'Boondocks' Comic Strip Going on Hiatus

AP ^ | 2/28/6 | MATT SEDENSKY

[SmithL]

Kansas City, Mo. -- The Boondocks, the black comic-strip family living in white suburbia, are going on vacation.

Aaron McGruder, the cartoonist behind the strip 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."

McGruder offered no further explanation and declined interviews. He has been doing double duty on "Boondocks" since last fall when he brought it to the Cartoon Network as a weekly show.

His editor at Universal Press Syndicate, Greg Melvin, said McGruder simply needed a break.

"Deadlines are hard on everybody, but deadlines are especially hard on creative people," Melvin said. "When six months have passed, hopefully his batteries will be recharged."

The last new comic before the hiatus will appear March 26. Papers can run old "Boondocks" strips or a replacement until it returns in October.

"The Boondocks" has been distributed by Kansas City-based Universal Press since April 1999. It 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 moved them from south Chicago to the suburbs.

The strip's frequent criticism of everything from the Bush administration and post-9/11 policies to black television network BET has made it a source of controversy.

[SmithL]

Boondocks is as funny as Doonsbury.

[cripplecreek]

Boondocks is as funny as Doonsbury.

LOL

[carlr]

"Deadlines are hard on everybody, but deadlines are especially hard on creative people," Melvin said. "When six months have passed, hopefully his batteries will be recharged."

Gee,how do the rest of us make it through our year after year,all year jobs?

[southernerwithanattitude]

I'm a creative person and I think my batteries need recharging. I wonder what my boss would say if I told him I needed six months off?

[SmithL]

Sure, take a few months or even years. And Good Luck on finding that new job, whenever your batteries have been recharged.
; )

[martin_fierro]

Good riddance. What crap.

[ziggygrey]

I'm a creative person and I think my batteries need recharging. I wonder what my boss would say if I told him I needed six months off?

Guess you need to be a successful cartoonist..

[Mr. Blonde]

I saw the cartoon on Adult Swim. It's no Aqua Teen Hunger Force to be sure, but it had its moments. I am almost tempted to watch it just as part of my support for non-anime Adult Swim shows.

[Choose Ye This Day]

"Every well needs occasional refreshing,"

Even a poisoned well, apparently.

[Starter]

Aaron, do you even draw the strip any more?

[JRios1968]

I saw the cartoon on Adult Swim. It's no Aqua Teen Hunger Force to be sure, but it had its moments. I am almost tempted to watch it just as part of my support for non-anime Adult Swim shows.

I make it a point to avoid watching Boondocks. Give me some Family Guy or Futurama any day...also, have to love ATHF and SeaLab...recently, my TiVo decided to start recording Home Movies, which I also love.

[NYCVirago]

"Deadlines are hard on everybody, but deadlines are especially hard on creative people," Melvin said. "When six months have passed, hopefully his batteries will be recharged."

He doesn't even draw the cartoon anymore. How much recharging does he need?

[blake6900]

Aaron McGruder, the cartoonist behind the strip syndicated in about 350 American newspapers, said Tuesday he would take about six months off beginning in March.

And for the next six months it'll be just as funny as it ever was.

[Vision]

Wow, he need six months off to refuel his blatant racist PC hate. What a hard working "artist".

Sometimes I think America is too wealthy

[RayChuang88]

I'm not surprised this happens every now and then. After all, Doonesbury creator Gerry Trudeau went on a long hiatus during the early 1980's, and Bill Watterson went on hiatus several times when he was doing Calvin and Hobbes.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Racist cartoonist takes sabbatical.

[nickcarraway]

Youy don't think it's easy to come up with witty banter every day? (apparently neither does he)

[dfwgator]

What's a "Boondocks?"

[Tijeras_Slim]

Cartoon hater.

[Dog Gone]

Brilliant. Creative. Hysterically funny.

[Constitution Day]

I always TiVo much of Adult Swim, except for the anime.

'Boondocks', however, has received a three-thumbs-down rating from me.

[Mr. Blonde]

I have only watched it a little bit. And really the only thing amusing is the Charlie Murphy and Samuel L. Jackson characters who make fun of wannabe gang members.

[Constitution Day]

I have seen those guys.
I got the impression that they are meant to symbolize Bush and either Rumsfeld or Cheney?

(One has a giant "W" necklace, the other a red-white-and-blue headband)

[Mr. Blonde]

I didn't really get that from it. At the beginning on an episode they practice robbing a bank that is owned by an uncle. And they seem to be otherwise fairly well off. It seemed to me to be a statement about rich people who want to adopt the thug lifestyle. Or wealthy rappers who still like to act like they are "from the streets".

[Constitution Day]

*shrugs*
You may be right. Honestly, I haven't seen enough of it to be certain.

[JRios1968]

I only wish I could give it more than 3 Thumbs Down on my TiVo!

[Rastus]

Bumping this old news because it just got mentioned in the Dallas Morning News today. When McGruder takes aim at current events, like he did with the Cheney incident, it's stupid and predictable. His "I don't draw mass murderers" response to a question of whether he would ever feature Condi Rice in his strip was idiotic. But, I do have to admit that the strip can be funny when it isn't political. The strips revolving around Huey's grandfather are usually pretty good. There was one series where he was clueless about the gay content of Brokeback Mountain, so he and a buddy went hoping to see an old-fashioned western. The more recent "grandpa puts up a myspace page" was pretty on-target.

I actually would have pegged McGruder as a conservative back during the Clinton years, when he was mainly taking aim at the leftist black leadership. I guess the Bush victory pushed him over the edge. I actually can't believe I would still look at the strip today, because I'm not one to tolerate leftist moonbattery from my entertainment. I guess I'd say I'm not a fan, but there is sometime a diamond amongst the trash.