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: B.D.'s counselor, Elias, started out black. Now he's white. What gives?
-- Terence, Paris, FRANCE | Characters | March 01, 2006
A:Actually, Elias has always been Latino, born in Puerto Rico. The confusion is strictly the result of a technical problem. In the b&w dailies, a crosshatch pattern was used to indicate Elias' skin. The 2-19-06 Sunday strip shows the correct color tone. But when the dailies were colored at the syndicate for online posting, the combination of color and crosshatching made Elias too dark -- hence the confusion. The problem was recently addressed, and the Elias strips in the DTH archive have been corrected. We apologize for the cognitive dissonance.
Q: Are you going to make a cartoon response to the plight of your fellow cartoonists in Denmark who are now in hiding, in fear for their lives? Will you be making any sort of public statement?
- - Larry, Santa Rosa, CA | Storyline | February 24, 2006
A:This issue may or may not prove to be something GBT addresses in the strip itself, as he did when the fatwa was declared against Salman Rushdie. However, we're happy to share with readers his recent comments to the San Francisco Chronicle:

What do you think of the State Department's statement, essentially condemning the publication of the cartoons in European newspapers?

A concession to reality. It's the State Department. What is the U.S. supposed to say -- that it approves of cartoons that set off demonstrations around the world? Just how much more hated in the Muslim world do we need to be?

Why has the U.S. news media (broadcast and print), almost universally refused to publish the cartoons?

I assume because they believe, correctly, it is unnecessarily inflammatory. It's legal to run them, but is it wise? The Danish editor who started all this actually recruited cartoonists to draw offensive cartoons (some of those he invited declined). And why did he do it? To demonstrate that in a Western liberal society he could. Well, we already knew that. Some victory for freedom of expression. An editor who deliberately sets out to provoke or hurt people because he's worried about "self-censorship" is not an editor I'd care to work for.

Will you be including any images of the Prophet Muhammad in upcoming cartoons?

No. Nor will I be using any imagery that mocks Jesus Christ.

What do you think of the Joint Chiefs issuing a protest to The Washington Post over the cartoon of the U.S. soldier/amputee returning from Iraq?

Well, it was a literal reading on their part. Toles wasn't mocking wounded soldiers -- he was just using a strong metaphor. I thought it was an effective cartoon, but the blowback was understandable, and I'm sure Tom was ready for it.

Is there an echo?

If you mean a personal echo, not really. I have 600 client editors, and I don't for a moment expect them all on any given day to judge my work suitable for their wildly different audiences. We have editors for a reason. Just because a society has almost unlimited freedom of expression doesn't mean we should ever stop thinking about its consequences in the real world. If The New York Times had commissioned a dozen vicious, anti-Semitic cartoons, would we be having a comparable debate? I don't think so.

Q: Are you going to make a cartoon response to the plight of your fellow cartoonists in Denmark who are now in hiding, in fear for their lives? Will you be making any sort of public statement?
- - Larry, Santa Rosa, CA | February 09, 2006
A:This issue may or may not prove to be something GBT addresses in the strip itself, as he did when the fatwa was declared against Salman Rushdie. However, we're happy to share with readers his recent comments to the San Francisco Chronicle:

What do you think of the State Department's statement, essentially condemning the publication of the cartoons in European newspapers?

A concession to reality. It's the State Department. What is the U.S. supposed to say -- that it approves of cartoons that set off demonstrations around the world? Just how much more hated in the Muslim world do we need to be?

Why has the U.S. news media (broadcast and print), almost universally refused to publish the cartoons?

I assume because they believe, correctly, it is unnecessarily inflammatory. It's legal to run them, but is it wise? The Danish editor who started all this actually recruited cartoonists to draw offensive cartoons (some of those he invited declined). And why did he do it? To demonstrate that in a Western liberal society he could. Well, we already knew that. Some victory for freedom of expression. An editor who deliberately sets out to provoke or hurt people because he's worried about "self-censorship" is not an editor I'd care to work for.

Will you be including any images of the Prophet Muhammad in upcoming cartoons?No. Nor will I be using any imagery that mocks Jesus Christ.

What do you think of the Joint Chiefs issuing a protest to The Washington Post over the cartoon of the U.S. soldier/amputee returning from Iraq?

Well, it was a literal reading on their part. Toles wasn't mocking wounded soldiers -- he was just using a strong metaphor. I thought it was an effective cartoon, but the blowback was understandable, and I'm sure Tom was ready for it.

Is there an echo?

If you mean a personal echo, not really. I have 600 client editors, and I don't for a moment expect them all on any given day to judge my work suitable for their wildly different audiences. We have editors for a reason. Just because a society has almost unlimited freedom of expression doesn't mean we should ever stop thinking about its consequences in the real world. If The New York Times had commissioned a dozen vicious, anti-Semitic cartoons, would we be having a comparable debate about freedom of expression? I don't think so.

