Official "Blondie" Comic Strip Talkback

[dth1971]

"A kick in the pants does not work when it is texted."

(Is this the same for e-mails and chats and message boards too?)

[Shawn Hopkins]

And so it begins again.

Sometimes I think the Internet would be simpler and better if you could kick people in the pants for being a jackass over it. But the anonymity would leave us all with sore butts.

Since we can't do that, most people seem to substitute trying to anger people/make them cry/bore them to death with a page long multithreaded response replying to every single sentence of their post.

[Blackstar]

Save the nonsense threads for April Fool's Day, man.

[dth1971]

This ain't nonsense!

[Blackstar]

This ain't nonsense!

Then what is this, exactly? What's the purpose of making an entire thread referencing the punch line from a Blondie comic strip that you read? Please explain it to me.

Also, "ain't" isn't a word. :p

[Jave]

Also, "ain't" isn't a word. :pFor the record, yes it is (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ain%27t).

[Blackstar]

For the record, yes it is (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ain%27t).

All right, I'll take back the last part, although I'd still like to know what the point of this thread is.

Perhaps someone should make a thread about other informal slang words that are now in the dictionary. That might make for an interesting topic.

[Shawn Hopkins]

He's just obsessed with Dithers pushing Dagwood around. I was going to show you some links, Blackstar, to illustrate this point but you actually posted in the famous "kick in the pants" thread so you already know.

What I would like to know is, why? Dth, do you have an abusive boss, maybe one that looks and acts like a 1930s stereotype?

[Anthonynotes]

The strip in question (use the drop-down menu to access July 21 if needed):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/comics/king_blondie.html?name=Blondie

Like I've said (multiple times) in these threads, just more typical dated humor from "Blondie"; why he doesn't just quit and find a better job (one without some runt of a boss who illegally physically abuses his workers), besides that it'd "ruin the strip", I have no idea....

-B.

[dth1971]

He's just obsessed with Dithers pushing Dagwood around. I was going to show you some links, Blackstar, to illustrate this point but you actually posted in the famous "kick in the pants" thread so you already know.

What I would like to know is, why? Dth, do you have an abusive boss, maybe one that looks and acts like a 1930s stereotype?

I don't and never have worked with a 1930's style stereotype boss! And this is the 2000's!

[Blackstar]

Dude, I knew you weren't going to explain the purpose of this thread! But you don't have to, because I think I know now.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Whoa, I accidentally looked at the July 22nd strip and that's pretty offensive. It revolves around surreptitiously feeding meat to vegetarians and then laughing at them. Why not slip some pork in your Muslim friend's dinner while you're at it?

[Ed Liu]

Just to resolve the off-topic demands for justification, we've converted this thread into the official Blondie comic strip talkback, where you can talk about all things Blondie.

Have fun and play nice.

-- Ed

[Tobias]

Like I've said (multiple times) in these threads, just more typical dated humor from "Blondie"; why he doesn't just quit and find a better job (one without some runt of a boss who illegally physically abuses his workers), besides that it'd "ruin the strip", I have no idea....

-B.

Because if he did, 75% of the plots would dry up,and all we'd have are jokes about Dagwood overeating and being lazy arond the house.

[Anthonynotes]

Because if he did, 75% of the plots would dry up,and all we'd have are jokes about Dagwood overeating and being lazy arond the house.

Worked for "Garfield". ;-)

>>Whoa, I accidentally looked at the July 22nd strip and that's pretty offensive. It revolves around surreptitiously feeding meat to vegetarians and then laughing at them. Why not slip some pork in your Muslim friend's dinner while you're at it?<<

Didn't want to look at this strip more than I had to, but looked this one up anyway; lovely...

-B.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Because if he did, 75% of the plots would dry up,and all we'd have are jokes about Dagwood overeating and being lazy arond the house.

Actually, as far as I can tell there are a few basic Blondie plots:

A. Dagwood overeats or is lazy around the house.

B. Dagwood is lazy/abused for being lazy at work, usually in an office setting but sometimes they show him car pooling. Sometimes you don't see him in the office, you just see him telling Blondie about what happened later.

