Two years ago, the only color you could find in the daily comics was in Curtis, Jump Start, and Herb & Jamaal. They're all good and clearly important in their own right, but seemed (to me at least) to be lacking any real sort of political angle -- strange in a country where most people of color can't avoid being racialized or discriminated against in some way. In the summer of 1998, Aaron McGruder started to let his experiences and opinions fly in the pages of Source Magazine. The Universal Press Syndicate picked it up and launched it in 160 newspapers on April 19, 1999, making it the most successful debut strip in UPS history. Today, The Boondocks is probably the most radical, politically conscious strip in mainstream circulation.

Because I Know You Don't Read the Newspapers introduces us to Huey and Riley Freeman, two young Black boys from the southside of Chicago who move to the white suburb of Woodcrest with their grandfather. The grandfather wants to spend the rest of his days "away from the problems of the city, with really big oak trees in the yard and lakes nearby to go fishing." Huey and Riley don't really appreciate the sentiment, and through them, McGruder speaks to us frankly and intelligently, throwing all sorts of issues in our face:

  - Race relations and social protest

  - Mumia Abu-Jamal and political prisoners

  - The state of current-day hiphop

  - Black Entertainment Television (BET)

  - Keepin' it real

He even manages to throw in some good ol' clean fun once in a while. It's all hilarious because it all hits really close to home, without being scared into pulling punches. When did the comics section get so dangerous?

Unfortunately as of this writing, The Boondocks is temporarily on hiatus; McGruder cited personal issues, illness, and need for some vacation time when he announced a two-week break on the message boards over at OkayPlayer.com. The offical Boondocks site itself hasn't been updated since August of last year, due to a serious falling out between McGruder and his longtime friend/webmaster. Hopefully things will work themselves out and we won't lose what I believe to be a very important comic.

In the meantime, pick up the book and be sure to grab the next one (Fresh for '01, You Suckas) when it comes out on May 15th. And if you're too po'? Just read them online at uComics.com.