Yes, it's true! Everybody knows that if one's child turns out to be a reprobate like J.J., it must be the mother's fault! All blame always attaches to the mother. It could never be the father's fault and it can never be due to any innate defect of the child's character, independent of the parent's qualities or lack of same. Okay, sarcasm mode off, now. That's just the sort of inbuilt assumption that not only lingers on today, but was one of many taken as almost unshakable truths back in 1974, the same set of cultural assumptions that was suffocating Joan to death. Even as a not particularly enlightened 18-year-old at the time, I still perceived that something wasn't quite right, and Joanie's rebellion at massively being taken for granted and taken advantage of was understandable, even to the likes of me.

I am amazed at my ability to whitewash the past. For years I believed that Joanie fled an abusive husband, even though I've read every strip since it hit the mainstream papers. But then, I did that in my own past as well. It does explain why J.J. turned out to be so self-pitying and entitled. Hopefully it has not spread to Alex. She does have a great dad!

Well, you've gone and done it. All this trip down memory lane stuff, revisiting the good ole days and especially Zonker's adventures, gives me no choice but to purchase Dude.

The "I broke his nose" strip is one of my all-time favorites (I've been quoting it for years). So nice to have this blast from the past!

Today's "I broke his nose" Classic Doonesbury strip has been a favorite of mine since I first read it in September 1972. Whenever I see current-day Joanie as grandmother and legislative aide, I see her against that background memory of her sitting at the diner counter explaining what inspired her to leave her husband. A note to younger readers: This particular strip was a riff on a then-controversial, offensively sexist TV commercial for Geritol. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia's Geritol entry, which recounts the memory well:

Geritol is famous for a controversial 1972 television commercial tag line, "My wife, I think I'll keep her." This line, brought out during the height of the Women's Liberation Movement, was not appreciated by some women and was lambasted by media and comedy shows alike. Comedian Robert Klein was early to scoff at this on his 1972 album Child of the Fifties: "Where does he get the nerve?... She has to keep begging him, 'Will you keep me one more day?' 'All right, one more day: now, get back to the kitchen!'"

I love your old strips! Joanie is introduced, and that brings me joy. I used her in a paper I wrote for a feminist class, "back in the day." Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Today's strip was fascinating for two reasons. Mark and Mike met-cute with soon-to-be-a-principal Joanie, but they also introduced the recurrent mode of humor whereby a grandiose vision in the third frame is reduced to the quotidian in the fourth. One can play a game of rewriting these strips in GBT's mature style, where instead of simply reacting Mike would close the scene with a deadpan, "We could take 94 north."

I love the Flashback strips. I am reliving my youth right along with the characters. I don't want you to stop!!!!

In Sunday's fabulous Doonesbury strip Alex made mention of a product very much like the one I have invented and hold three patents on. The GirlyGoGarter(R), is a sexy, safe, comfortable hands-free purse that adheres to the upper thigh with patented GentleFlex(TM) Grippers and discretely holds up to three pounds of a lady's essentials. The GirlyGoGarter(R) was launched into the market place in August 2013 and with just eight months of sales we are in 1,000 retailers in five countries.

Hard to believe that Joanie is a great-grandmother now that Alex has had the twins, but after all, today's strip is 42 years old.

Hi, just to say thanks for all the laughs. I have two early books of yours, Greatest Hits and Chronicles, bought while visiting the USA in my twenties. I'm a Brit and live in Spain. Un saludo!

In today's strip Joanie doesn't look at all like someone who would become one of the Beltway's slickest political operatives, working for the likes of Lacey Davenport and Elizabeth Warren. I wonder if Mike had an inkling, there by the side of the road looking at a map and talking about Cleveland, that he was talking to his future mother-in-law.

I don't recall whether I've said this before, but as you wind down The Sandbox, it's worth repeating if I have. Thank you for creating this milblog. It was a huge source of personal education as these wars plodded, struggled, bounced, and screeched on their way. Our news media in Canada kept us a bit better in touch with what our troops were doing and how they were doing (smaller country, higher reporters-to-troops ratio, I think), but I never did find a milblog that kept me more aware of the world they lived in than The Sandbox. To all the contributors, a huge thank you, and all my hope for your well-being as we move away from these wars in an uncertain world. I assume that the contents of the Sandbox will be archived and available -- I certainly hope so.

Nothing like a Beemer and a side car for a cross-country road trip! My brother had this on his door when he first got his R75/5 as an example on how cool it was to own a BMW.

Love, love, love that a case of Schiltz can be used as a diplomatic olive branch. Love it almost as much as loving that B.D. is a "sweet drunk."

Being a senior Boomer, these first strips really take me back. I had forgotten about Phred. I was 24 years old, and just settled into D.C. -- Watergate had just happened (nothing to do with my hitting town) -- and I was introduced to Doonesbury. Thanks for the memories.

When the extended hiatus was announced, I was disturbed; there are too many characters whose stories I want to see develop. Now, I detect a pattern in the reruns. The characters are being introduced. Last week, Phred the terrorist, and before that a little dark-haired guy who I realized grew up to be Uncle Bernie. I assume we are about to meet Joanie this week as she runs away from home. Even though I have been reading Doonesbury from the beginning, and have a copy of 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective, this is fun and a great service to readers who have joined in over the years.

Love your strip today! The iThigh is genius! You can check it out here. Cheers!

What a wonderful video you picked for this beautiful day, just as spring is coming to North America and the growing season is starting. Growing is forever.