Q: My friend insists Zonker started out in the strip as a football player, but I find this hard to believe. Is it true?
-- Chris McVey, Sunnyvale, CA | Characters | February 09, 2006
A:Yes. Zonker and B.D. first met on the gridiron in a clash of personalities which set the tone for their enduring love/hate relationship. We are pleased to post this initial sequence for your viewing pleasure - shamelessly taking advantage of your timely question to announce the kick-off of Dude: The Big Book of Zonker. Here's flap copy from this delightful compilation (longtime DTH visitors will recognize the voice of Duty Officer David Stanford):

This breathtaking volume boldly, cheerfully, and blankly stares back across the stunningly copacetic life and times of Zonker Harris. From his Californian-American roots to his legendary status as surfer, nanny, and former sun god, his career trajectory has unfailingly carried him ever deeper into the homegrown heart of the American daydream.

?I am but one dude.?

-Zonker Harris

In all the annals of disengagement, the name Zonker Harris stands nonpareil. For over three decades, Doonesbury's Prince of Inner Space has consistently upped the ante on mellow, proving there is far more slack in a dude than social scientists had previously imagined. Expanding on the legacy passed down from such unplugged progenitors as Maynard G. Krebs and Jughead, the Z-man added his own baked-in-the-'60s style of endearing cluelessness to the essential but underappreciated American tradition of laissez-faire. With uncompromising commitment to a life of flow, Zonker has served as a role model and inspiration for several generations of latter-day dudes, from Jeff Spicoli to his own nephew Zipper.

Dubbed Walden's "Greatest Living Slacker" by his alma mater, Zonker has shown that winging it is a viable survival strategy, and has ever held true to his 'tude. As an undergraduate communard, he savored the natural glories of Walden Puddle (named as a tip of the visor to New England's founding chillhead). Now a professional nanny who took his charge surfing while still in diapers, Zonker Harris, man-child of the Golden West, continues to pass on the gentle wisdom of his kind.

Q: I don't remember Doonesbury ever including Santa Claus in the strip, or addressing the holiday at all. Is GBT part of the War on Christmas?
-- Hank I., Galesburg, IL | Storyline | January 03, 2006
A:If we didn't know better, we'd take this to be a thinly-veiled attempt (a successful one, we might add) to summon visitations by a few of our favorite ghosts of Doonesbury Christmases past. Merry Holidays!
Q: Here's another "how accurate is the strip?" question, this one re the 11/27/05 Sunday. Is the strip's dialogue, with GWB rationalizing DKE's hazing rituals, quoted verbatim? If so, where's it from?
-- Rick Pluta, Lansing, MI | Out There | November 30, 2005
A:The fact that the dialogue in panel seven is in quotation marks is the tip-off that these are Dubya's actual words, as per this Boston Globe article. The subject has been addressed in the strip previously, most notably during this September 1999 series, which incorporates a Yale Daily News photograph of an actual DKE brand.
Q: As of October 20th, George W. Bush has held only seven press conferences in 2005. Has Dubya been depicted in the strip conducting more than that many this year? My question is intended not to point out any inaccuracies in the strip, but to shame the president.
-- Walt Threlkeld, Pasadena, CA | Storyline | November 30, 2005
A:Thanks for requesting a reality check. In this regard, the strip happens to have been pretty accurate. So far this year, Dubya has gone before the press corps six times in the strip, not counting the speech he delivered as part of Mike's Summer Daydream. On the other hand, those six appearances unfolded over a total of 13 days, which may be why you thought the president was catching an unearned break.
Q: I read in the Kansas City Star that Doonesbury is 35. I wasn't around back then, so could you please post the very first strip? Thx.
-- J.M., KC, MO | Creating the Strip | November 17, 2005
A:Doonesbury debuted on October 26, 1970. In celebration of the strip's 35th year, we're happy to post THE FIRST 35 STRIPS. Enjoy!
Q: Can I get Doonesbury images for my cell phone?
-- C. Brown, Northampton, MA | November 03, 2005
A:Images, and then some. We've been holding onto this question for months, knowing we'd eventually be able to answer in the affirmative. We are pleased to direct your attention to GOCOMICS.COM, where you can easily arrange to RECEIVE DOONESBURY DAILY, in color, on your phone. You can also enhance your phone's ambiance by choosing from among 17 Doonesbury character WALLPAPERS, or lively it up with Doonesbury ANIMATIONS -- initial offerings include Jukin? Duke, mini-D, and Zipper the 24-7 gamer. Have fun!
Q: Is Ray Hightower's war blog for real? If so, what's the url?
-- Barry G., Pittsburgh, PA | Characters | September 29, 2005
A:Although Ray's blog, like Ray himself, only exists in the cartoon universe, we're happy to pass along links to MY WAR (which features a good collection of articles on "milbloggers"), LIFE IN THIS GIRL'S ARMY (which has links to other sites), plus THIS EXTENSIVE LIST of blogs.