Rudy Park

Rudy Park is a syndicated comic strip created by Darrin Bell and Theron Heir that is distributed by The Washington Post Writers Group.

The strip started in early 2001, when its principal character was laid off from his job at a dot-com company but eventually found a new job as a barista in a coffee shop/internet cafe, the House of Java Cybercafe. Because of its early allusion to the dot-com bust, the strip occasionally takes on current events but in a more lightweight manner compared to Bell's other creation, Candorville. The strip usually focuses on Rudy and his nemesis Sadie Cohen, a frequent customer and octogenarian who disdains Rudy's love for new technology. Other characters include: Armstrong Maynard, Rudy's cheapskate boss; Randy "The Rock" Taylor, a neurotic ex-athlete that frequently hangs out around the bar; and Rudy's Uncle Mort, an aging social liberal prone to protesting in the bar with his trusty bullhorn.

In January 2007, the strip's creators had Mort die of a heart attack, just weeks after his wedding to Mrs. Cohen. He died during a heated argument with Donald Rumsfeld, who had begun visiting the cafe after his ouster as Defense Secretary. For reasons yet to be revealed, Mort came back to life in February 2009.

Two collections of the strip have been published. Rudy Park: The People Must Be Wired (2003) and Peace, Love, Lattes: A Rudy Park Collection (2004).