C. Dagwood eats at a diner and lame jokes are made.

D. Dagwood talks to his mailman, who for some reason looks like his friend Herb, but is not Herb because Herb car pools with Dagwood.

E. Domestic situations involving Blondie and Dagwood and their kids and dog or as a subcategory Dagwood and Elmo or Dagwood and Herb.

F. Current events from an old guy's perspective. Lots of mentions of current politics, technology and lifestyles as if they are strange, frustrating and and perhaps threatening.

And there are other oddballs. Looking through last month there were at least a couple dealing with Blondie's catering business and one about Dagwood going to the barber shop.

So actually, only about 16 percent or so of the types of plots would dry up. I don't think it would make it a better strip, though. I prefer Arlo and Janis, who are just funnier to me for some reason, maybe because you get a strong vibe that they enjoy their newfound early empty nester freedom to screw around a bit.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I will now be posting here daily, to spark debate and commentary about this thought provoking strip.

http://www.blondie.com/dailies/index.asp

Let's see, today's (July 24) strip is an E by my system, but it's also a little bit of an F because it expresses bewilderment at diets. Dagwood doesn't want to eat a salad because it looks bland, but Blondie gets him to do it by promising a "thin slice of pepperoni" for dessert if he finishes.

That's the joke, I guess. I don't really get it, unless it's supposed to show that Dagwood is easily led or his priorities are screwy. I sure hope "thin slice of pepperoni" isn't code for something Dagwood and Blondie do off panel.

So what do our legions of Blondie fans have to say about this strip? By legions I mean 2, and I'm not even sure if DTH really likes the strip or if he is just amused by the Dithers specific content.

[Peter Paltridge]

Ever wondered what Blondie's maiden name was? She was single for the first three years of the strip. Behold:

Blondie Boopadoop

This was before Betty Boop got popular. Mentioning the name might cause copyright problems now.

[Leviathan]

King Features owns Blondie and at least partly owns Betty Boop, so probably not.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Today's (July 25) Blondie should make dth happy. It's an abusive Dithers episode, a solid B by my system.

In this comic Dithers yells at Bumstead to try to get him to work, Bumstead mumbles something, Dithers asks him if he mumbled and Bumstead denies it. Then Dithers goes away and both he and Bumstead are mumbling something. That's the joke, folks. Again, I don't really get it, and this time I don't even have any theories, except that maybe Bumstead confused Dithers with his not quite denial that could have mean't, "I did mumble but I don't think you heard me." BTW, Bumstead appears to be idly surfing the Web or something at the beginning and end of this cartoon.

It would be funny to think about what they are mumbling. Here are my suggestions:

First panel:

Dithers: Bumstead, drop whatever you're doing and get these contracts back to me in two hours.

Bumstead mumbles: Sure. You want me to walk on water, too, you sawed-off runt?

Panel where Bumstead denies mumbling

Last panel:

Dithers mumbles: Lazy Jackass!

Bumstead mumbles: Little tyrant! Let a guy check his Myspace in peace!

[Shawn Hopkins]

Today's Blondie(July 26) is both an E and an F by my system. It's also quite depressing. Dagwood's kids Alexander and Cookie need gas money, so he ends up giving them his whole wallet, then says "The way things are going, I'm going to be history, anyway!" I don't even think there's a joke in there, just a gloomy commentary on the latest energy crisis. Saying he's going to be "history" was weird, too. Dagwood probably doesn't mean he's going to be gone, dead or fired, so what does that mean in this context?

Artwise this cartoon is very bland. It's just a chair and the characters against a blank wall. Although there are some cute bits with Daisy's expressions.

Was today's Arlo and Janis better: Well, yeah. It did have a subtle joke that showed that Arlo had to move a bird bath a bunch of times for Janis, and it didn't make me worried that the country was headed into some kind of Mad Max nightmare.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Ha. Today's (July 27) Blondie is another Dithers episode, a total B by my system, although it is an odd one.

