Blondie: The Bumstead Family History

By Dean Young and Melena Ryzik

For more than 75 years Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead have been one of America's favorite couples. Through war and peace, through boom and bust, through sexual revolution and social upheaval, Blondie has become the most widely read comic strip in syndication-in 35 languages and in 47 countries.

Blondie?the comic strip?was born on September 8, 1930. Dagwood was the rich, but awkward, son of millionaire industrialist J. Bolling Bumstead, while Blondie was a poor and beautiful nobody. Dagwood's parents were opposed to the marriage, but love won out, even though Dagwood had to give up his inheritance to marry Blondie in February, 1933.

Over the years, the particulars of the Blondie comic strip have changed. Traveling salesmen have been replaced by telephone salesmen. Dagwood no longer takes the bus to work. He now rides in a car pool. But the themes have remained the same?eating, sleeping, making a living and raising children, all tied together by Blondie and Dagwood's undying devotion to each other.

It's all here in this definitive book: The lives of Blondie and Dagwood and their interactions with their children Alexander and Cookie, their neighbors Herb and Tootsie Woodley, the family dog Daisy, Dagwood's boss Mr. Dithers, the mailman Mr. Beasley, and the neighborhood kid Elmo Tuttle. Included are Blondie and Dagwood's courtship, their early beaus, their wedding, Dagwood at work, Blondie's catering business, the cartoonist's favorite strips, and the story of Chic and Dean Young, the creators of Blondie.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Sep 2, 2007
• ISBN: 9781418576035

Dean Young

Dean Young was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, and received his MFA from Indiana University. His collections of poetry include Strike Anywhere (1995), winner of the Colorado Prize for Poetry; Skid (2002), finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; Elegy on Toy Piano (2005), finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and Primitive Mentor (2008), shortlisted for the International Griffin Poetry Prize. He has also written a book on poetics, The Art of Recklessness: Poetry as Assertive Force and Contradiction (2010).

Book preview

Title page with Thomas Nelson logo

© 2007 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

GARFIELD by Jim Davis (page 164)

Garfield © 2005 Paws, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Universal Press

Syndicated. All rights reserved.

ROSE IS ROSE by Pat Brady (page 164)

Rose Is Rose © United Feature Syndicate. Inc.

SALLY FORTH Written by Francesco Marciuliano. Drawn by Craig MacIntosh (page 165)

Sally Forth © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved.

WIZARD OF ID by Johnny Hart (page 165)

Wizard of Id © 2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc. www.creators.com

Reproduced by permission of John L. Hart FLP and Creators Syndicate, Inc.

MUTTS by Patrick McDonnell (page 165)

Mutts © 2005 Patrick McDonnell. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.

BEETLE BAILEY by Greg & Mort Walker (page 166)

Beetle Bailey © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved.

MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM by Mike Peters (page 166)

Mother Goose & Grimm © 2005 Grimmy, Inc. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

SHOE by Gary Brookins and Chris Cassatt (page 166)

Shoe © Tribune Media Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.

HI & LOIS Written by Brian & Greg Walker. Drawn by Chance Browne (page 167)

Hi & Lois © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World Rights Reserved.

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE by Lynn Johnston (page 167)

For Better or For Worse © Lynn Johnston Prod. Reprinted by permission of

Universal Press Syndicate. All rights reserved.

BARNEY GOOGLE & SNUFFY SMITH by John Rose (page 167)

Barney Google & Snuffy Smith © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World Rights Reserved.

BUCKLES by David Gilbert (page 168) Buckles © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World Rights Reserved.

BABY BLUES Written by Jerry Scott. Drawn by Rick Kirkman (page 168) Baby Blues © 2005 Baby Blues Partnership. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.

CURTIS by Ray Billingsley (page 168)

Curtis © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

World Rights Reserved.

ZITS by Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott (page 169)

Zits © 2005 Zits Partnership. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.

HAGAR by Chris Browne (page 169)

Hagar © 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World Rights Reserved.

MARVIN by Tom Armstrong (page 169)

Marvin © 2005 by North America Syndicate, Inc. World Rights Reserved.

BIZARRO by Dan Piraro (page 170)

Bizarro © Dan Piraro 2005. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.

B.C. by Johnny Hart (page 170)

B.C. © 2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc., www.creators.com

Reproduced by permission of John L. Hart FLP and Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Dedicated to the memory of

Jay Kennedy (1956-2007),

editor-in-chief of King Features Syndicate and scholar of the arts.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Young, Dean, 1938-

Blondie: the Bumstead family history / Dean Young and Melena Ryzik.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4016-0322-9 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-4016-0322-X (alk. paper)

1. Blondie (Comic strip) I. Ryzik, Melena. II. Title.

PN6728.B55Y584 2007

741.5’6973--dc22

2007012830

07 08 09 10 11 – 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

THE BUMSTEAD FAMILY ALBUM

CHAPTER TWO

GETTING MARRIED

CHAPTER THREE

FAMILY LIFE

CHAPTER FOUR

DAGWOOD AT WORK

CHAPTER FIVE

BLONDIE GOES TO WORK

CHAPTER SIX

FAVORITE STRIPS

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE 75 TH ANNIVERSARY

CHAPTER EIGHT

FOREVER YOUNG

Over the years I have often wondered what my father, Chic Young, would have to say about the amazing durability of the characters that he created almost eight decades ago. I’m sure he would be thrilled to know that the world is still enjoying a daily dose of his wacky creation.

And every day, I thank my lucky stars for this magical menagerie of zany comic strip characters that became my responsibility to protect, honor, and keep funny. What a thrill it is to work with characters that literally explode like chemicals when they come in contact with one another. Sometimes I just turn them loose and let them do whatever they want. It’s almost like the strip could write itself. With this cast of characters, even a monkey could do it!

My dad taught me all the nuances of how to run a big-time comic strip during the twelve years I worked with him. It was a great father-son relationship and a great working relationship. One day toward the end of working together was particularly memorable when he told me never to worry about the comic strip. If it seems funny to you, just do it, and the comic strip will take care of itself, he said. I wasn’t so sure when 300 newspapers dropped the comic strip immediately after his death. In the years that followed, however, we got all of those newspapers back, plus hundreds more — proof

Reviews for Blondie

[burnit99 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A collection of the "Blondie" strips by Dean Young, son of the originator, Chic Young. This is a selection of strips chosen by Young to show the development of the strip in his hands over the years since he took over from his father. There are chapters focusing on each of the major players, new developments such as Blondie's catering career, a selection of Young's favorite strips, and a look back to the origins of the strip in Chic Young's early days. I usually cast a jaded eye on "legacy" strips that should have faded away long ago, and I have included "Blondie" in this category. It's usually just not a very good strip. But these examples here were better than I expected. Of course, that's to be expected when you've got thousands of strips to choose from. I still won't shed any tears over "Blondie" when it someday rides off into the comic sunset.

[timothyl33 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A very heartfelt history/tribute to one America's most popular and longest lasting comic strip in American history. Overall, very tongue-in-cheek, but also informative of both its current status and of its historical roots. The only complaint would be regarding the digital edition, which had issues scanning the strips; either making them too small to read, or very crooked.