As coined by Denis Lebrun, who drew the strip from 1997 to 2005, "Blondie" contains a caption of being "America's Family in the Comics." In terms of longevity "Blondie" trails only "Gasoline Alley" (1918 to present), and "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith" (1919 to present), as the third-longest continuously running newspaper comic strip still in production. However, no other strip has come close to beating "Katzenjammer Kids" (1897 to 2006), and its 109 years of life, as the longest continuously running newspaper comic strip of all time.

Chic Young created "Blondie" as a pert, curly-haired, woman. "Blondie's" first print in a newspaper occurred on September 8, 1930 as a four-frame strip. At that time, with a last name of Boopadoop, "Blondie" was a gold-digger flapper who vaguely resembled "Betty Boop," another comic strip character released for the first time in 1930. Flappers were women of the 1910s and 1920s notorious for bobbed hair above their ears. They wore skirts skimming their knees and smoked cigarettes. They drank alcohol, danced in jazz clubs, and were always surrounded by admiring male suitors.

In 1930, Dagwood Bumstead, the son of a billionaire, was a wiry-bodied playboy with dark, plastered hair on top of his head. His father was a railroad tycoon, as well as a love-smitten, blustering blowhard. Dagwood married Blondie on February 17, 1933. They became Middle Class after his father disinherited Dagwood.

Since 1973, "Blondie" has been written by Dean Young, the comic strip originator's son. He first assisted his father with the "Blondie" strip in the 1960s.

In an October 8, 2023 interview, Dean Young stated, "[My] dad and I had the same creative sensibility for funny stuff."

Visually, it often appears time has stopped for "Blondie." Although Dagwood and Blondie utilize modern electronic devices, and refer to portions of the digital world, their hair styles, apparel, and furniture from the 1940s and 1950s are still used in current strips.

Dean Young explained, "I did a strip on artificial intelligence. I do lots of strips about what's going on in the world today. I want to keep [those issues] new and relevant."

"Blondie's" readership has been increased by the website blondie.com and other social media sources Dean Young uses. However, he claims newspapers are his favorite modes of publication.

Young remarked, "We are in global papers in 35 languages with 280 million readers."

During the Great Depression, Blondie changed from a gold-digger into the Bumstead family's domestic rock. Blondie also worked for a short while for the Bumstead family. In 1991, Blondie began her own catering business. Dagwood became more of a goofy, sandwich-devouring dad and office worker. In fact, the word "Dagwood" has become an entry in the Merriam-Webster dictionary meaning a many-layered sandwich.

Young does not confess to being a sociologist or a political statement maker. However, he strives to make Blondie a well-respected and complete woman. He also strives to shun controversy in his strips.

He stated, "I like to deal mainly with domestic situations and I primarily stick with eating, sleeping, raising children, and making money. I don't want Blondie just to be stuck at home with gags involving her to be limited to that setting alone. I want readers to respect Blondie as a complete woman, and for her ability to maintain a home, as well as for her mind and being her own person."

Born in 1934 and 1941 respectively, Dagwood and Blondie's children Alexander and Cookie were allowed to reach their teenaged years. Since the 1950s, little has changed about their physical appearances or their personalities. Daisy, the family dog, remains the same as she has always been, except she did have a litter of puppies once.

Dean Young was quoted as saying, "I have them growing up somewhat. Now they're in high school and going to college. They do things that teenagers do."

"Blondie's" overall appearance remains almost the same as it was when Chic Young died in 1973 though Jim Raymond, Alex Raymond, Mike Gersher, Stan Drake, Jeff Parker, Denis Lebrun, and currently John Marshall, have all drawn the strip. John Marshall began assisting with "Blondie" in 2002. He became the head artist in 2005.

Dean Young said this about John Marshall, "I do the gags and I know how to do a little rough draft of the cartoons. John gets the roughs and he interprets them and puts them into his own form, which is beautiful."

"Blondie" has spawned its own pop-culture industry. From 1938 to 1950, more than two dozen B movies were filmed starring Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton as Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead. Several books about "Blondie" have also been written from 1943's "Blondie and Dagwood's Snapshot Clue" to 1996's "Blondie's Cookbook." Other books have included comic strip collections from 1968 to 2012. Periodic television and radio shows featuring "Blondie" ran from 1939 to 1969.

Running gags, architectural sandwiches, frequent naps by Dagwood, slapstick humor, card-playing, family quarrels, and one-liners all help provide comforting sameness to "Blondie's" legions of loyal readers. Strong supporting characters, such as Mr. Dithers, who is Dagwood's boss, and Lou, who owns Lou's Diner, do the same.

Next Time: Zits