Recent FAQS

FAQs

Beta-fresh answers, uploaded occasionally

Lets face it, our favorite comic strip is often obscure or inconsistent, and key characters are sometimes left stranded for years. Long-suffering readers are within their rights to demand some clarification. Use the "Ask GBT" form to email us your questions, and we will answer those we can on the Blowback page, and also archive the answers here.

Q: It's great to see Ginny and Clyde again. As far back as I can recall, she's always been classy and he's always been a jerk. How did Joanie meet them in the first place?
-- Lisa B., Minneapolis, MN | Characters | February 17, 2009
A:After a stint running the Walden Day Care Center, Joanie Caucus, with the encouragement of her young charges, applied to law school and was accepted at Berkeley. In this August, 1974 series, Joanie meets her roommate, Ginny -- and Clyde, who is part of the package. Note also the first appearance of the future attorneys' landlady, the formidable Mrs. Pocatelli.
Q: What? Clyde was in Congress? When did that happen?
-- T.J., Foster City, CA | Characters | February 10, 2009
A:This unexpected development was revealed when Joanie Caucus attended the 20th anniversary reunion of her law school class at Boalt Hall in Berkeley. There she was reunited with her old friend Ginny Slade -- and, of course, Clyde. If you would like to examine Exhibit A, click here.
Q: What's that "Duke2000" DVD you're promoting in the lower left hand corner?
-- Stu Spencer, Portland, OR | Characters | February 09, 2009
A: DUKE2000: Whatever It Takes is both an historic document and a piece of quality entertainment. Allow us to explain: Five years ago, Former Ambassador Duke launched his maverick "Whatever It Takes" campaign for the White House with this stirring declaration: " want to be the ferret in the pants of government."E-campaigning from his headquarters at the E-Z Rest Motor Lodge in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, Duke set out to prove that an average citizen, with nothing more than a laptop, a few spam speeches, and a sack full of soft money, could make political history. His insurgent effort may one day win him a place in the history books. At this point we'll be just as happy if this freshly-minted disc wins a place on your shelf.

It captures all the buzz and all the glory that was D2K, giving you unfettered access to over 90 minutes of the innovative 3-D animation that put the outspoken candidate live on "Larry King", "Today", and dozens of other shows. In over 30 short films, including "Healer-in-Chief", "Stirred, Not Shaken", "Forgotten White Guy", "Poodles" and "Apocalypse 2000" (with a Doors soundtrack), Duke manages to confound conventional wisdom on a dazzling array of topics. Visit his richly-textured website, recreated in its entirety, right down to Duke's full FBI file, position papers, photos, weblog, Oppo reports, and the "Me & Roger" radio interviews which ran on NPR during the final months of the campaign. From frontline wordplay to backroom gunplay, from breakout public policies to colorful public breakdowns, Duke made electoral politics fun again. Relive those halcyon days.

To order DUKE2000: Whatever It Takes, CLICK HERE. To find out more about it, CLICK HERE.

Q: I've been reading Doonesbury since I was a little kid -- I really identified with Ellie -- but I do not remember Lacey having dementia or making friends with Alice. Is GBT just making this history up now, or did I really miss a whole storyline?
-- Peg, Calgary, CANADA | Characters | January 27, 2009
A:The vast storyscape of Doonesbury is so labyrinthine that readers can occasionally become disoriented. To provide a fuller perspective on the current Lacey-Joanie series, we direct your attention to these 1997 strips, in which the Congresswoman and her friends and colleagues begin to grapple with her affliction.
Q: What will Obama's icon be?
Characters | January 06, 2009
A:Three U.S. presidents have been represented in Doonesbury by icons:


George H.W. Bush -- flag / point o' lite
Bill Clinton -- waffle
George W. Bush -- asterisk with cowboy hat / helmet

As early as November 2nd, Doonesbury readers began writing in from all over the globe -- from Dallas to Denmark -- asking what icon would be used to represent Barack Obama. The appearance of the president-elect's legs in the 12/7/08 Sunday strip suggests that GBT might not be planning to use an icon for our 44th president, but before we find out for sure, let's take a look at some of the suggestions readers have sent in:



The number "1" as in "That 1" or "The 1".
-- Greg Smith, Vancouver, CANADA

May I suggest a cucumber (as in "cool as a")? When he gets into his first scandal, you can turn it into a pickle.
-- Dan Derozier, Houston, TX

I thought of a rising sun, but that's too imperial Japanese, and of a wizard's wand because that's what he and his team will need to begin to clean up the mess left them.
-- Martha, Portmouth, NH

Must be tough to find a funny symbol for hope/brains/eloquence/thoughtfulness.
-- Frances Segal, Laguna Niguel, CA

You could use a mortarboard, as he was for years a professor.
-- David Derbes, Chicago, IL

How about a construction hard hat? He has a huge job ahead of him and a hard hat may come in handy!
-- Diane Harvey, Falls Church, VA

I think a good symbol for for Obama would be: !? joined at the base by the period mark to form a 'V' shape. His campaign and post-election conferences have all been huge promises and words of action, but with a 'how' left sticking out there like a huge sore thumb.
-- Brian Peters, Pensacola, FL

Obama's symbol could be a golden halo, or his giant famous O-Crest.
-- Pete, Boulder, CO

I suggest the triangle/Greek letter Delta, which in math and science means "change in".
-- Stephanie Stokes, Metairie, LA

To read more suggestions, please visit our BLOWBACK page.

