UPDATE 3: Going by comments, people who read this post may think that by Garry Trudeau’s “track record” I mean some pattern he has involving brain-damaged characters. Well, no. The track record business refers to the point raised in the post’s first paragraph, namely that I think Trudeau often takes the easy way out when he involves his characters in difficult matters. Examples would include Joanie Caucus’s longshot transition from housewife to congressional legal counsel (and wife of Rick Redfern) in the 1970s, and the triumphant arrival in the dumped Mike Doonesbury’s life of a young, beautiful and brilliant second wife in the 1980s.
This is Update 3 because I thought of a couple more trivial updates first and stuck them at the end of the post.
And now let us return to our starting point: Alex and Leo … sweet or what?
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I guess it could be both. I still have a weakness for Doonesbury, though the strip is decades past its great days. Now comic geeks take notice of it only to roll their eyes, or such is my impression. Garry Trudeau has something of the feel of an Aaron Sorkin or Frank Rich: he does what he does smoothly, but you (okay, I) feel that he leaves out a lot when playing moral arbiter or heartfelt human chronicler. He had the same faults in the old days, but his virtues were a lot stronger then, by which I mean that he was really, really funny.
Now Alex, Mike Doonesbury’s little girl, is romancing Leo, a boy who got blown up in the Iraq war. Leo is fighting back from very grave handicaps, chiefly aphasia. Alex has her dad’s face and her dad is not good-looking; neither is she. Would Trudeau have assigned her to a victim of brain damage if she were pretty? Well, maybe, I don’t know. I’m inclined to doubt it because of Trudeau’s track record and because I haven’t seen any strips addressing why the two like each other. Aside from being a couple of nice kids, they don’t have much in common.
Caveat: I read Doonesbury on most days but not all days, so my data set is limited.
UPDATE: Ah yes, now about Alex being “cute.” And if that link is outdated, just find the Doonesbury strip for May 16.
UPDATE 2: Yep, the link is outdated. Still, the one today (May 17) is pretty good: Roland Hedley Burton and his tweets.
“Would Trudeau have assigned her to a victim of brain damage if she were pretty?”
This is a very weird question. What is Trudeau’s “track record” with regard to pairing unattractive women with men with disabilities?
Personally, I think this is a case where Trudeau wants to draw attention to an issue he cares about, without having really laid the groundwork to fit it into the story cleanly, but I tend to cut people some slack when they’ve created one of the greatest comic strips of all time. (Which I realize runs counter to the ethos of this place).
It certainly does. You’re liable to be booted for sentiments like that.
I’m actually not a very big Doonesbury fan myself. I much preferred Bloom County.
I like Bloom County, too.
Oh, and I should have added to my original post: I always thought we were supposed to read Alex as “cute”.
Given Trudeau’s track record? Who among the old cast can be seen as quasi brain-damaged? Uncle Duke (drugs) and BD (not very bright)? Duke’s with Honey, who seems to be regarded as less cute than Alex, but BD (who is also, like Leo, a war veteran who got blown up in Iraq) is with Boopsie, one of the prettiest ladies in the cast.
“he leaves out a lot when playing moral arbiter or heartfelt human chronicler.”
That’s the track record as I see it. He tends to take the easy way when going for the heavy-duty stuff. “Okay, a romance with a brain-damage victim, but who else is she going to date?”
“I tend to cut people some slack when they’ve created one of the greatest comic strips of all time.”
You’re beautiful.
“I always thought we were supposed to read Alex as ‘cute.'””
Seems like she’s set up against better-looking women and then jokes at her expense result. First Mike’s wife, then the MIT roommate.
It seems like the Leo/Alex pairing is going to result in Leo getting his heart broken…? Alex needs a kindred intellect, I would suppose.
As far as Doonesbury going stale, I don’t agree at all. I think Trudeau is at the absolute top of his game. I am persistently blown away at his ability to find subtlety and amplify it, loudly and clearly.
@PurpleNeonLight
Agree with you about Doonesbury not going stale. I think what we see with its perception is a variation of familiarity breeding contempt. Comic creators who maintain a high level of excellence on a feature over a long time tend to be perceived as going stale no matter what. Something similar happened with "Peanuts" too, which always being compared unfavourably to the new bright thing. In that respect it was a very shrewd move for "Bloom County" and "Calvin & Hobbes" to be cancelled after a fairly short run before readers got a chance to become blasé about it…
I thought Peanuts went far downhill after Snoopy’s brother showed up.
But sure, tastes differ!
I always thought Honey was supposed to be your standard attractive woman in frumpy get-up.
I don’t think Honey is the standard idea of an attractive woman, no matter how she’s dressed. Compare Boopsie, JJ, Kim and, Alex’s roommate at MIT. Trudeau’s idea of an attractive woman is pretty clearly put forth, and Honey isn’t it.