Dustin (comic strip)

Dustin is a daily comic strip created by Steve Kelley, editorial cartoonist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and Jeff Parker, who holds the same position for Florida Today.^[1] It is carried by King Features Syndicate and started running on January 4, 2010.^[2] At its outset Dustin was carried in more than 100 newspapers nationwide, and by October 2010 it had expanded to 300. In several papers, Dustin was the replacement strip for Cathy, which ended its run in papers on October 3, 2010.^[3] Among the papers that carried Dustin from the beginning was the New York Daily News, but due to a recent cutback in the paper's comic section Dustin, along with several other strips, were jettisoned from the paper.

The title character of the strip is Dustin Kudlick, a 23-year old college graduate who failed to find regular employment in today's economy after graduating and thus moved back home to live with his parents.

Dustin's father Ed is an angry, bitter lawyer who despises Dustin and is the strip's main antagonist. Ed is never supportive in any way, and always seeks to crush Dustin's attempts to find meaning and useful employment, ceaselessly mocking Dustin and putting him down.

Dustin's sister Megan, who is seven years younger than her brother, also resides in the house and is the strip's secondary antagonist, following her father's example and also insulting and undercutting Dustin at every possible turn, showing how poor parenting can poison the next generation as well.

Dustin is trapped in a cycle of dead-end temp jobs and grueling manual labor, frequently shown putting in long hours at a car wash or asking his supervisor at the temp agency for more career enhancing assignments that might help him break out of the cycle of wage slavery.

Despite his dysfunctional, hateful family, Dustin remains stoic, a heroic everyman and inspiration to the reader, as he endures and strives, trying to find true employment and happiness.

References

1. ^ New comic 'Dustin' tells tales of boomerang kid
2. ^ Introducing, "Dustin"
3. ^ http://www.bradenton.com/2010/10/04/2625345/meet-dustin-one-funny-comic-new.html