Voices of Dissent

From an article at TheJournalNews.com, Drawn & Quartered.

“The comics page is usually thought of as a refuge from the rest of the newspaper. But throughout the Iraqi crisis, two comic strips in particular have offered voices of dissent — or at least sharp-edged satire — that have stood out on the comic pages like prickly pears in a petunia patch.

“In Garry Trudeau’s ‘Doonesbury,‘ published in more than 1,200 newspapers around the country (including this one), darts have been tossed at, among other things, President George W. Bush’s budget policies, the run-up to war and what they see as an American sense of empire.

“In Aaron McGruder’s ‘The Boondocks,‘ a three-year-old strip featured in 275 newspapers nationwide, McGruder’s tart-tongued African-American characters have made sport of national jitters about the war on terrorism and the policies of Attorney General John Ashcroft, among other topics.

“Curiously, at a time when boycotts are threatened for any celebrity who dares question America’s Iraq policy, little has been made of the two strips that state contrary opinions. Editors at Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes ‘Doonesbury’ and ‘The Boondocks,’ say they’ve had few complaints from editors at the newspapers that carry them.”