Aaron McGruder’s comic strip The Boondocks has the distinction of being possibly the only funny thing on newspaper “funny” pages in the last decade or so. Following Huey and Riley Freeman, two African-American kids relocated to the suburbs from Chicago, the strip hilariously lampooned Condoleeza Rice, hip hop culture, 9/11 and many other touchy subjects, before McGruder announced a seven-month hiatus earlier this year. Two-thirds of papers carrying the strip, including the Montreal Gazette, conveniently chose to drop it rather than run discounted reruns—sticking with the fresh, topical hilarity of Hagar the Horrible and Beetle Bailey.

One of the reasons that McGruder hadn’t been able to devote his full attention to the strip is the 2005 premiere of the Boondocks animated series, the first season of which is now out on DVD.

The show has been almost as controversial as the strip, with characters frequently dropping the n-bomb and the occasional, disturbing glimpse of Granddad Freeman’s penis. The voice cast, including contributions from Samuel L. Jackson and Charlie Murphy, is terrific, and the show is for the most part a worthy, funny continuation of the series. —Mark Slutsky