When Trudeau Turned Doonesbury Over to “Zorro”
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Soon after Doonesbury began syndication there arose a false accusation that Garry Trudeau was no longer drawing the comic strip only writing it, having handed off the art chores to others. Even as recently as 2023 that myth was voiced by some on the death of Doonesbury inker Don Carlton:
Don Carlton the “Doonesbury Cartoon” artist (Gary Trudeau did the political commentary and signed) died this past week.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. But there was one time, 35 years ago, when Trudeau gave the vast majority of the January 27, 1991 strip over to another cartoonist. And naturally it was controversial.
In late August 1990 a United States led coalition began building up military resources (“Desert Shield”) in some Arab Gulf states and areas following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in early August of 1990. By the time the Zorro cartoons appeared in newspapers the bombing of Iraq (“Desert Storm”) had commenced. The Zorro cartoons come from the time of Desert Shield.
Some newspapers removed Doonesbury from their Sunday comics sections and ran it elsewhere in the paper claiming the “black humor” was not appropriate for the color Funnies. “[It] just didn’t belong there.” Some found it “in poor taste,” others editorialized that “a glance at the strip in question fails to account for the agitation.” Many papers warned readers that the the Zorro cartoons “might be offensive.”
Within two days the man behind Living in Purgatory was revealed by his mother who proudly told a local newspaper that her son, Air Force technical sergeant Tommy Rominger was the pseudonymous “Zorro.”
13 years ago we got an update on Tom Rominger from The Daytona Beach News-Journal reporter Aaron London who visited Rominger and revisited the most famous event in his life:
Rominger was hired last year to serve as tourism liaison with the Flagler County Tourist Development Council, but extolling the virtues of the area or recommending a good place to eat is not his first experience in the information business.
A 24-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force now living in Ormond Beach, Rominger served as a graphic artist and illustrator during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf.
Included is how Rominger’s cartoons came to be noticed by Garry Trudeau:
Rominger isn’t alone with his Persian Gulf experience and he was recently reminded of that fact by an unexpected source. While visiting the Flagler County Historical Society’s headquarters at Holden House in Bunnell, Rominger saw a familiar face.
Dan Davis, Bunnell’s city clerk, was also at the Historical Society, gathering information for the city’s upcoming centennial celebration, and he recognized Rominger as “Zorro,” the name Rominger used on a series of cartoons entitled “Living in Purgatory.”
Davis assiduously collected the prints and sent them off to “Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau, who eventually used some of them in print. While the move raised the hackles of Rominger’s superiors — mainly because he didn’t go through the USAF public affairs office — it delighted the service men and women who looked forward to seeing the newest creation.
“I knew that he was very talented and I knew that his style and sense of humor was very close to Trudeau’s cartoons,” Davis said. “I just thought he deserved it. We all thought that he’d go on to be this famous cartoonist after the war.”
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