This Sunday strip features several panels of Dithers ranting and raving because he's not able to find Dagwood. Finally he says, he better not give me some excuse about being stuck in an elevator. Then we cut away to see that Dagwood is stuck in an elevator, but isn't worried because at least he'll have an excuse for being late. This one was half-way decent. At least there was sort of a joke. I wonder why Dagwood didn't press the call button, though.

Is Arlo and Janis funnier today?

Heck yeah. It deals humorously with a common guy misconception. It's not a riot but it got a slightly bigger inward chuckle out of me.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Today's (July 28) strip is a B by my system, which means more Dither's torment. This time, however, it's directed at Dagwood's hair. Dithers tells a guy with a mohawk the company has never tolerated such weird hairstyles, with one exception. The last panel is Dagwood overhearing the comment.

What kind of hairstyle does Dagwood have, anyway? He's sort of like Harry and Norman Osborne, the bearer of a comic book hairstyle that you never see in real life.

Was Arlo and Janis funnier today? Probably. Unless you're a big fan of hair-related humor this Blondie was so limp I'm not going to bother looking.

Okay, I looked, and Arlo and Janis was hilarious today, so I was right.

[dth1971]

Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie comic strip got fired from the Dithers company 2 days (or 2 comic strips) in a row!:
* September 21, 2008 - A Sunday strip the day after Dagwood tried to stop Julius and Cora from a certain arguement (It even mentions Mr. Dithers being a karate expert as what we first learned in a July 2008 Sunday Blondie strip) - "You are so fired!"
* September 22, 2008 - A daily strip when Mr. Dithers notices EMOTICONS to make his e-mails pretty and such and sends in an e-mail:

Bumstead :)
:) You're FIRED!
- Dithers :)
(Why smiling faces and not these? :sad: :( :ack: :sweat: :confused: :yawn: :o :mad: :crying: :raven2: )

[Mavericker]

Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie comic strip got fired from the Dithers company 2 days (or 2 comic strips) in a row!:
* September 21, 2008 - A Sunday strip the day after Dagwood tried to stop Julius and Cora from a certain arguement (It even mentions Mr. Dithers being a karate expert as what we first learned in a July 2008 Sunday Blondie strip) - "You are so fired!"
* September 22, 2008 - A daily strip when Mr. Dithers notices EMOTICONS to make his e-mails pretty and such and sends in an e-mail:

Bumstead :)
:) You're FIRED!
- Dithers :)
(Why smiling faces and not these? :sad: :( :ack: :sweat: :confused: :yawn: :o :mad: :crying: :raven2: )

He'll be back.

It's nice to see the strip keeps up with the times.

[chdr]

Yeah, but nobody actually does that.

It hardly seems like the creator knows what a computer is let alone know how people use it.

[wonderfly]

dth1971, I've merged your thread with the Official Blondie Comic Strip thread, (where you can discuss all the latest daily Blondie comics in one thread).

[dth1971]

dth1971, I've merged your thread with the Official Blondie Comic Strip thread, (where you can discuss all the latest daily Blondie comics in one thread).

Thanx! At least no one at Toonzone goofs off...

[dth1971]

Today's (July 25) Blondie should make dth happy. It's an abusive Dithers episode, a solid B by my system.

In this comic Dithers yells at Bumstead to try to get him to work, Bumstead mumbles something, Dithers asks him if he mumbled and Bumstead denies it. Then Dithers goes away and both he and Bumstead are mumbling something. That's the joke, folks. Again, I don't really get it, and this time I don't even have any theories, except that maybe Bumstead confused Dithers with his not quite denial that could have mean't, "I did mumble but I don't think you heard me." BTW, Bumstead appears to be idly surfing the Web or something at the beginning and end of this cartoon.

It would be funny to think about what they are mumbling. Here are my suggestions:

First panel:

Dithers: Bumstead, drop whatever you're doing and get these contracts back to me in two hours.

Bumstead mumbles: Sure. You want me to walk on water, too, you sawed-off runt?

