# Doonesbury: I'll Bet Duke's Been Killed Off **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095 "2005-10-06T20:32:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/21 "2005-10-07T03:45:44Z")
> [@Torgo](#): > > Let me ask you all this: why does Honey scream a second time in the last panel? She screams when the explosion happens in the second panel, in the third panel she’s stopped screaming as the car lands with a thud and after that she screams again. Why two screams? > > The first scream was for the explosion, the second was because Duke’s dead. This was my first thought when I read the strip. I’m not 100%, but yeah, that’s what it looks like to me. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/22 "2005-10-07T03:55:28Z")
I’m betting pretty firmly Duke’s not dead, and that Honey’s just screaming because they made a vertical leap upward on an overpass in a car from a roadside explosion. (A bit… _fantastic_ for this strip, innit?) If Duke were dead, Honey would be screaming, “Sir!” not “GAHH!” and looking at _him_, not straight _ahead._ We’ll know for sure in a few hours. The mocking of **Torgo** will shortly commence. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/23 "2005-10-07T03:57:17Z")
> [@Torgo](#): > > It’s definitely not the driver; look how nonplussed he is in the last panel. [Not at all?](http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=nonplussed) > [@Torgo](#): > > But the question remains: why is Honey screaming in the last panel? Two jarring blows-- an explosion, and hitting the overpass. No way is Duke dead. ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/24 "2005-10-07T04:20:07Z")
well, it looks like he survives the explosion. Can one die from a [cavity search?](http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20051007/cx_db_uc/db20051007;_ylt=AtPP0lzBfGchS.aTy4pQ0lrV.i8C;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/25 "2005-10-07T04:24:20Z")
Well, gee, that didn’t take long at all. **Torgo,** Dumbo, he was wrong – doo dah! Doo dah! Misread Doonesbury all day long! Oh, doo dah day! ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/26 "2005-10-07T04:29:22Z")
The next day: Duke isn’t dead. But he is getting rubber-gloved. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/27 "2005-10-07T04:32:30Z")
He may very well be dead. The only sure protection against the Grim Reaper is to be on my death-pool list. If he is in fact dead, I for one welcome our new Togo overlord. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/28 "2005-10-07T06:56:01Z")
…actually, I thought he was a dead man when this one got posted: > **[Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines](https://news.yahoo.com/)** > > The latest news and headlines from Yahoo! News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/29 "2005-10-07T12:48:38Z")
Well, Duke’s not dead today. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/30 "2005-10-07T13:04:18Z")
But he’s in for a world of hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/31 "2005-10-07T13:12:28Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Actually, the best way to do it would be have whatever actually kills him happen on Thursday or Friday, and then use Sunday for the emotional fallout. Think that’d take a whole Sunday spread? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/32 "2005-10-07T13:27:19Z")
**Silenus** – I like your sig line, but it’s “Shepherd”. An honorific, like “Father” or “Reverend”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/33 "2005-10-07T14:11:47Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > **Silenus** – I like your sig line, but it’s “Shepherd”. An honorific, like “Father” or “Reverend”. Corrected, and thank you. I changed it late one night is the only excuse I have. 😃 If/when Duke finally bites it, it will have to be right after he has said something incredibly snarky to Honey. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/34 "2005-10-07T14:51:43Z")
If **Torgo** doesn’t come back to sheepishly eat a little crow, I for one will have lost all faith in humanity. Mmm…sheepish crow… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/35 "2005-10-07T14:52:55Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > Mmm…sheepish crow… Sheepish crow is the only kind Hal Briston will eat. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/36 "2005-10-07T14:57:51Z")
Haven’t all you Doonesbury “fans” noticed that the Sunday strips no longer have any continuity connection to the daily strips? I agree with all those who said that Duke was just too useful a character to kill off. Even though Trudeau stopped making him funny years ago, he’s the one to put into all the topical strips for commentary. You could rename the strip “Duke” for that matter, given his importance. Now to remind **Torgo** of this forever. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/37 "2005-10-07T17:27:46Z")
\ This…is…typical. The kind of…ASS I have to put up with from you people! You come in here with your petty complaints, sticking you nose in where it doesn’t belong, well I’m trying to prognosticate a comic strip here! Let me tell you something else; this is exactly how Nazi Germany got started! \ Thanks a lot Trudeau. Jerk. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/38 "2005-10-07T20:01:11Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Haven’t all you Doonesbury “fans” noticed that the Sunday strips no longer have any continuity connection to the daily strips? Did they ever? As Bill Watterson notes in his 10th anniversary _Calvin & Hobbes_ retrospective, Sunday comics have to be produced two months ahead of schedule to allow time for color separation and whatnot. Throw in the fact that some newspapers will only run sunday strips (or run everything but Sundays), and it’s easy to see why it’s a real bear to make Sundays jive with the “regular” comic. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/39 "2005-10-07T20:04:27Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Haven’t all you Doonesbury “fans” noticed that the Sunday strips no longer have any continuity connection to the daily strips? QUOTE] Papers print the Sunday comics as much as a week ahead, so strips have a longer lead time than dailies. This doesn’t bother most cartoonists, who write a month or two ahead. Trudeau, striving to be topical, has the shortest lead time in the business. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095/40 "2005-10-08T00:50:41Z")
> [@Torgo](#): > > ASS I have to put up with from you people! Gosh, I’m _sorry_, Torgo. We didn’t realize. > [@Torgo](#): > > Let me tell you something else; this is exactly how Nazi Germany got started! Wait a minute…Turdeau wasn’t writing Doonesbury in 1938! Was Canada even a country in 1938? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-ill-bet-dukes-been-killed-off/325095.md?page=3)