Boondocks

What McGruder was trying to say in the 2000s, which generated so much debate and hand-wringing (newspaper cancellations, prefabricated controversy, heaps of "Boondocks" - related essays written by cultural critics), feels like it's been said.

Returning 'Boondocks' opens lens on era of hope and change. Meh. 2010

Each "Boondocks" character is revived to exaggerate the fractures in the Obama-era racial landscape: Riley sees the election as a pathway to deserved delinquency and black anarchy, spray-painting "Obeezy" on walls and threatening to call the White House if the cops try to arrest him.

Returning 'Boondocks' opens lens on era of hope and change. Meh. 2010

The result is vintage McGruder and vintage "Boondocks," in which the message can be exactly right and totally wrong from one joke to the next; McGruder scintillates a hard truth in one brilliant moment and then immolates the joke's value in the next moment with his own ample dousing of lighter fluid.

Returning 'Boondocks' opens lens on era of hope and change. Meh. 2010

"The Boondocks," McGruder's obsessively provocative daily comic strip, departed in 2006; the second season of an animated "Boondocks" TV show ended in 2007.

Returning 'Boondocks' opens lens on era of hope and change. Meh. 2010

I suspect it's due to the involvement of "Boondocks" creator Aaron McGruder, who will write and I'd have to assume at least sometimes direct for the series.

Archive 2009-10-01 Reel Fanatic 2009

I suspect it's due to the involvement of "Boondocks" creator Aaron McGruder, who will write and I'd have to assume at least sometimes direct for the series.

Can Sam Rockwell really get an Oscar nomination? Reel Fanatic 2009

Brokeback Mountain is starting to spread out (it went into 69 theatres on Friday), and that means that sooner or later those gay cowboy jokes on "Late Night with David Letterman" and in Aaron McGruder's "Boondocks" comic strip will be coming to an end.

Jeffrey Wells: Del Mar Nation 2008

"It's sick," says Aaron McGruder, creator of the comic strip "Boondocks," which featured a scathing episode focused on Kelly and his supporters.

Sexism on Trial 2008

"Boondocks" is every bit as political as those animated animal houses, but it hits one particularly hot button: race.

Boyz in the 'Burbs 2007

For "Boondocks" fans who worried that McGruder would pull his punches for television, fear not.

Boyz in the 'Burbs 2007