Doonesbury geekery
The Guardian writes on Doonesbury at War. But I’m going to hyperfocus on this one bit where they’re trying to be too clever:
BD, aka Brian Dowling, college football star and one of the lead characters…
Brian Dowling was a Yale quarterback when Trudeau was writing “Bull Tales, ” the forerunner to Doonesbury, for the Yale Daily News. He clearly served as part of the inspiration for B.D.
When our characters graduated in the Doonesbury musical, conventional names were given for Zonker, Boopsie, B.D. — Edgar Harris, Barbara Ann Boopstein, B. John Dowling.
“Barbara Ann Boopstein” stuck and Boopsie’s been called that in the strip since. I can’t recall further mention of “Edgar,” but neither has there been any denial that Zonker has a “real” name.
Not so with B.D. In a recent FAQ, Trudeau refers to “B.D. (full name: B.D.)”
He milked it for a joke in a recent strip in which a doctor calls Boopsie “Mrs. D.” and asks “What is ‘D’? Some kind of hip-hop name?” Boopsie replies “He’s never told me. I think it’s birth order.”
Trudeau seems to be pretending he never identified that the “D.” was for Dowling (consistency has never been the strip’s strong suit.) And he’s never identified that the “B.” is for Brian.
In short, the Guardian is wrong, Wrong, WRONG!
No argument there with the character names. B.D. has stated several times over the years that "D." is his last name.
But this seems an appropriate place to comment on one small but significant detail that struck me recently. When B.D. was being loaded onto the helicopter after being wounded in the leg, his helmet was removed. B.D. hadn't been without a helmet of one sort or another for all of the strip's 30+ year run. Seeing him without a helmet gives us just as strong a sense that he's lost a "permanent" part of himself as does his missing leg.
Posted by Jimcat on June 2 2004 11:45
"In short, the Guardian is wrong, Wrong, WRONG!"
About an American topic? But that never happens!
Posted by Gary Farber on June 6 2004 05:41