News Seattle Times Snubs War-Related Doonesbury: Conspiracy Theory-Deflating Update
Apparently, yesterday’s edition of the Seattle Times featured a repeat of a Doonesbury comic originally run in Feburary, instead of this current comic.
“Too political for the Sunday Funnies?” asked Slog tipster (and beloved Seattle actor currently appearing in Intiman’s Heartbreak House) Laurence Ballard. “Censorship? Formatting error? Transmission failure? Enquiring minds wish to know…”
Well, I just talked to Editorial Page Editor James Vesely, who’s responsible for running the weekday Doonesbury on the paper’s editorial page. But the Sunday comics are outside his domain, falling instead to Assistant Managing Editor Carole Carmichael, for whom I just left a message. I’ll let you know what I find out when I find it out…In the meantime, feel free to share theories/grouse about wussy media and/or preachy Trudeau in the comments….
UPDATE 1:40 pm: I just talked to the Times’ Cynthia Nash, who told me the story behind the swapped comic. Apparently the swap had nothing to do with the particular strip or its content, and everything to do with a production error that reportedly left comics-page layer-outters with a latecoming up-n-down Doonesbury for a space designed for a lengthwise Doonesbury. Under the time crunch, the decision was made to re-run an old Doonesbury that fit.
And there you have it. Sorry to destroy the wonderful conspiracy-theory fantasy, which, in my mind, featured Times publisher Frank Blethen pacing before his bedroom fireplace in nightshirt and slippers, hollering into an old-timey horn phone, “Yank that Doonesbury!!!!”
Next up in Cold Cartoon Files: The Lockhorns—why don’t they get a fucking divorce?
Man, good thing I read the Times online, or I would have missed that excellent cartoon. It was really good.