You are here: Home > March 2006 > 'Boondocks' On Sabbatical
« Newark Eagles Owner First Woman in Baseball Hall of Fame | Main | On The Ballot This Fall In Wisconsin »
March 01, 2006
'Boondocks' On Sabbatical
Posted at March 1, 2006 09:51 AM in Black Art .
I can certainly understand the need to take time off. If you give too much, it can take too much from you. Considering what Mr. McGruder has been through of late, I believe it is safe to say his batteries are probably well worn and in need of recharging.
The cartoonist who is syndicated in about 350 American newspapers, said Tuesday he would take about six months off beginning in March.
"Every well needs occasional refreshing," he wrote in a letter to be sent to editors of newspapers carrying the strip. "I hope that this fall you will agree that the time away from the demands of deadlines has served the strip, your readers and me."
No further explanation was offered and he declined interviews. His editor at Universal Press Syndicate, Greg Melvin, said McGruder simply needed a break.
His last comic will appear March 26, and papers can run old "Boondocks" strips or a replacement until it returns in October.
"The Boondocks" touches on racial issues, pop culture and politics as it chronicles the lives of Huey Freeman, his little brother, Riley, and their eccentric grandfather, who moves them from south Chicago to the suburbs.
The strip's frequent criticism of everything from the Bush administration and post-9/11 policies to TV network BET has made it a source of controversy.
A few papers temporarily pulled the strip for its attacks against the war in Iraq. And last year, several papers dropped it for a few days because of an offensive ethnic slur.
"You can talk about race in a way that might provoke some people," said Melvin, who edits 20 features for Universal Press. "He was willing to talk about race and popular culture and politics in a way that really hadn't been done for people of his generation."
No topic has appeared off-limits for the strip, from finding Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a boyfriend to lampooning musician R. Kelly.
McGruder created "The Boondocks" in 1997 while attending the University of Maryland. When it went national two years later, it became Universal Press' third-strongest launch of a strip, behind "For Better or for Worse" and "Calvin and Hobbes," according to company spokesperson Kathie Kerr. (AP)
Source: DiversityInc.com