Kudzu (comic Strip)

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 1981 to 2007. The title came from the kudzu vine which was initially encouraged as a soil erosion control plant but soon became an out-of-control pest plant.

The daily strip was launched on a Monday, June 15, 1981. At its peak, it was syndicated in 300 newspapers. 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.