Q: In the Sunday 11/30/08 strip Boopsie and daughter are heading home -- in the snow -- to make muffins. I'm more used to seeing the Malibu coastline as a backdrop to strips with B.D. and Boopsie and Sam and, for a time, nanny Zonker. So when did they make the move to warmer climes? I don't remember.
-- Graeme Roberts, UK | Storyline | December 11, 2008
A:It's not surprising that your memory has failed you, as their big move east occurred clear back in the late 20th century. It all began with a crisis at Walden College and an irresistible offer of gainful employment, as chronicled in this series of strips from the fall of 1997.
Q: I'm enjoying the current series with Alex interviewing Joanie Caucus. As I recall, Joanie first showed up in the strip as an unhappy wife and mother who deserted her husband and kids to join the gang at Walden. But when did this happen, and how did she find the commune?
-- George, MARYLAND | Characters | December 02, 2008
A:In the summer of 1972 Mark and Mike undertook an epic "search for America" road trip. They were returning from the west coast when they picked up Joanie, who was hitchhiking in Colorado. As she told them her story they quickly became friends, and she returned with them to Walden, as chronicled in this series of strips.
Q: Who is Alex's "Grammy" that worked for Lacey Davenport, as mentioned in today's strip? I know Mike's mother, "the widow Doonesbury", wasn't the one that worked for her.
-- Avidan, Washington, D.C. | Characters | November 20, 2008
A:The "Grammy" in question is none other than J.J.'s mom, Joanie Caucus. While attending law school at UC Berkeley, Joanie worked on the 1976 Congressional campaign of Virginia Slade, who was defeated by dark horse challenger Lacey Davenport. Following graduation Joanie moved to Washington to be with love interest Rick Redfern (who she met while he was covering the campaign). The beginning of what was to be a long and fruitful relationship between Congresswoman Davenport and Ms. Caucus is chronicled in this series of strips.
Q: As far back as I can remember, Garry Trudeau's post-election strip has never assumed that one candidate won over another. Why did Trudeau feel compelled to call this election for Obama? Why didn't he provide strips for a McCain win as well?
-- Micah, Portland, OREGON | Creating the Strip | November 12, 2008
A:Actually, GBT has handled the challenge of writing for election week in a variety of ways. In 1988, he had Peggy Noonan call the race a full week before the mere formality of voting gave President Un-Dukakis his victory. In 1992 GBT thoroughly hedged his bets, offering strips with alternate lines of dialogue so newspaper editors could check off boxes, selecting the versions that had proved to be the most appropriate. The strips that ran during election week in 1996 ignored the voting completely and focused on Mark and Chase's surprise outcome, as they accidentally outed themselves live on public radio. Election week 2000 chronicled the bitter end of Ambassador Duke's "Nothing Left to Lose" campaign for the White House, which had been chronicled in a remarkable series of campaign videos. In 2004, with a close election expected, Mark and Chase spent the week discussing the 2000 race, the role of the Supreme Court, and the rarity of a candidate choosing to concede a contested outcome for the good of the nation.

This year, with poll data indicating that an Obama victory is extremely likely, GBT chose to go with the odds in order to have the chance to comment on events as they occur. When the strips were distributed to client newspapers, numerous reporters questioned Trudeau about them. This Associated Press story includes some of his comments.

Q: I find it hard to believe that you are now denigrating "Joe the Plumber" and others of the blue collar trade. Sunday's strip was a low blow, unworthy of you.
-- Kevin, Attleboro, MA | Characters | November 03, 2008
A:As longtime readers of FAQ will recall, the syndication schedule requires that Sunday strips go into production six weeks before they appear in the paper. Sometimes this works in GBT's favor, as when a particular strip seems so perfectly timed that readers write in crediting GBT with psychic powers. In this instance the synchronicity has worked against him. Written and turned in weeks before "Joe the Plumber" arrived on the national stage, the strip in question was about the insanity of putting ideology ahead of competence. The fact that GBT chose a plumber to illustrate the proposition only confirms that when most people think "competence" and "knows way more than I do about what he's doing", they think "plumber".