Will Aaron McGruder Resume His 'Boondocks' Comic Strip?

By: Dave Astor Is "The Boondocks" coming back? And, if so, when?

"The Boondocks" creator Aaron McGruder began a six-month leave of absence in late March. Reports at the time indicated that he would resume his popular and controversial comic in October.

But Universal Press Syndicate, when contacted by E&P last week and again today, didn't yet know McGruder's exact plans.

"We have not heard a definitive start date or no start date from Aaron, as of right now," said Kathie Kerr, Universal's assistant vice president/communications. "Obviously we're concerned about getting our newspaper clients a decisive answer... . We owe a great deal of thanks to 'The Boondocks' newspaper editors for their patience."

Kerr added that Universal hopes "to resolve this issue by early next week."

McGruder's comic, which entered syndication in 1999, had more than 300 newspaper and online clients when the leave began. Some of the clients have been publishing "The Boondocks" reruns, while others have turned to other comics.

When announcing his hiatus, McGruder said "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.

DailyCartoonist.com blogger Alan Gardner today wrote a post headlined "Is Aaron McGruder AWOL?"