term-era strips is arguably lends more insight now, looking back, than they did at the time they were newly published. 4.5 stars and going on the history shelf.

[D'face · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kindle edition is very nice with lovely panel transitions and great colour. I was very sad to come to the end of this collection just as DJT appeared. Scott Bradfield had spoken about Doonesbury on his podcast which reminded me to look out for this collection.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A particularly good collection, love the exploits of Red Rascal.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of Alex and Leo! ❤ Obama presidency, Tea Party, continued wars, more social media, Red Rascal narrative with Jeff Redfern, lots of Mel storyline, the bad man talks about running against Obama...

[David]

It’s almost a shock after Trump to return to 2010 strips and see Trudeau targeting Obama!

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trudeau hit one of his periodic strides in the 2010s. Although the closing sequence of the orange-haired neo-semi-fascist clown announcing a "novelty candidate" is a bit sobering.

[Mike]

Red Rascal's War

Doonesbury just keeps on rolling. Set during the Obama administration, this collection brings together the regulars along with Obama, Trump, and Palin. Spot on.

[Derek Erb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have dreamed of Doonesbury on my iPad ever since I got the first one. This was a wonderful experience: part nostalgia, part new discovery.

Slight technical problem with not being able to increase the size of text or image. But worth it for the sheer pleasure of electronically flipping through my favourite comic.

Please release more electronic versions of Doonesbury.

Long live Doonesbury and co.

[Book Tea 🫖 with Jai]

I AM NOT GOING TOO RATE THIS BOOK. BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T BE FAIR. (AND YES I'M TYPING IN CAPS).

YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LOVE FOR THIS TYPE OF COMIC ABOUT WAR AND MIDDLE EAST STUFF TO ENJOY IT. CAUSE I COULDN'T. SORRY :(

THE FIRST FEW PAGES WERE LIKE PULLING TEETH!!!!

[Scott Butki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Doonesbury book I'm a big fan of Doonesbury so I picked this up at half price books today - 20 percent discount for educators woot!

I did an interview with an author who wrote a book about Trudeau here:
http://blogcritics.org/an-interview-w...

[Mike Horne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not read a Doonesbury comic in a long time. Nice to see a recent collection. Even if you don't agree with Trudeau's position (which I usually don't), he is a great comic strip writer.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection by Trudeau. The best of the collection revolves around the misadventures of the Red Rascal, of course. I do find the formatting a bit of a problem though.

[Gord · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love our pubic library. Bless them for picking this up. :-)

Excellent as always. Doonesbury is as relevant now as it was in 1970 when Garry Trudeau first put pen to paper.

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just great satire. The characters are still fresh even though they have gotten older and in some cases not much wiser.

[Michael Kitchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great collection of Doonesbury strips.

[Abcdarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Hadn't read any Doonesbury in years; got a lot of chuckles.