# Doonesbury: Is B.D. Dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899 "2004-03-01T14:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/21 "2004-04-19T22:18:50Z")
I was pretty surprised to see that in _Get Fuzzy_ this morning. Actually I didn’t know that was the name of that strip until I put two and two together here. Anyway, if the two are related then the internal clocks of the two strips aren’t synchronized, since he couldn’t get a call about it while it’s happening, but I do think it would be an interesting crossover. But I was always under the impression that BD was based on a 60s Yale football star named Brian ‘BD’ Dowling, which would mean that BD couldn’t equal Bill/William. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/22 "2004-04-19T22:38:19Z")
The Providence Journal reported today in a sidebar that BD has in fact lost a leg. They did so because they still print Doonsebury on the comics page and wanted to alert people that there would be some possibly upsetting material coming up. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/23 "2004-04-19T23:17:12Z")
Thirteen years ago, during the first Gulf War, it was pretty obvious that Trudeau was planning EXACTLY the same series of strips he’s going to use this week. You may recall that he had B.D. under heavy fire, in a jeep that got blasted. Of course, Trudeau was about as prescient as usual that time, and the war was all but over by the time his daring, shocking strip saw print. THIS time, war with Iraq isn’t going so smoothly, so he decided to dust off his 13 year old plot anbd re-use it. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/24 "2004-04-19T23:26:20Z")
Well that would explain why it said “Flashback” when it was in my email box this morning and I couldn’t figure out when I’d ever seen it before (nor where it might belong in the timeline.) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/25 "2004-04-20T01:54:28Z")
It said “flashback” somewhere? I was wondering if the strips were out of order; last week they were showing repeats about Zonker’s nephew and his CIA intern roomy, and today BD is fighting for his life. I missed the “kaboom”. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/26 "2004-04-20T03:27:10Z")
Last week’s strips with the intern looking at porn sites were repeats. This week’s strips are/will be new. Doonesbury at Slate has had “flashback” on it for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![Squonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squonk)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/27 "2004-04-20T03:59:37Z")
What was up with the comics today? Doonesbury and Get Fuzzy have already been metioned, but the Mom in Heart of the City looks like some one just died. [link](http://www.ucomics.com/heartofthecity/2004/04/19/) It’s gotta be a coincidence, right? Like when B.C. Blondie, and Fox Trot all have golf themes. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/28 "2004-04-20T06:38:14Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It said “flashback” somewhere? I was wondering if the strips were out of order; last week they were showing repeats about Zonker’s nephew and his CIA intern roomy, and today BD is fighting for his life. I missed the “kaboom”. I have it emailed to me from [ucomics.com](http://ucomics.com) Usually, if it’s a first release - the Subject is “Your Doonesbury \” If it’s a rerun, the Subject is “Your Doonesbury (Flashback) \” This morning’s said “(Flashback)” ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/29 "2004-04-20T12:05:08Z")
> [@Squonk](#): > > What was up with the comics today? Doonesbury and Get Fuzzy have already been metioned, but the Mom in Heart of the City looks like some one just died. > > [link](http://www.ucomics.com/heartofthecity/2004/04/19/) > > It’s gotta be a coincidence, right? Like when B.C. Blondie, and Fox Trot all have golf themes. I’m not familiar with _Mom in the Heart of the City_, but it’s certainly not unheard of for cartoonists to band together on a topic that they strongly believe in. _Boondocks_ has also been a harsh critic of the war, perhaps the harshest, but doesn’t appear to be in on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/30 "2004-04-20T13:01:29Z")
The MS-NBC story on this mentioned editors concerns about language later in the week. I wonder how fat Trudeau is going to push it. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/31 "2004-04-20T14:57:46Z")
Apparently, [Heart of the City](http://www.ucomics.com/heartofthecity/2004/04/20/) is treating a less serious subject. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/32 "2004-04-20T16:05:21Z")
Thank you for the heads up. I do not follow DB as closely as I once did. Was there a ‘Boom?’ of did we just start with aftermath? (Option Two would be more realistic in my experience.) ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/33 "2004-04-20T16:05:43Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > Apparently, [Heart of the City](http://www.ucomics.com/heartofthecity/2004/04/20/) is treating a less serious subject. Maybe, but I’m not sure. Not being familiar with the strip, I can only speculate, but the way the mother appeared in a daze on Monday suggests there might be more to it than the smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/34 "2004-04-20T16:36:06Z")
[Link](http://209.11.49.220/eandp/departments/syndicates/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000491413) to an article about the developments in both “Doonesbury” and “Get Fuzzy”. No mention of a cross-over. (Although “Dilbert” had Get Fuzzy as a guest artist a few months ago, featuring a psychol dilbert.) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/35 "2004-04-20T17:12:19Z")
> [@photopat](#): > > Maybe, but I’m not sure. Not being familiar with the strip, I can only speculate, but the way the mother appeared in a daze on Monday suggests there might be more to it than the smoking. Judging by the clock on the wall reading 11 am, and her glass of wine and cigarette, my guess is she just got laid off. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/36 "2004-04-20T20:17:54Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > THIS time, war with Iraq isn’t going so smoothly, so he decided to dust off his 13 year old plot anbd re-use it. If you can’t rip off yourself, who _can_ you rip off from? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/37 "2004-04-20T21:35:30Z")
ShibbOleth: > [@](#): > > Boondocks has also been a harsh critic of the war, perhaps the harshest, but doesn’t appear to be in on this one. That’s because Aarom Magruder has forgotten how to write stories but instead has devolved into a simple talking-head comment strip. And said comments are usually more predictable than Mallard Fillmore’s. Personally, I doubt that _Get Fuzzy_ is doing a cross-over. Despite his occasional breaking of the fourth wall and the fact that certain non-realistic characters have taken on a life of their own (Mr. Butts, anyone?), Trudeu’s strip is too inherently realistic to cross over with a strip featuring talking animals. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/38 "2004-04-20T22:17:46Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Trudeu’s strip is too inherently realistic to cross over with a strip featuring talking animals. perhaps that’s why Rob’s going to Andrews A.F.B. to see his cousin, presumably sans Bucky and Satch? we can but dream… ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/39 "2004-04-21T01:03:18Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > That’s because Aaron Magruder has forgotten how to write stories but instead has devolved into a simple talking-head comment strip. According to last week’s _New Yorker_, he doesn’t even do the cut-and-paste art any more, but farms it out to subalterns. And he’s extended his one week vacation to two weeks. Guy’s too bloody lazy to be a cartoonist. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899/40 "2004-04-21T02:39:09Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > According to last week’s _New Yorker_, he doesn’t even do the cut-and-paste art any more, but farms it out to subalterns. And he’s extended his one week vacation to two weeks. > > Guy’s too bloody lazy to be a cartoonist. Maybe he’s been taking lessons from Piro of [Megatokyo](http://www.megatokyo.com/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonesbury-is-b-d-dead/231899.md?page=3)