You're Never Too Old for Nuts and Berries

Doonesbury Annuals #10

by G.B. Trudeau

Uncle Duke looks to cushion his sinecure as Governor of American Samoa, Zonker's Dad joins the Walden crew, and Reverend Scot Slogan gives up as a fighting young priest

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

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1976

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

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zonker's dad is one of my favorite characters in the series, and we see him all too seldom. Here, his wife has left him again. (Zonker: "It's just Mom's way of getting out of the house"). He turns up at his son's door, looking for a shoulder to cry on.

Zonker's friends are curious about his lifestyle. He's a true, dyed in the wool hippy, and he's still very serious about nuts and berries. "Aren't you too old for that?" someone asks. Dad points out, hurt, that you're never too old for nuts and berries! The friends like him. Zonker has to prepare for a mid-term, so they take him out for an evening of fun and substance abuse.

They get back late. Roles have been reversed, and Zonker is doing the worried parent bit. Dad's pupils are three times their normal size. "Oh wow!" he says. It's the most coherent statement he can manage.

"Did I just hear my own dad say 'Oh wow'?" asks Zonker, for once completely fazed.

"Yes!" says a friend. "And I think he meant it!"

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading this mid-70s material really brings home how groundbreaking a lot of this material was. Many topics unheard of in the normal landscape of daily newspaper comics are covered here. Open drug abuse, smoking, mentions of prostitution, homosexuality, plus plenty of political commentary abound here. In addition, all of his characters, even the ones Trudeau is politically opposed to, is well-rounded and seen as a human being. And over all, Trudeau manages to deliver a ton of genuine laughs along the way.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series. I grew up in the 70's - but I was not really aware what was going on as far as politics. It is great to be able to go back to that time and read about what was happening; G.B. Trudeau has a sharp eye that brings the absurdity of many of the political situations we encountered as we tried to navigate the end of the 60's.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming out in 1976 with strips from mid 75 through early 76, Trudeau continues to be in great form her – one of my favorite bits was Uncle Duke as head of Rolling Stone’s Gregg and Cher bureau, an assignment Duke takes with his usual grace.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining as ever.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

More discussions of the apoliticality of new students on Walden College campus (it's 1976) and the first mention of a queer character, who is not depicted as a freak, which is nice!

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trudeau moves the spotlight onto the way his characters are dealing with life in the 70s, which works better than spotlighting the political issues as such as he did in the previous collection, Speaking of Inalienable Rights. Favorite sequences include Zonker's Dad coming to Walden when his wife leaves home (a repeating cycle); Joanie discovering the perfect guy, Andy, in law school (I'll save the spoiler for anyone who hasn't read it and/or can't guess); Duke encounters Jann Wenner at Rolling Stone; we get another shot of feminism with Zonker's revolutionary war ancestors. The theme that holds the collection together is Truedau's emerging control of feminism. (Check back to the first couple of volumes to see what an advance that is.)