CSotD: Jeff Redfern phones home
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Doonesbury has been through a number of phases in its 40 years, generally tracing the life of cartoonist Garry Trudeau in some rough fashion — first as a college student, then as a young single hipster, later as a parent — all the time commenting on social mores and politics. But a few years ago, Trudeau stepped out of the cocoon he had been creating in, not only granting interviews and talking about his work but, more important, stepping out of his own experiences and doing significant research on the experience of the men and women of the armed services. He permanently disabled one of his major characters and turned him from a two-dimensional icon lampooning conservative thought to a sympathetic character reflecting the experience of returning veterans, and he has not only spent hours with vets, learning about their lives, but has created a space for them to discuss and share their experiences.
Recently, Trudeau was among a group of cartoonists who visited troops in Iraq, which I suspect was the impetus for the current arc, in which Rick and Joni's meathead son has accidentally downed a USO chopper. The whole arc has been good; This one cracked me up.
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