Of all the strips I started reading when I was a kid, I think only Blondie remains essentially the same as I remember it, and continues to be entertaining. These examples here are of the strip as drawn by its creator Chic Young, who I believe passed away sometime in the 1970s. But Blondie and Dagwood roll on, running through the same half-dozen or so themes that have marked the plotlines for something like 80 years.
There's the knocking-over-the-mailman bit; the asking-the-boss-for-a-raise bit; the neighbor-borrowing-the-tools bit; the midnight-snack-as-a-work-of-art bit; etc. etc. I wouldn't argue that these are laugh out loud funny, but there's something about their total familiarity that brings a smile to my face, even three or four generations of creators past Young's tenure on the strip.
Of course, a few things have changed over the years: when Dagwood knocks over the mailman these days it's because he's racing to catch his carpool instead of the bus. And of course Blondie now has a career of her own as a caterer. But it's nice to see something in popular culture remain largely unchanged over such a long period of time without becoming entirely irrelevant.
I wonder if Dagwood will still be bumbling along eighty years from now?
Of all the strips I started reading when I was a kid, I think only Blondie remains essentially the same as I remember it, and continues to be entertaining. These examples here are of the strip as drawn by its creator Chic Young, who I believe passed away sometime in the 1970s. But Blondie and Dagwood roll on, running through the same half-dozen or so themes that have marked the plotlines for something like 80 years.
There's the knocking-over-the-mailman bit; the asking-the-boss-for-a-raise bit; the neighbor-borrowing-the-tools bit; the midnight-snack-as-a-work-of-art bit; etc. etc. I wouldn't argue that these are laugh out loud funny, but there's something about their total familiarity that brings a smile to my face, even three or four generations of creators past Young's tenure on the strip.
Of course, a few things have changed over the years: when Dagwood knocks over the mailman these days it's because he's racing to catch his carpool instead of the bus. And of course Blondie now has a career of her own as a caterer. But it's nice to see something in popular culture remain largely unchanged over such a long period of time without becoming entirely irrelevant.
I wonder if Dagwood will still be bumbling along eighty years from now?
No comments:
Post a Comment