Downtown Doonesbury

Doonesbury Annuals #28

by G.B. Trudeau

Zonker buys 153 pounds of his favorite vegetable and begins a serious romance in England, Roland Hedley exposes a true Gramm-Rudman horror story, and Mike and J.J. are in deep shock

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

120 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

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title refers to Mike and Joanie's relationship and their diverging lifestyles. Having moved to New York, Joanie has embraced the 80s art scene wholeheartedly, while Mike feels it is plastic, silly, and pretentious. This culminates on him walking out on her. In addition to that, we have the misappropriated funds from Congress to support the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a long listing of aides under Ronald Reagan who were arrested, Duke being rescued from being a zombie under Baby Doc's control in Haiti, Zonker buying an English title and goes to Prince Andrew's and Fergie's wedding. a poke at George Will's esoteric writing style; and another look at the homeless.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming out in 1987, strips from roughly spring and summer of 86. Plot developments: Zonker blows his lottery winnings buying Duke from Baby Doc and bringing him back to normal life, if you want to call Duke’s life normal; JJ becomes a performance artist and she and Mike split up, for the first time. Lots of political and social issues run in the background.

[David]

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

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zonker as a member of the British aristocracy - how wonderful!

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

More about the downtown art scene, lots of discussions of the Contras...

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

JJ and Mike split and Mike returns to Walden which is now a sanctuary for El Salvadoran refugees.
Zonger spends his millions retrieving Duke and the last of it buying himself an English title. JJ is a performance artist.

[Gregory Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff on the '80s.

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zonker becomes a count; Mark covers the homelessness statutes in Santa Barbara; Trudeau takes on the contras; and JJ immerses herself in the downtown NY art scene, sending Mike and his new haircut into despair. One of the best of the 80s collections.