A Tad Overweight, but Violet Eyes to Die for (A Doonesbury book)

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Summary: Trudeau takes on Senator and Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor
Review: For his week of strips on John Warner, the newly elected Republican Senator from Virginia and then husband of Elizabeth Taylor, Garry Trudeau was censured by the Republican Causcus of the Virginia General Assembly. The title for this collection of daily "Doonsebury" strips from 1979-1980 comes from a fictional (presumably) bumper sticker for the Warner campaign that read: "A Tad Overweight, But With Violet Eyes to Die For" (who could argue with that?).

But by the time you finish reading through these strips you will see the Democrats would actually have much more to complain about this time around, what with Mike Doonesbury watching a television documentary on "The Liberal Cult: Threat From the Left" (led by Ted Kennedy and supported by a tightly knit cadre of loyalists known as the Kennedy "Clan") and the Carter White House trying to come up with a new foundation for the government or at least a new metaphor for the upcoming campaign. Despite the title, more of the books pages are devoted to Jimmy-Boy's "Secretary of Symbolism" Duane Delacourt defecting and leaving Washington to create a context for California governor Jerry Brown's bid for the White House.

Meanwhile, Honey is testing the limits of Dr. Kissinger's authority in her Georgetown poly sci class, Ambassador Phred is matching wits with the Chinese at the U.N., and Mark Slackmyere's radio show is hosting returning Alumnus Dr. Ali Mahdavi, Class of 74, then on leave from the Iranian Revolutionary Tribunal. On the domestic front Uncle Duke leaves his job as General Manager of the Washington Redskins after a firefight with the Miami police and ends up on Capitol Hill testifying before Congress on the issue of control.

There is a tendency for the more political Doonesebury strips not to hold up as well as the more character driven humor, but these are classic Trudeau strips on the follies of the Democrati party on the eve the Reagan Era. Then again, Brown was still running for president the last time around, John Warner was still in the U.S. Senate, and even Jimmy Carter managed to get into the news a couple of times. Besides, if you cannot handle the political symbolism or the country's move towards mellowness, there is Zonker's eternal quest for the perfect tan and B.D. insisting Boopsie pose for "Playboy."