Talk to the Hand

The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist takes on politics, war, pop culture—and the absurd ways they intermingle—in this comic strip anthology.

While some in the Doonesbury universe seek office, others serve. Alex and her Seattle co-hordes devote their young, restless, and body-pierced energy to hooking up “flash art” with politics. Half a world away in Iraq, a major bad boy from stateside devotes himself to liberating the city of Al Amok, ruling with a steady hand, a full glass, and an economy based on looting. As fate would have it, B.D. finds himself heading upriver on an apocalyptic mission to terminate Al Duke with extreme prejudice, a storyline so made-for-TV that B.D. feels compelled to bang out the screenplay on his laptop in real time.

In the homeland, Mark and Zonk join the war against trash politics, but their efforts, alas, come to naught. Walden College's acting coach, Boopstein, lets accusations of way-personal fouls force her football team off the field. Sex parties for recruits? “Who knew we were that competitive?” marvels President King, ending Boopsie's gridiron apprenticeship with two little words: “You're fired.”