Doonesbury

I've inked hundreds of Doonesbury comic strips Here's a examination of a smashing success (redrawing a 1974 strip) and one that was slightly less so. Layout of each Sunday strip and my long relationship with Andrews McMeel Universal has cemented my appreciation of journalistic editing and deadlines (every detail is scrutinized).  

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I originally met Garry Trudeau as an art director at an animation studio hired for Duke's unsuccessful Presidental run. It involved the conventional campaign ephemera (stickers, posters, etc.) and televised appearances. Being an animated character, the conceit we relied on was Duke's inability to appear in-studio. He would conduct interviews via split-screens to ensure the live motion-captured animation was conducted on a studio set. I handled a bit of everything: Graphic design. Set design. Storyboarding. Animation (including live puppetry of Duke's facial expressions and gesticulations). 

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The strip below from 2016 is a pretty tidy summation of historic failure. All those curves are hand-drawn. Toughie.