Aaron McGruder debuted his famous strip The Boondocks in The Diamondback.
A generally comic matter has just gotten serious.
The life of “The Boondocks,” the nationally published, controversial comic strip created by university alumnus Aaron McGruder, may be at its end, according to Universal Press Syndicate.
“Although Aaron McGruder has made no statement about retiring or resuming The Boondocks … newspapers should not count on it coming back in the foreseeable future,” according to a Sept. 25 news release by the group.
The possible end of the strip leaves questions unanswered about the intentions of McGruder, 31, whose comic ran in more than 300 newspapers in just six years. McGruder took a six-month rest from writing the strip in March and was slated to return in September. But “numerous” attempts by editors to get McGruder to state his comeback date were unsuccessful, the release said.
Many know the strip for its political spunk and in-your-face nature. McGruder’s work has targeted everything incuding rump-shaking on Black Entertainment Television and Whitney Houston’s drug problems. A strip titled “Condi needs a man,” in which the characters create a personal ad for Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice that describes her as a “female Darth Vader type,” caused several papers – including The Washington Post – to temporarily suspend the comic.
Fewer people, however, know how the comic got its start. “The Boondocks,” which chronicles the adventures of two outspoken black children in a white, suburban neighborhood, made its world debut in The Diamondback on Dec. 3, 1996, while McGruder was a junior African-American studies major at the university.
From the start, the strip was fearless, showcasing McGruder’s tart commentary on any social issue. In the first strip, protagonists Huey and Riley – after arriving in “the warm embrace of suburbia” – contemplate “jack[ing]” a Lexus to return to Chicago. In later comics, Huey explains the finer points of ebonics, while his friend Caesar, upon arriving in suburbia for the first time, wonders, “Where’s the liquor stores? Where’s the train? Where’s the ball courts? Where do these people cash their checks?”
But sometimes the strip took a break from serious subjects to tackle lighter fare. For example, a Jan. 31, 1997, strip depicts the two boys standing outside a movie theater with the following text: “Nothing even remotely funny happened today in The Boondocks because Huey and Riley spent the whole day in line attempting to see the Star Wars Special Edition. The creator apologizes for their delinquency and promises they’ll be in more amusing situations on Monday. May the Force be with you…”
But comics weren’t the only thing McGruder wrote. He took his social analyses to a more serious level with the bi-weekly column “Watch Yo’ Nuggets,” which appeared in the Commentary – now Opinion – section of The Diamondback from 1996 to 1997. Calling himself “the No. 1 enemy to racial harmony,” McGruder boldly harped on everything that bugged him – from sellable “whiteness” to his decision not to vote in the ’96 election – in half-page installments, often with biting audacity.
His thoughts on Tupac? “White America still has a deep-seated need to construct black manhood icons.” His thoughts on rap? “So who are the villains? White record executives have once again sucked the life out of an art form.” His thoughts on college girls? “Females are the primary reason most of your boys this year won’t be around next year.”
“The Boondocks” appeared in The Diamondback for the last time on March 18, 1997. Two weeks earlier, a technical error resulted in the printing of the word “OOPS!” in place of the comic. After the paper didn’t print a correction, McGruder permanently left The Diamondback. The last edition of “Watch Yo’ Nuggets” appeared with the final comic and offered McGruder’s personal thoughts on his work’s impact.
“It appeared that I, who had become well known for my divisive opinions on racial issues, had created a strip that actually bridged the racial chasms in the true spirit of multicultural exchange,” he wrote. “Go figure.”
If this is indeed the last of “The Boondocks,” several student fans will feel the loss of an art that brings politics and racism to a relatable forefront. Four Maryland Facebook groups with nearly 300 members are based on the strip.
“I agree with the politics a lot, and I really like the kids,” said junior theater major Rosemary Johnson, an eight-year reader of the comic who is a member of “The Boondocks” Facebook group. “I guess we’ll just be back to ‘Doonesbury’ as far as mainstream comics that are political, and that sucks. I don’t understand it as often as I do the political commentary in ‘The Boondocks.'”
Hopes for the comic’s revival — or at least McGruder’s reappearance — still exist in some.
“Aaron is a brilliant cartoonist who brought a revolutionary voice to the comic pages,” Universal Press president Lee Salem said in the release. “This situation is a far cry from the end of our relationship. Our hope is that we can work with him in the future, either in newspapers or in different media.”
However, after nearly half a year without McGruder, that hope is fading, students said.
“Mostly, I’m just disappointed in him with not continuing with it,” Johnson said. “It’s funny that someone that young who’s doing successful comics is just deciding to give it up.”
Contact reporter Raquel Christie at christiedbk@gmail.com.
