Appreciate the skill and style and near perfect timing and structure of these strips. Even Trudeau addresses that in his rather wistful preface. Parody and satire, no matter how edgy or apt, can only go so far. Today, Trudeau speaks truth to power, and power doesn't seem to notice or care. In the 70's Trudeau spoke truth to power, and the truth would set us free.
Trudeau is still wise and calm, and his characters are still thoughtful and surprising, but it's all in the service of things we already know. These strips are funny, insightful, and arresting, but there are only so many ways you can point out the obvious. Now the president and the political process are beyond parody. Sometimes strips were censored or storylines were dropped from the papers, (depending on the papers' ideological bents), because they were too pointed or disrespectful. Debate raged over whether the strips should appear in the comics section or on editorial pages. The strips were pointed and controversial.
Vietnam, campus unrest, changing sexual mores, the counter culture, grass, the silent majority, Nixon. I remember reading Doonesbury in the 70's.
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