Doonesbury celebrates 29 years

Many Americans recognize that scowl anywhere.

With the perpetually tinted Ray-bans, cigarette holder and perspiring brow, ex-Governor Duke is the most colorful character in Gary Trudeau's groundbreaking comic strip Doonesbury. Over the years, Duke has been embraced as a cultural icon, a speciality of Trudeau, who has arguably brought to life the most real and diverse community of cartoon characters ever.

Buttons, ice-cream containers, bumper stickers and the covers of Time and Newsweek have all promoted the strip, which marks its 30th anniversary next fall since its humble beginnings as a weekly scribble in the Yale Campus Newspaper.

Never content to let public figures go unscathed, Trudeau has also portrayed almost every notable politician in America, as well as numerous celebrities. Reactions to the attention have varied. Said former diplomat Henry Kissinger, "The only thing worse than being in it would be not to be in it."

Pat Buchanan, however, spoke out against Trudeau after being portrayed as a supporter of the KKK, and former Vice President Dan Quayle called the jokes about his incompetence "false and libelous. . . . Gary Trudeau has a personal vendetta against me."

Since its debut, Doonesbury has gone on to appear in 14,000 newspapers worldwide. In 1975, Trudeau became the first Pulitzer Prize winner ever for editorial cartooning, and was nominated again in 1989. In 1977, the animated film A Doonesbury Special was nominated for an Academy Award, and won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and was followed by a Doonesbury Broadway musical.

One of the attributes of the strip that readers seem to identify most with is the mix of sophisticated humor and serious issues, such as AIDS, abortion, racism and, of course, politics. But possibly its most enduring characteristic is its pure reality. For nearly three decades, America has laughed and cried with its characters, who have undergone a completely convincing evolution in each of their own ways. For a mere comic strip to have acquired the impact and respect that it has is no small accomplishment, and Doonesbury will undoubtedly be remembered as an irreplaceable part of American culture.