Kudzu (comic strip)


Kudzu was a daily comic strip by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette about rural Southerners. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate, the strip ran from June 15, 1981 to August 26, 2007.
The title came from the kudzu vine which was introduced to the Southern United States as a soil erosion control plant, but soon became an out-of-control invasive species.

Publication history

The daily strip was launched on a Monday, June 15, 1981. At its peak, it was syndicated in 300 newspapers.
Marlette was killed in a car accident on July 10, 2007, in Marshall County, Mississippi. Kudzu is no longer in syndication; the last daily was published on August 4, 2007. The Sunday strips ran until August 26, 2007.

Characters and story

The cast included Kudzu Dubose, Nasal T. Lardbottom, Rev. Will B. Dunn, Ida Mae Wombat, Veranda Tadsworth and NASCAR Dad. Comics historian Don Markstein described the strip's characters:
Will B. Dunn, was modeled, at least in clothing and appearance, on Will D. Campbell, a preacher, director of religious life at the University of Mississippi, civil rights activist and author. Following Campbell's death in 2013, Marlette's son, Andy, honored Campbell with a final comic strip featuring Will B. Dunn, holding the Holy Bible at Campbell's grave.
Marlette's flippant treatment of depression—a character read a magazine called Modern Depression which featured "Suicide notes to the editor"—drew criticism from advocates for the mentally ill.

In other media

aired a pilot for a Kudzu sitcom on August 13, 1983, but ended up airing as a TV special instead. Marlette collaborated with Bland Simpson and Jack Herrick of the Red Clay Ramblers on a musical comedy adaptation of the strip, Kudzu, A Southern Musical, which was produced in Washington, D.C. in 1998.