Since it started national syndication in 1999, McGruder's comic strip has been famous for its sharp satiric perspective on African-American culture. The strip ended in 2006, following its debut as an animated series on Comedy Central's Adult Swim
. This new collection serves as a farewell to the series' comics incarnation and takes a very unusual form. The first section of the book collects characteristically witty Boondocks strips from 2003 through 2005 on topics ranging from Iraq and Hurricane Katrina to the frustrations of computer help lines and the inanity of newly concocted slang. Part II, “The Media,” consists primarily of interviews with McGruder from newspapers, magazines and television. These allow McGruder to express his political opinions more openly and point to various controversies that the strip aroused. This leads to Part III, “The Controversy,” which reprints many of the strips from 1999 onward that various newspaper editors refused to run. What is especially striking is the outrage over McGruder's early criticism of the Bush administration's response to the 9/11 attacks. Hence this book is not only a retrospective of this decade's most impressive comic strips, but also a sharp reminder of shifting public opinion. (Nov.)
