Calling Dr. Whoopee: A Doonesbury Book

Doonesbury Annuals #29

by G.B. Trudeau

Rick and Joanie discover that two full-time jobs and one toddler do not mix, and Agent Havoc pitches armloads of American dollars out of a plane over Honduras, in a "Doonesbury" comic strip anthology

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

125 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

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]

Coming out in 1987, strips from the second half of 86 through about the first quarter of 87. Despite being featured on the cover and title, Dr. Whoopee is only in a few strips but for the record they were good ones. Mike and JJ get back together and we get another tour of Reagan’s brain – good stuff all the way through.

[David]

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

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the bits inside Reagan's brain - partcularly the "two thoughts at one time" part.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Iran / Contra, also Michael and JJ sweetness!

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay Doonsebury from the late 80s. The death of Lacy's husband is a poignant and funny sequence, as is Mike's reunion (and unlikely emergence as downtown performance art heartthrob--fifteen minutes of fame and all that). But a lot of the book--Irangate, Rick's problems as involved father, Boopsie and Hunk-Ra--feel mostly like period pieces. Trudeau was obviously tired of the 80s and sometimes it showed.