Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 24, 2010

Well, Dex spoke beyond his station (Although confirming his reputation) And, even though she’s a cutie Melissa will do her duty And will eventually be contacting Graves Registration

He didn’t used to be into dominance? Fill in that back story, Trudeau.

It was great seeing Trudeau on PBS Lehrer last night talking about his 40th year anniversary. Congrats Mr. Trudeau!

Looks like someone spiked Dex’s punch. He doesn’t know what hot bondage is.

On PBS, Trudeau gave us some tidbits about his working habits and his relationship with his publishers. “I’m a short-order cook,” he said, disavowing any ambition to “chronicle the Doonesbury generation.” And he’ll start with a cartoon idea for Thursday, say, and then “reverse-engineer” the strip (or in Sandfan’s term, fill in the back-story) for the preceding days to find out how he got to Thursday.

GT made it clear he starts with an idea and then looks for the right characters to convey the idea. If he can’t find an appropriate character among the growing Doonesbury cast, then he’ll occasionally invent a new character (such as Mel’s father?)

GT says his publishers from the start recognized that his art is second-rate. Because he’s incapable of drawing individual portraits, his characters have to be defined by their social circumstances and their political opinions. But Trudeau refuses to be consigned to the op-ed pages, rightly noting that his aim is to give pleasure—not to provide arguments for policies.

Palin’s just trying to make this sound like another Winnie the Pooh strip.

Meilleurs vœux !

thanks for the long-winded explanation of what I said three days ago PD. the characters are talking points mostly. they become characters only after a few cycles of GT effort.

These groups get all kinds and many never learn their lessons. Dex must be a Viet Vet. Too many of us never learned ANY lesson.

Buon Natale, to all the good folks at GoComics. Have a safe and relaxing holiday with the people you want to be with, and remember those who can’t.