Panel where Bumstead denies mumbling

Last panel:

Dithers mumbles: Lazy Jackass!

Bumstead mumbles: Little tyrant! Let a guy check his Myspace in peace!

Speaking of Myspace in peace: I remember a June 2008 Blondie comic strip which mentions MySpace as "MyFace" as Cookie talks about the uses of MySpace/Facebook/MyFace that you can chat 24/7 and don't need to miss your family, friends, or people you work with. But then Dagwood thinks about his boss and says "OMIGOSH!"

[Shawn Hopkins]

Speaking of Myspace in peace: I remember a June 2008 Blondie comic strip which mentions MySpace as "MyFace" as Cookie talks about the uses of MySpace/Facebook/MyFace that you can chat 24/7 and don't need to miss your family, friends, or people you work with. But then Dagwood thinks about his boss and says "OMIGOSH!"

I just had this image of you living in a basement apartment where the walls are completely covered with every Blondie strip from the last 10 years. And all the Dithers faces are scratched out.:)

Anyway, since you keep posting here I think I'm going to have to go back to doing my reviews.

[dth1971]

I just had this image of you living in a basement apartment where the walls are completely covered with every Blondie strip from the last 10 years. And all the Dithers faces are scratched out.:)

Anyway, since you keep posting here I think I'm going to have to go back to doing my reviews.

I thought I would spice something up, that's all...

[Shawn Hopkins]

I thought I would spice something up, that's all...

Geez, don't take it the wrong way. It was just a joke. I actually really enjoy this topic.

I'm going to try hotlinks with my reviews. If you guys can't see them let me know.

http://www.blondie.com/dailies/2008/9/26.jpg

In Today's Blondie Dithers approaches Dagwood at his desk and asks him what he's doing. Dagwood says he admits he's dividing his workload. Dagwood tells him he has three piles, one for work to do this week, one for work next week and one for work that will probably never get done. A decent gag, although it's a blatant admission by Dagwood of his uselessness as an employee. A B by my categorization system, mentioned earlier in the thread, but it's all Dagwood laziness and no actual Dithers abuse. Bog standard art in this one, not even a background. At the end Dithers responds with a cartoon "take" which is pretty nice.


Is today's Arlo and Janis better?

http://www.comics.com/comics/arlonjanis/archive/images/arlonjanis2008016303926.gif

A little bit. It's not one of the best or best drawn, but it is a funny, quirky idea.

[dth1971]

There have been recent Dagwood/Dithers strips:

October 16, 2008 -
DITHERS: Can you collate these papers, Bumstead?
DAGWOOD: Sure, I can do it with my eyes closed!
(Dithers stops with shock)
DITHERS (shouting): BUMSTEAD!

October 18, 2008 -
Dithers disguises as a chicken and offers Dagwood to fix up a contract report.

October 20, 2008 -
Dagwood tells Dithers results of his own election that Dithers has a low score and then Dithers threatens to cut off Dagwood's campaign.

There was even a recent Dagwood office strip where on Dagwood's office computer screen there's a screensaver Dithers made which says "GET BACK TO WORK!" and shows Dithers' fist.

[dth1971]

Thought I would bump this thread up and give a recent thing from the January 15, 2009 Blondie comic strip which is another Dagwood/Dithers at work situation:

DAGWOOD: "Full speed ahead, captain".
DITHERS: "Listen, swabby, if you don't dive into your work right now, the GOOD SHIP PAYCHECK would leave you high and dry on the unemployment dock!"

[Shawn Hopkins]

Oh, you done did it now! It's on like Donkey Kong!

Unfortunately todays strip is lame and vanilla, just another Dagwood's kids ask him for money strip. Not even worth a review. But I will give Saturday's strip the treatment it deserves.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Alright, baby, here we go. I wish today's strip had been a Dither's strip, but you make do with what you gots. I'm going to hotlink again, but if you can't see it, check for the Jan. 17 strip.

http://www.blondie.com/dailies/2009/1/17.jpg

Today's strip is an E and an F by my system. E for domestic situations because it's one of those where Dagwood seems to interact with Elmo on a deeper and more affectionate level than he does with his own kids. It's also an F, current events from an old guy's perspective, because Dagwood just can't give up his records and is looking for any excuse, even Elmo's flimsy speculator madness, to keep them. I'm kind of with Dagwood here, though. I like vinyl and want to get a turntable.

