Doonesbury's BD Loses Leg in Iraq

[SkipNewarkDE]

Shit. That sucks. I am genuinely bummed out, the last frame from Wendesday's strip. If you haven't been following Doonesbury this week, go to http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20040419 and start reading.

I know, I know, it's just a stupid comic strip, but I grew up with this one, followed it religiously and got a bit attached to the characters. BD's been one of my favorite characters. I have absolutely loved Doonesbury for years.

I had the feeling for the past couple of months that Trudeau was going to KILL BD off, to be honest, to really make a statement about the realities of war. He's not above doing that, by the way... remember Lacy Davenport going senile?

If you go back and just read through the entire week of strips from Monday through today, it is pretty chilling, actually. The realities of this war have been completely sanitized, as we see none of its aftermath, no photos, no funerals, no blood. We read the numbers in the press of death casualties, but the number of people maimed in this fashion must number far far more. The shock of seeing a beloved character from the strip with a truncated leg wrapped in a bandage makes the sanitized reporting of this conflict even more apparent; and it is kind of telling that a simple pen drawing can evoke this feeling.

[DenverDem]

1. Trudeau is a courageous and powerful social critic.

Using his humor to infiltrate the cultural collective unconscious he has infinitely more impact than a bucketful of faux news pundits put together.

[sonias]

2. Yes it is sad, but I think it was a good move

Just goes to show people that it can happen to your closest and best friends. The really weird thing to me is seeing BD without some kind of hat too. He is totally naked and vulnerable. It will be interesting to see how DB is developed as a character in the future without his leg. I can't think of any other comic strip character that will be so visibly disabled.

Also make sure you check out the mudlines on the Doonesbury site. It's a little scroller across the top. Good reading.

Sonia

[pippin]

3. Yes, and a paper in Colorado

won't be running this. So much for the concept of a free press. :-(

[SkipNewarkDE]

4. Do you know which paper?

I am curious as to which paper it is that is not going to be running this week's strip.

[zbdent]

5. Akron Beacon Journal is carrying, but will "edit" a word (?) out of Friday

episode.

Claiming that some of the wording used in the cartoon is questionable, so they're blotting out the word (according to theory).

I guess that this will lead to more cries about how ABJ is "way too liberal".

On a semi-related note, apparently, yesterday's strip showed BD without the helmet for the very first time. And he does have hair.