Garry Trudeau Announces Extended Break From ‘Doonesbury’

Launched in 1970, Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury is one of the longest running comic strips of all time. But when you're working on anything on a daily basis for 43 years, even something you love, you probably need a break every now and then to try something new. So perhaps it shouldn't come as a shock that Trudeau has announced he'll be taking a leave of absence from Doonesbury to focus on Alpha House, the John Goodman-led television show he created that was just picked up for a second season.

This isn't Trudeau's first time stepping away from the strip for an extended period, but at this stage of his career, it's not much of a stretch to wonder whether or not he'll come back.

Trudeau's first Doonesbury hiatus came in 1983. But that was 30 years ago, and Trudeau, now 65 years old, was obviously a younger man. And while Alpha House is not his first television work -- he previously teamed up with director Robert Altman for the HBO miniseries Tanner '88 -- it's not difficult to envision him deciding to focus on that and other creative endeavors in the future. And after 43 years, no one could blame him for walking away.

If I had to guess, I'd say Trudeau returns at some point, if only to give the strip a proper ending. That said, as the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist told The Washington Post: “A hiatus comes with uncertainty, of course: I can’t assume I’ll be welcomed back a year or two from now.”

[Via the Comic Riffs]