Doonesbury: Duke 2000

Doonesbury Annuals #45

by G.B. Trudeau

Doonesbury continues to entertain, inspire, and provoke with its unique blend of social commentary, humor, and political satire.  Chronicling the millennial state of the nation through the interconnected lives of its large cast of characters, the strip offers unusual perspectives on the usual suspects, and asks impertinent questions on the pertinent subjects of the day. In Duke 2000: Whatever It Takes Trudeau's Pulitzer Prize-winning strip tracks the end of an Internet start-up and the beginning of a gay marriage, the revival of an aging rocker's career -- and the complete reinvention of the irrepressible Uncle Duke. In a presidential primary campaign attracting the likes of Warren Beatty and Donald Trump, perhaps it was not surprising that the former ambassador to China decided to throw his bandana into the ring.

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

152 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

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

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2000, strips for the most part from that year I’d guess. Activities of the regular Doonesbury cast far outweigh the strictly political strips here, which suits me just fine. Mike won’t take Microsoft’s offer to buy Mikim and watches his company be destroyed as a result. The political strips mainly deal with George W. Bush’s campaign for the Republican nomination, paralleled by Duke’s efforts to run as a third party candidate on his platform of “Compassionate Fascism”, both pretty funny.

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of the mid-period (i.e. late 90s, early 2000s) collections. Both the strength and the problem--if you're subject to nausea--is the way the 2000 campaign, pitting Duke against, among others DT, feels so contemporary. The other threads--Mike and Kim's rise and fall in the world of dot com bust and booming; Jimmy recording with his mostly deaf engineer in Vietnam; Zipper's continuing search for a clue--keep the flow moving, but no question the election's center stage.

[Meghan Bohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chillingly accurate prediction of the Trump presidency.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duke stands for president! Still he'd be better than the present incumbent.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dotcoms, 2000 presidential election, mostly Dubya

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duke is running for President and so is Trump. Mike's Dot.com company tanks losing millions and millions for its investors. Alex's web-cam show is successful.

[David]

On the 6th tour through the entire Doonescape. It never fails. The flashback (of sorts) to MacArthur, Pago Pago, and 'snow' is my favourite bit.