Recent FAQS

FAQs

Beta-fresh answers, uploaded occasionally

Lets face it, our favorite comic strip is often obscure or inconsistent, and key characters are sometimes left stranded for years. Long-suffering readers are within their rights to demand some clarification. Use the "Ask GBT" form to email us your questions, and we will answer those we can on the Blowback page, and also archive the answers here.

Q:

Why did Roland Hedley start tweeting again, and how can I read his stuff?
P. P. | Characters | Morgan Hill, CA | January 20, 2017
A:

In March, 2009, veteran correspondent Roland Hedley opened a Twitter account and began to tweet. A month later, a sampling of his 140-character missives was published in The New Yorker to great acclaim. The best of his work was published in 2009 as "My Shorts R Bunching. Thoughts?" : The Tweets of Roland Hedley, and he thereafter directed his efforts elsewhere.

According to his recently reactivated Twitter account, Hedley is now the Trump Tweets Bureau Chief for Fox News. He can be read, and followed, here.
Q:

I don't remember Doonesbury ever including Santa Claus in the strip, or addressing Christmas at all. Is Trudeau part of the War on Christmas?
Henry Inness | Storyline | Galesburg, IL | December 22, 2016
A:

If we didn't know better, we'd take this to be a thinly-veiled attempt (a successful one, we might add) to summon visitations by a few of our favorite ghosts of Doonesbury Christmases past. Merry Holidays!
Q:

With Trump now asking that Clinton take a drug test before the next debate, could you please post a link to the strips that had challenger Clyde Montana demanding that Congresswoman Lacey Davenport submit a urine sample? Doonesbury remains "as indispensable as sensible shoes."
Jen Hamilton | Storyline | Philadelphia, PA | October 17, 2016
A:

It would be a pleasure to return for a moment to that simpler era, when at least one incumbent's campaign ads were paid for by "her chums." Enjoy.
Q:

A recent Ted Cruz attack ad on Donald Trump focused on his use of eminent domain against an Atlantic City woman named Vera Coking, back in the '90s. But I remember a Doonesbury storyline from the same era that was about Duke and a restaurant Trump was after. Could you please dust the mothballs off that one and share?
Darrin Stevens | Storyline | Albany, NY | February 22, 2016
A:

Your timely request is appreciated. The 1997 series you refer to was about Trump's efforts to take over a family-owned restaurant called Sabatini's, and the strips led to Trump pronouncing his by-now-familiar judgment, calling Trudeau "a third-rate talent." To read the series, click HERE.
Q:

I've loved your strip for decades, but I can't remember who Sal is.
Steve Ehrmann | Characters | Silver Spring, MD | December 28, 2015
A:

During his pre-college years, Mike's younger brother Benjy turned to the Punk side and adopted the moniker "Sal Putrid."
Q:

I noticed that on 11-1-15 there was no 45-years-ago-today strip on the Flashback page, and that in 1970 that date was a Sunday. I assume the two facts are related? When did the Sunday strip commence, and was it an eight-panel extravaganza from the get-go?
Jamie Kennedy | Creating the Strip | New South Wales, AUSTRALIA | November 04, 2015
A:

Well observed. Although the dailies launched on 10-26-70, the first Sunday Doonesbury did not show up until almost five months later. It was in fact a nine-panel extravaganza, as you'll see here.

 

(Note: The resolution on the early Sundays leaves something to be desired. Upgrading these is on our To Do list, and we regret that squinting may be required until that task is accomplished. To those who have taken the time to write about this issue, thank you!)
Q:

I think Trudeau addressed the plight of adjunct professors before, years ago. Can we please see his earlier take on this subject? How sad that it still needs to be revisited.
Chris | Storyline | St. Augustine, FL | September 07, 2015
A:

Indeed. The way of the adjunct is not easy. Here's the sequence you are remembering, which initially ran 19 years ago.
Q:

Since Doonesbury has chronicled the adventures of Donald Trump for decades, could you please entertain us by revisiting his role in some of the previous presidential campaigns? I'd especially like to see the one where we get a glimpse of what the Trump White House itself would look like. Thanks!
Darby | Characters | Pittsburgh, PA | August 06, 2015
A:

Doonesbury's Trump archive is indeed deep and rich, going back more than 25 years, and we are pleased to share this retrospective.
Q:

The "Rummyworld" series from 10 years ago exactly describes what is going on today with ISIS. Can you please re-post those 2005 strips?
Grant Hurlburt | Storyline | Hamilton, CANADA | July 16, 2015
A:

Certainly. Welcome to Rummyworld!
Q:

It's a gift from the gods to have Trump formally in the 2016 race. But since you aren't doing dailies right now, how about you do us a solid and dig into the archives and treat us to some Classic Trump. He's been in the strip a zillion times. Por favor?
Derek Stenfield | Storyline | Galesburg, IL | June 17, 2015
A:

Easily said and done. To revisit Trump strips and storylines from 1987, 1989, 2007, 2011 and 2015, click here. De nada.