Doonesbury: That's Doctor Sinatra, You Little Bimbo!

Doonesbury Annuals #26

by G.B. Trudeau

Cartoons take a satiric look at Sinatra's honorary degree, Reagan's German visit, spring break, teenage movies, street people, the Right-to-life movement, advertising, and apartment hunting in Manhattan

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

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1986

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

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another reminder of the 1980s for better or worse with lots of Ronald Reagan jokes. There are some strips devoted to "Silent Scream II: The Prequel" which features "Timmy," a 12-minute old pregnancy. Although funny, it's also pretty scary that the Republicans are still using the same sorts of victimizing characterization of women who seek abortion.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh so good - Honey as a life model - wow! The strips regarding homelessness, abortion rights and the treatment of black Americans are funny but it is sobering to think that strips published in 1986 were dealing with issues that sadly are still oh so relevant today. Going by the quotes on the back of the book his strips about Frank Sinatra's mob connections obviously hit a nerve :-)

[David]

On the 5th tour through the entire Doonescape. It never fails.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming out in 1986 with strips from mid 85, I believe – I couldn’t verify it as the Doonesbury section on the Washington Post web site wasn’t working. Good stuff, good laughs.

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doonesbury staggers on through the eighties as Reagan visits the concentration camps and tries to avoid saying anything nasty about Apartheid; Boopsie pursues her career as a screen bimbette; Lacy's black assistant confronts suburban America; Duke and Honey soldier on with the research agenda of the Baby Doc medical school; Mike and JJ try to rent a loft in Manhattan for $350 a month. My favorite sequence is probably Marcia (who I don't remember making many subsequent appearances) giving up the search for Mr. Right and declaring her "singularity." Captures the depressing reality of the historical moment pretty well.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duke and Honey running a med school in Haiti, Zonker comes out against tanning, Reagan gives Sinatra the Medal of Freedom, all his mafia friends cheer. Protests have changed. Homeless strangers marry in order to afford a roof over their heads. Reagan speech in Germany. An encapsulation of a period.

[Carol Storm · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not hard to see why a Sixties "revolutionary" like Trudeau needs to take cheap shots at Frank Sinatra. No doubt if Old Blue Eyes had been educated at the finest private all-boy's school in the land and handed a fancy education at Yale he would have realized that all those bad men with the funny names were "beneath him."

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chortled a couple of times. It's got the dry political humor Doonesbury always has, mid-80's style.

[Kyrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Doonesbury and I find Trudeau's liberal humor to be really funny.

[Maurice J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trudeau is a genius. He captures the times better than most op-ed and other writers with 4 or 12 panel cartoons. Absolutely extraordinary.