Blondie: Complete Daily Comics, Vol. 1: 1930-1933

Blondie: Complete Daily Comics #1

by Chic Young, Dean Mullaney (Editor), Brian Walker (Introduction)

Celebrating Blondie's 80th anniversary, IDW's Library of American Comics presents Blondie like you've never seen her before! This book collects the early strips by Chic Young for the first time ever, beginning with the first ones from October 1930. Blondie Boopadoop is a light-headed flapper who meets Dagwood Bumstead, the heir to a wealthy, high society fortune. Dagwood's parents are aghast and refuse him permission to marry the blonde, but their son is in love. He and Blondie hatch a scheme - the voracious Dagwood goes on a hunger strike for 28 days, 7 hours, 8 minutes, and 22 seconds. This first volume chronicles the amazing and hilarious courtship, and concludes with the spectacular wedding in February 1933.

Genres: Comics, Comic Strips, Humor

280 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2010

About the author

Murat Bernard "Chic" Young was an American cartoonist known primarily as the creator and original artist of the comic strip Blondie. His other works include the strip Colonel Pottersby and the Duchess, which ran from 1935 through 1963. He received the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Blondie in 1948.

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, Young attended high school in St. Louis before working in offices and the Chicago railways while attempting to find work in the art world. In 1923, Young moved to New York to work with King Features Syndicate and in 1924 created the cartoon Dumb Dora, which ran for six years.

Seeking a change, Young created Blondie in 1930, which almost immediately became the most popular comic strip in America. Called by former King Features Syndicate president Joseph Connelly as "the greatest story teller of his kind since the immortal Charles Dickens", at his peak popularity, Young received more fan mail than any other cartoonist.

Young married Athel Lindorf, a former professional harpist, and had two children, Dean and Jeanne. Young and his family resided in suburban New Rochelle, New York. He died in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1973.

The strip Blondie is currently written by his son Dean Young. Chic Young's older brother Lyman Young was also a comic strip artist, most famous for the strip Tim Tyler's Luck.

Reviews

[Arika · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it takes a bit for the strip to get started and most of the volume is consists of Chic Young trying to figure out how to get Blondie and Dagwood married (the continual breaking up and getting back together gets a bit tiresome), he succeeds in the end and sets the stage for the next 80 years of success for the strip.

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how funny these early strips were , and how goofy Dagwood appears compared to Blondie’s other suitors.
Also, Dagwood’s father bears a striking resemblance to his future boss, Mr. Dithers.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and hilarious.

[Mark Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d have given it another star, but it was wildly uneven. There were parts that were genius, and others that were clearly treading water.

[Dominick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I'm sure part of the reason for that is that these strips were designed to be read one a day over three years, not in quick succession, so the inconsistent (incoherent, really) plotting and characterization would have been less noticeable to newspaper readers, but Young really does seem to be flailing about trying to find ways to make it work--also evident in how hard he tries to sell the gags, often with highly-exaggerated "plop-takes." One aborted stroyline takes Blondie to a new town and seems to be heading towards some sort of intrigue at the job she gets, but it's just dropped; another disposes of Dagwood for several weeks, replacing him with Gil (pretty clearly drawn by assistant Alex Raymond), a badly-conceived, obnoxious, and ultimately undeveloped new love interest. In one particularly dumb plot line late in the book (Mrs Bumstead is being sued for calling someone "two-faced," in a story that seems to understand nothing about how slander or the court system actually work), the Bumstead lawyer calls the Bumsteads and Blondie the dumbest nitwits he's ever met, asserting that to compare them to a five year old would be a disservice to the child. It's hard not to agree. The humour that can be derived from watching complete idiots be complete idiots can of course be great, but here, not so much. Not recommended, unless you have an abiding interest in/passion for the history of the comic strip medium.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to read earlier strips from long-lasting comics to see how the strips have evolved and reflect the differences and simillarities over the dacades. Volume 1 of Blondie features the misadventures of a young flapper which include her courtship with Dagwood. It ends with their wedding and Dagwood's disinheritance from his wealthy family. Looking forward to volume 2 when Dagwood has to find a job and Blondie gives birth to Baby Dumpling.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

These strips are from the 1930's and the characters are pretty much unrecognizable from what they are today.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm amazed this comic made it past two years. Sheer. Repetetive. Boredom. I read this in search of some early Fritzi Ritz-charm. None to be found.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing Earth-shattering, but whimsical good fun, and great reproduction from the LoAC crew.