Syndicate: 'Boondocks' Not Coming Back in Foreseeable Future

By: E&P Staff Because Aaron McGruder has made no statement about whether he'll resume or end "The Boondocks" comic strip, Universal Press Syndicate announced today that newspapers should not count on it coming back in the foreseeable future.

The syndicate made many unsuccessful attempts to get McGruder to name a date that the strip would return, said Universal President Lee Salem. McGruder had begun what would was supposed to be a six-month sabbatical in late March.

"It was obvious that Aaron would not be able to meet his original six-month target of returning 'The Boondocks' to newspapers," Salem said in a statement. "His Sunday strips needed to be in by mid-September to meet newspapers' deadlines of publishing 'The Boondocks' by the end of October. We had to consider the newspapers currently running 'The Boondocks' reruns and expecting its return. It was unfair to keep them guessing any longer."

Salem added that questions from editors about when and whether 'The Boondocks' would return have been coming in daily for weeks.

"Aaron is a brilliant cartoonist who brought a revolutionary voice to the comic pages," said Salem. "This situation is a far cry from the end of our relationship. Our hope is that we can work with him in the future, either in newspapers or in different media."

The Universal president also said: "We want to thank the editors who gave this provocative new strip and talented cartoonist a chance in April 1999. And we thank them for their patience as we awaited word about 'The Boondocks' status."

Newspapers still running 'The Boondocks' reruns may do so for free until the last Saturday in November. Reruns will continued to be offered online through uclick for a fee.

Salem confirmed that Universal would not accelerate the release of the "Maintaining" comic by two-time Scripps College Cartoonist of the Year Nate Creekmore. January 2007 is still the launch date for that strip.

"To rush another comic strip out of the gate just because it's created by an African-American cartoonist and features certain ethnic characters does justice neither to Nate's strip nor 'The Boondocks,'" said Salem.

"The Boondocks" had more than 300 newspaper and online clients at the time the leave began. When announcing his hiatus, McGruder had said that "every well needs occasional refreshing." The cartoonist was also spending a lot of time working on "The Boondocks" TV show that runs on the Cartoon Network. It has been renewed for another season.