Doonesbury for 03/29/2015. The standard 4-frame comic strip is enlarged to approximately 4 x 12 inches.  Sizes vary in accordance with the size of the comic itself, but all are printed, centered, on acid-free, archival 11 x 17-inch paper.

Doonesbury continues to entertain, inspire, and provoke with its unique blend of social commentary, humor, and political satire.  Chronicling the millennial state of the nation through the interconnected lives of its large cast of characters, the strip offers unusual perspectives on the usual suspects, and asks impertinent questions on the pertinent subjects of the day. In Duke 2000: Whatever It Takes Trudeau's Pulitzer Prize-winning strip tracks the end of an Internet start-up and the beginning of a gay marriage, the revival of an aging rocker's career -- and the complete reinvention of the irrepressible Uncle Duke. In a presidential primary campaign attracting the likes of Warren Beatty and Donald Trump, perhaps it was not surprising that the former ambassador to China decided to throw his bandana into the ring.

This breathtaking volume boldly, cheerfully, and blankly stares back across the stunningly mellow life and times of Zonker Harris. From his Californian-American roots to his legendary status as surfer, nanny, and former sun god, his career trajectory has unfailingly carried him ever deeper into the homegrown heart of the American daydream. A puddle-plumbing denizen of Walden Commune, Harris spent his formative years as a bodaciously freaked-out college student. His innovative decoding of the rites and rituals of the burgeoning counterculture put him on the cover of Time. Forced by a strategic oversight to graduate from college, Harris blazed a path to glory on the pro tanning circuit. His triumph in the George Hamilton Cocoa-Butter Open set a high watermark for the sport.

Family values led Harris to devote considerable time to helping his stunned parents refill their empty nest. Extended-family values propelled him into a career as a professional nanny, in which capacity he has indeed taught the children well--especially Sam, who was surfing the long board while still in diapers. Later, leveraging his political cluelessness, Zonker served on the disastrous Duke2000 presidential campaign. A devoted foot soldier in the war against AIDS suffering, Zonk is held in high regard among SoCal's medical marijuana community for the efficacious potency of his magic brownies. Unfazed by worldly success, he remains a true and gentle freak. After all, he humbly notes, I am but one dude. 

What a long, strange strip it's been! Doonesbury has managed to be articulate, abrasive, political, compassionate, misunderstood, misprinted, and outrageous—but one thing it's never been is complacent. Garry Trudeau's creation has chronicled American history and culture in a parallel universe. And through it all, Doonesbury has always been honest, entertaining, and way, way cool.“I don’t read Doonesbury. He glorifies drugs.” —Former White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater   Welcome to the age of pivots. Two centuries after the Founding Fathers signed off on happiness, Zonker Harris and nephew Zipper pull up stakes and head west in hot pursuit. The dream? Setting up a major grow facility outside Boulder, Colorado, and becoming bajillionaire producers of “artisanal” marijuana. For Zonk, it’s the crowning reset of a career that’s ranged from babysitting to waiting tables. For Walden-grad Zip, it’s a way to confront $600,000 in student loans.   Elsewhere in Free Agent America, newlyweds Alex and Toggle are struggling. Twins Eli and Danny show up during their mother’s MIT graduation, but a bad economy dries up lab grants, compelling the newly minted PhD to seek employment as a barista. Meanwhile, eternally blocked writer Jeff Redfern struggles to keep the Red Rascal legend-in-his-own-mind franchise alive, while aging music icon Jimmy T. endures by adapting to his industry’s new normal: “I can make music on my schedule and release it directly to the fans.”   He’s living in his car.     G.B. Trudeau’s Doonesbury is now in its fifth decade, and has chronicled American life through eight presidents, four generational cohorts, and innumerable paradigm shifts. His political sitcom Alpha House, starring John Goodman, is available on DVD and by streaming from Amazon Prime.   For the record, Trudeau always inhaled back in the day. As President Obama once explained, “That was the point.”