Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 22, 2012

Quit while you’re behind, Alex.

Lincoln, Nebraska? as in The Cornhuskers?

Ouch. First rule of holes time (when you’re in one, stop digging).

There are I think five characters in this strip who are in their twenties, and Trudeau is consistently encouraging us to dislike all of them except Leo.

Jeff, Zipper, Duke’s son (does he have a name?) Alex and Leo. Am I missing anybody?

Leo never does anything wrong. Jeff is pathetic and predatory. Zipper is pathetic. Duke’s son is predatory. Alex is a scion of the family that produced JJ, who is kind of parasitic, and married to a guy who is terribly parasitic. Also Jeff. These people don’t have any unilateraterally appealing children. Alex is as good as it gets, and she is always coming off as going through the motions.

So, what’s the message here, Garry?

Maybe Trudeau could arrange to have Boopsie’s daughter volunteer to go off to some act of American invasion and get shot up, and then she could come back all crippled and be perfect too?

Just sayin’ Garry.

She really should know that….

Drew, Alex’s college roommate, was likeable enough, but was mostly shown reacting to Alex’s drama. Also she hasn’t been seen since the wedding.

Zipper should be in his 30’s by now, at least! He’s been in college since the late 90’s. I’m not sure if Trudeau is aging him in real time though.

Come now, I think some of y’all are being a little harsh on GBT. This strip is satire after all. Every character in Doonesbury is deeply flawed, except those like Ginnie, Kim, Becca, and Drew who are offered chiefly as foils, and never as the center of the action. Hapless Mike, Self-righteous Mark, … well, maybe Joanie has proven most unequivocally admirable, and Sam has real potential among the younger set, thought we haven’t seem much of her lately. …. and think of the transformation and growth of B.D. He spent decades being just as awful as any of these younger ones, and has finally been allowed to have some better qualities. … Yes, for some, maturity and wisdom comes through suffering, and yes, Leo is the only one whom GBT never mocks, and that may be because he is THE young wounded warrior. … Perhaps is it not the obnoxiousness of the younger set that bothers folks, but rather that they seemed less real and less entertaining to watch than some of their elders. Or perhaps the humor comes to the older characters because they are seem through the eyes of a contemporary, but somehow the younger ones are seen through the eyes of their elders, of whom GBT and most of us commenting here are.

Why not talk about Libya?I think we need a “Lone Ranger” type there ASAP like in Iraq!Or, isn’t this strip that recent?

@Miep: “Duke’s son is Earl. Get it?”I thought this was hostile too, until I got the joke. jeez, after all these years….In Japanese they call people who don’t get the joke right away “fluorescent lights”.

In high school we once had a speaker on Shakespeare who said, ‘Shakespeare wasn’t writing for the ages, he was writing to make a living’. Maybe GT is just trying to make a living writing a funny, biting strip. Did you ever think about that?

I, for one, refuse to read the comical adventures of characters with human failings. I guess that leaves “love is…”

Im glad we got that cleared up.

This is where you find out it Pre marriage love is love. He’ll cut her some slack and she’ll recognize he’s more that what she sees.

It’s the “support crew” like Becca, Drew, Sam, etc. that seems normal, not the main characters who we see all the time, warts and all.

Going to a “name” school, gets you in with the wealthy Alumni that went there, and can be an asset. Don’t disrespect the little tech schools – they teach well enough that someone should be able to get a job – and then it is up to him/her to make their mark in life. All of us can’t go to a “name” school, it doesn’t necessarily mean we are second rate.

Thanx dukedog, I was going to post the same comment. LWP wasn’t being a “tad hostile” at all.

Still waiting for an apology from MiepR for blowing up at LWP for pointing out what wasn’t an obvious pun. Oh, by the way, Chill Out MiepR. Consider that hostile, if you like. I don’t care.

makes me think of “duke of earl” and then “duke of prunes”. go zappa.

Alex has a heart of gold, but is a bit out of the mainstream when it comes to thinking. It would be a disaster for Leo to start holding that against her at this point.

Leo’s really working hard on things he can become insulted by. Needs to stop that if he wants a relationship with Alex.

Joanie ran out on her husband and daughter to become a hippie and attend Walden. She practically forced Rick to marry her, and she completely ignores Jeff. Her only redeeming qualities are that she was friends with the delightful Lacey Davenport, and her politics.

Not many of the older characters are very likeable, either, but we’re used to them and know what to expect. And really, would the comics be funny if all the characters were like Mary Worth?

Actually, Dukes and Earls are separate ranks. Dukes outrank Earls. The eldest son of a Duke, will be a Duke. Being the son of a Duke does not make one an Earl.

It seems to me that people are being a tad hard on Alex. She appears to be trying to be accommodating toward Leo, but may have a little Aspergery social awkwardness and inattention to detail. I don’t mean that she has Aspberger’s, but she may have some traits. I think I have some myself, and can empathize.

Had to check this, but the only time the eldest son of a Duke will be called Earl is when the Duke also holds an Earldom – the eldest son will use any lesser title as a courtesy title. The Duke of Westminster is also Earl Grosvenor, so his only son is currently called this (though he is not actually the Earl, and will stop using the title when he succeeds to it, because he will then be Duke of Westminster…) Other chidren are Lord/Lady and surname.

Oh, we Brits do love making these things complicated…

What did Alex graduate with again?

I don’t think Alex is unlikable, nor is she just “going through the motions.” She is very self-aware…about 10 seconds too late. She’s a child of the net where every random thought you have is broadcast to the world and only after do you consider the fallout. But she does consider it and she is sincere in her actions.