MAN UNDERSTANDS DOONESBURY
Strip ‘clicks’ with Devon man
APLYMOUTH man was celebrating today after becoming the first ever human being to “get” a Doonesbury comic strip. Melvin Carstairs, 42, was completing the Guardian Sudoku yesterday when his eyes flickered downwards towards the popular incomprehensible American cartoon.
Carstairs told reporters: “I usually have a quick, baffled glance at Doonesbury, and wonder idly whether it’s supposed to be funny or clever or what, and then just carry on about my business.”
“But this time, something just clicked,” Carstairs continued. “Those normally cryptic three panels suddenly made perfect sense to me for some reason. I didn’t laugh exactly, but I sort of went, ‘Ahhh. Mm-hmm. Yep.’”
meaning
Carstairs added that he wouldn’t bother explaining the meaning of the comic strip to the assembled press because they probably wouldn’t get it. “It’s something to do with Watergate and Vietnam and stuff,” he confirmed.
spice
Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau has reacted to the news that a human being has finally grasped one of his cartoons with great excitement.
Speaking to journalists from his New York home this morning, Trudeau said: “I’m delighted that after all these decades, someone has finally made head or tail of a Doonesbury.”
“I’ll be honest, even when I’m drawing them, the strips tend to go completely over my head, so it’s comforting to know that somebody out there is getting some sense out of them.”