The Huxtables of the Comic Pages

I don’t have too much to say about the next comic, Jump Start. It’s a family-friendly comic, but it does update a few of the typical themes. First, the family is African-American. Second, the dad (Joe) is a cop, so you don’t have the typical office “jokes,” like asking for a raise, going to boring meetings, etc. Ditto for the mom (Marcy), who is a nurse. Third, as in For Better or For Worse, the characters age, so the kids aren’t always the exact same age.

Jump Start has some other oddities including an interracial couple (Clarence and Charlene; I think they are Joe and Marcy’s neighbors) and an NFL football player (one of Clarence’s brothers).

There’s nothing edgy about Jump Start, and I don’t get the sense that it’s trying to make any big points. I don’t recall the interracial nature of Clarence and Charlene’s marriage ever being an issue in the comic. It’s just accepted as “the way it is” (although I could have missed something). That’s what I like about the strip. Yeah, comics like The Boondocks and Doonesbury get all the comments and criticism about how they are too political, or are too controversial for our funny pages.

It’s the things that go unnoticed (bad marriages, 1950’s style home life, insipidly sweet kids) that are “just the way it is” that I feel are really more insidious, because we simply accept this, and don’t even question it (well, I do, but most don’t). And now, here comes Jump Start. It’s got an interracial couple, a happy and well-adjusted African-American family, a black cop and nurse . . . and it’s “just the way it is.” No one ever mentions or complains about Jump Start. It, like Blondie, or Hi & Lois, or FBOFW, is just a part of the comics page. And in the words of one of my favorite convicted felons, “That’s a good thing.”

And look at this: who was mentioned in today’s strip? Oprah Winfrey, Condoleeza Rice, Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, Lebron James, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal. Hey, those names aren’t coming up any time soon in The Family Circus. Of course, Yo Yo Ma is also mentioned, and it dawns on me that I can only think of two Asians in the comics today – Cpl Yee in Beetle Bailey, and one of Elizabeth’s high school friends in FBOFW. Am I missing someone? That’s sad, people.