It's not funny, you know, as usual. The punchline is just Dagwood repeating Elmo's catchphrase. But at least it isn't incomprehensible. I think every third Blondie is ghostwritten by a fill-in writer from Bizarro world. The art isn't that bad. Not much in the way of backgrounds, but Daisy is there and she looks cute.

Do you think Dagwood ever regrets giving up being rich as hell to marry Blondie? Surely he could have worked something out where he could marry her and keep his trust fund. Eh, I guess it might not be realistic, but it is a more romantic story that way.

Also, why does Dagwood, who grew up in wealth and privilege, act just like a guy who had a regular middleclass, midwestern upbringing? The only remnant of his time among the idle rich seems to be his laziness. Does he remember how to play polo? Does he still follow the sport? And why don't we ever see rich relatives? If they just don't talk to each other it's pretty sad that Dagwood is estranged from his family like that.

Arlo and Janis was only slightly funnier today. It was a lame gag strip about Janis telling Arlo their TV remote control was being recalled. He panics and she tells him that the recall is because "it's been known to fly out of a user's hand during sporting events."

[Tobias]

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks that Dagwood seems to spend more time interacting with Elmo than with his own kids. I actually thought Elmo *was* his kid for a time before I saw he was just the paperboy. Elmo shows up, what, every few days? Meanwhile, his OWN kids are rarely seen.

[dth1971]

Regarding the January 20, 2009 Blondie strip: Mr. Dithers is the speaker at a meaning with some employees sleeping and Dagwood on his laptop saying: "I may not be the best speaker in the world...BUT I'LL BE DARN TOOTIN' IF ANYONE PLAYS "BLIOXI BLACKJACK BINGO ON A LAPTOP DURING A BUDGET MEETING!" (But Dagwood said he was playing "Tijuana Tic-Tac-Toe Tango") - Why is that?

[Shawn Hopkins]

Regarding the January 20, 2009 Blondie strip: Mr. Dithers is the speaker at a meaning with some employees sleeping and Dagwood on his laptop saying: "I may not be the best speaker in the world...BUT I'LL BE DARN TOOTIN' IF ANYONE PLAYS "BLIOXI BLACKJACK BINGO ON A LAPTOP DURING A BUDGET MEETING!" (But Dagwood said he was playing "Tijuana Tic-Tac-Toe Tango") - Why is that?

The joke is that instead of realizing that Dithers means it is inappropriate to play -any- game during a meeting, Dagwood instead defends himself by saying he was not playing the -exact- same game that Dithers prohibits. Another piece of evidence that Dagwood is a terrible employee and that Dithers is right to constantly fire him.

[dth1971]

The last 3 days (January 22-24, 2009) of Blondie comic strips mention Dagwood's boss but the boss isn't seen!

[tb4000]

Read today's Sunday strip...Dagwood, you married a massive b-word.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Let's see:

http://www.blondie.com/dailies/2009/1/25.jpg

http://www.blondie.com/dailies/2009/1/25.jpg

HA! MANIPULATION!

Actually, for a Blondie strip, this one is actually rather funny and well-drawn, with a gag that makes sense and goes somewhere. An E, domestic situations, by my system but with a special added attraction in that they leave the house. By the way, this manages to include two Dagwood staples, Dagwood coming home and telling Blondie about how bad his day was in a way that makes it clear he is a bad employee and Dagwood taking a bath in the tub. It even has a Dithers element because he is mentioned, although not by name.

Is Arlo and Janis funnier today? Eh, they are about even. Blondie was better drawn for once.

http://assets.comics.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/200000/70000/1000/500/271552/271552.full.gif

http://assets.comics.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/200000/70000/1000/500/271552/271552.full.gif