Action Figure!: The Life and Times of Doonesbury's Uncle Duke

by G.B. Trudeau

Provides a hilarious chronicle of the adventures and misadventures of Duke in trouble spots throughout the world, accompanied by a five-inch action figure complete with cigarette holder, Usi, martini glass, and bourbon bottle. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Fiction, Politics, Graphic Novels Comics

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

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

[Willow Redd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's the thing, I remember loving Doonsebury growing up, even though I only understood about a third of it. In high school, it was my primary source of political rhetoric until I took a government class my senior year. And while I still enjoy it, and it still holds up (as long as you realize the time the strips were originally printed, which this collection shows).

I guess my main problem is how much Uncle Duke is an unfair parody of Hunter S. Thompson. At the start, Duke is a writer for Rolling Stone who stays stoned most of the time and even lives on a property called Owl Farm. Trudeau has given us his own interpretation of Raoul Duke, and it's painful to read at times.

This isn't the only parody figure we get in Duke's collected strips. There is also a ghost writer who looks exactly like Kurt Vonnegut (so much so that his introduction in the strip looks exactly like Kurt's first scene in the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School) and Miss Huan, "Honey" as Duke calls her, is a dead ringer for Marcy from Peanuts. She even acts as the Marcy to Duke's Peppermint Patty, complete with the "sirs."

Overall, an enjoyable collection, but it was hard not to see Hunter in Duke and be a little annoyed by what Trudeau had him doing (especially as Trump's ship captain *shudder*).

[S. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of Doonesbury comic strips featuring the Hunter S. Thompson inspired Uncle Duke. I've never been a huge Doonesbury fan, but as a Thompson fan I have always enjoyed Uncle Duke's adventures. I'm not sure if they sell it anymore, but when I purchased this book upon publication it came with an actual Uncle Duke Action Figure, which I still have somewhere. If you can get Action Figure with the action figure included, it's definitely worth the purchase.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge Doonesbury fan,and this is all about Duke,based around Hunter Thompson.Hilarious

[Adam Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really funny, and it came with an action figure of Uncle Duke, complete with pistol and cigarette. Unfortunately, I took my Uncle Duke figure out of the packaging and promptly lost it.

[Reverenddave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading the classics. My favorite Doonesbury character.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected Uncle Duke. When it was finished I wished for more. I meant to check if the section where he died (zombified) coincided with the death of Hunter S. Thompson.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I still had the little toy action figure that came with this book.