# Doonsebury question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765 "2003-07-07T14:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 10, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/21 "2003-07-10T16:27:28Z")
Thanks everyone, the site is a great reference, but just when I thought it was safe to end the thread; > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > \*\*J > > My newspaper has finally shrunk Doonesbury to the size of the other strips on the comics page. \*\* What is the size issue about? Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/22 "2003-07-10T16:45:10Z")
(a) JJ stands for “Joan, Jr.”, or at least, when Honey shows up for college, her roommate is JJ, and on her little this-is-your-roommate card, she reads “Joan, Jr.” (b) We should talk about Doonesbury more. It’s a truly amazing institution. The fact that it’s been funny and relevant longer than I’ve been alive is pretty unique. © Kim is a BABE!!! ---
**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:** [July 10, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/23 "2003-07-10T17:05:22Z")
I couldn’t help being disappointed when Mike came out of the closet as a Republican, remembering the character’s first appearances back in Nixon’s first term, as a liberal college student. It was like Mark Slackmeyer suddenly being gay; there just wasn’t anything in the character previously to indicate that. I knew Kim was young enough to be Mike’s daughter, but I didn’t connect her till now with the little Vietnamese baby from way back when. Most comics establish a status quo and keep it forever; Doonesbury, Slackmeyer, Zonker, D.B., etc. could all still be living at Walden, with Zonker spending all day snorkling in the pond, but of course that would be a different strip. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/24 "2003-07-10T19:07:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baldwin \* > \*\*Most comics establish a status quo and keep it forever; Doonesbury, Slackmeyer, Zonker, D.B., etc. could all still be living at Walden, with Zonker spending all day snorkling in the pond, but of course that would be a different strip. \*\* I haven’t been keeping up, but aren’t B.D., Boopsie, and Sam back at Walden? (Also, is there any way to have the strip emailed to me? I’m too forgetful to go to the site every day.) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/25 "2003-07-10T21:14:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baldwin \* > I knew Kim was young enough to be Mike’s daughter, but I didn’t connect her till now with the little Vietnamese baby from way back when. It’s very subtle, and certainly never stated outright by the strip. But for longtime _Doonesury_ readers who remember those obscure Kim “Big big Mac!” Rosenthal strips, it’s there. > [@](#): > > Most comics establish a status quo and keep it forever; Doonesbury, Slackmeyer, Zonker, D.B., etc. could all still be living at Walden, with Zonker spending all day snorkling in the pond, but of course that would be a different strip. And not as interesting, IMO. While I’m not exactly thrilled with Mike’s political leanings, and while I think Trudeau is giving GeeDubya Bush a light touch (especially compared to his Nixon and Reagan years), I admit it’s entertaining to see characters that actually grow and change. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/26 "2003-07-11T01:31:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarinth \* > \*\*I haven’t been keeping up, but aren’t B.D., Boopsie, and Sam back at Walden? > > (Also, is there any way to have the strip emailed to me? I’m too forgetful to go to the site every day.) \*\* [UComics](http://www.ucomics.com/) will email you one of their daily strips (including Doonsbury) for free. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/27 "2003-07-11T01:42:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baldwin \* > \*\*I couldn’t help being disappointed when Mike came out of the closet as a Republican, remembering the character’s first appearances back in Nixon’s first term, as a liberal college student. It was like Mark Slackmeyer suddenly being gay; there just wasn’t anything in the character previously to indicate that. > \*\* Except it wasn’t completely surprising that Mark was gay. Ok, it was surprising, but it wasn’t as if he had been a womanizer for 20 years and then suddenly outed himself. In the early strips, Mark had JJ and BD had Boopsie; Mark had his megaphone. That is, it’s not altogether a shock that he outed himself later on, because there wasn’t this overt hetero lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/28 "2003-07-11T16:26:40Z")
> [@](#): > > ## _by rjung_ quote: > > ## Originally posted by Baldwin I knew Kim was young enough to be Mike’s daughter, but I didn’t connect her till now with the little Vietnamese baby from way back when. > > It’s very subtle, and certainly never stated outright by the strip. But for longtime Doonesury readers who remember those obscure Kim “Big big Mac!” Rosenthal strips, it’s there. The big, honking clue was the strips at the time of the Mike/Kim wedding. Kim’s parents showed up and they were the same folks who had adopted little Kimmy. > [@](#): > > _by Carnivorousplant_ > What is the size issue about? I swear, nobody reads my posts. 😃 **carnivorous,** I explained the size issue in an earlier post. To summarize: a few years back, newspapers shrank the size of comics. When Trudeau refused to go along, many papers moved _Doonesbury_ to other sections of the paper so that the comparatively oversized _Doonesbury_ wouldn’t screw up the layout of the comics page. Sua ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/29 "2003-07-11T16:31:05Z")
The trouble is, **Sua** , those strips were a while ago, and folks don’t always remember what happened when in Doonsebury unless they’re Huge Mega Uber Fans, or something, simply because the story lines are so intricate. Me, I went to the Doonesbury site and read practically every strip. And I went to the FAQ section - I think one of the questions was about Kim’s first appearance in the strip. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/30 "2003-07-11T16:43:32Z")
**dantheman,** I didn’t intend to express any criticism. I was just stating what was (at least for me) the clue that Kim was the orphan from the 70’s strips. Sua ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/31 "2003-07-11T16:49:33Z")
Well, I know - just thought maybe “big honking clue” might mean you thought it was an obvious clue that everyone should have recognized. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/32 "2003-07-11T20:07:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SuaSponte \* > The big, honking clue was the strips at the time of the Mike/Kim wedding. Kim’s parents showed up and they were the same folks who had adopted little Kimmy. My memory must be on the fritz, because I don’t recall seeing Kim’s parents at the wedding. Though my interpretation of “big honkin’ clue” would have been having one of the parents say, “Oh, yes, we’re very proud of our adopted Vietnamese daughter Kim.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765/33 "2003-07-11T22:16:57Z")
There was also a storyline within the past several years in which Kim returns to Vietnam to try to track down relatives of her birth parents, or something of that sort… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doonsebury-question/186765.md?page=1)