'Boondocks' Sabbatical Prompts WPWG to Move Up Comic Launch

By: Dave Astor "The Boondocks" sabbatical had barely been announced when the Washington Post Writers Group decided to launch the "Watch Your Head" comic on March 27 rather than May 21.

"Just sheer coincidence," joked WPWG Editorial Director/General Manager Alan Shearer.

March 27 is one day after the last new "Boondocks" strip will run until Aaron McGruder's six-month leave of absence (E&P, Feb. 28) ends this October.

"The Boondocks" was launched by Universal Press Syndicate in 1999, when McGruder was in his mid-20s. "Watch Your Head" creator Cory Thomas is also in his mid-20s and, like McGruder, an African-American cartoonist.

"Watch Your Head" is set at the predominately black Oliver Otis University, and focuses on six student characters (mostly African American but one a white Canadian).

"He has a real ensemble cast," WPWG Comics Editor Amy Lago said of Thomas, noting that a lot of other cartoonists launch their comics with a smaller number of characters.

Lago also praised "Watch Your Head" for its "character-driven humor" as well as its art, which Thomas draws in color every day. (Black and white strips are available, too.)

Is "Watch Your Head" ready to start almost two months earlier than expected? "Yes," replied Lago, who said the comic has been in development with WPWG for about a year.

Thomas is a Howard University graduate who lives in the Washington, D.C., area.

Alan Shearer said WPWG will also pitch Darrin Bell's 2003-launched "Candorville" as a replacement for "The Boondocks," which Universal distributes to more than 300 clients.

Universal is making "Boondocks" reruns available to those clients who want to use them during McGruder's sabbatical.

Shearer said he hopes newspapers will devote their limited comics space to new material rather than reruns. "It's a wonderful opportunity to give young cartoonists a chance," the WPWG executive told E&P. "If not our guys, then someone else's."

Of course, the reruns that occupy the most space sought by young cartoonists are "Peanuts" strips -- which United Media still syndicates to 2,000-plus papers six years after Charles M. Schulz died.