CARTOON BOON

The Boondocks revolution will be nationally televised

This fall, Huey Freeman, the outspoken, sour star of Aaron McGruder’s nationally syndicated comic strip, The Boondocks, will have slightly fewer complaints but a bigger medium to voice them in. Come October, emancipated from the small, flat panels of newsprint, Huey will get the chance to express his bilious rancor in full-motion animated glory on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

After six years of negotiating the most appropriate TV home for The Boondocks, McGruder shot a pilot with Fox-but Janet Jackson’s areola stifled the show’s rebel call. “Broadcast networks got really conservative,” McGruder laments. “Fox wanted a sitcom so we gave them a sitcom, but Adult Swim just wanted The Boondocks. I was given more leeway than I thought-even for late night cable.”

Those familiar with the strip already know the Freeman clan, but the show will introduce new characters like Ed Wuncler, the neighborhood billionaire; Ed III, his thugged-out grandson; and a pimp, Slickback. Regina King will voice the main characters Huey and Riley, with Ed Asner, John Witherspoon and Charlie Murphy also lending their voices to the animated cast.

Drawing inspiration from Japanese anime like Samurai Champloo, McGruder’ show will be cinematically illustrated. “I basically ripped them off, pulled a Tarantino,” he says, laughing. “Nah, I call it a sample. I sampled the art style.” So if you thought it was cool when that effete pencil-drawn a-ha singer trashed his way off the page in the “Take On Me” video, think how rewarding it’ll be to finally see Huey get free.