Booksteve Reviews!
Just as I was trying to decide what recent book to use for our first new I.T.C.H. book review, I ran across BLONDIE: THE BUMSTEAD FAMILY ALBUM at Borders today remaindered as a bargain book at only $3.99! This 2007 volume by Dean Young with Melena Ryzikis is a relatively thin, streamlined “history” of one of the greatest and most successful syndicated newspaper strips of all time.
One of the reasons for the book’s thinness is that the bulk of the reprints, although large, well-laid out and often in lovely color, are taken from the only the past decade of this nearly eight decade old comic strip. WTF? It’s not that there’s anything bad about that per se but with such a rich history, it makes no sense just to tout one’s own horn by running only recent strips! To be fair, there is a chapter in the middle of the book on flapper Blondie Boopadoop and her alleged gold-digging courtship of rich young Dagwood Bumstead (with his slicked back hair) in the waning days of the Jazz Age. Then we jump right back to the present day reprints.
One loves BLONDIE for the familiarity of the running gags. You know that Dagwood will knock over the mailman in new and creative ways. You know he will be interrupted during a relaxing bath. You know he will eat a ridiculously GINORMOUS sandwich! While it can most definitely get repetitious over time, it is, in a way, that very repetition that has led to its long and happy run. Somehow, no matter what the world has gone through since 1930-the Hindenburg, World War II, Atomic and Hydrogen bombs, Korea, Vietnam, Camelot, the Beatles, Woodstock, Disco, STAR WARS, 9-11, Iraq, “tea parties,” AMERICAN IDOL-it’s weirdly comforting to know that Dagwood will still be late for work.
Perhaps the highlight of the book is the section on BLONDIE’s 75th anniversary from 2005. You may or may not recall that many of the other newspaper strip creators of the day got together and saluted their venerable companions in their own strip as well as actually appearing with Dagwood and Blondie as the celebration progressed. Even President Bush got involved! All of those strips are here. B.C., BIZARRO, SHOE, ROSE IS ROSE, FOR BETTER FOR WORSE, GARFIELD-everyone wanted to be involved.
Toward the back of this beautifully designed book (from religious book publishers Thomas Nelson), there is a chapter on the creators and caretakers of the strip-Chic Young, Dean Young (his son), Jim Raymond (brother of RIP KIRBY and FLASH GORDON’s Alex) and, amongst others, later artist Stan Drake, whose own strip, THE HEART OF JULIET JONES ran for ages with astonishingly beautiful realistic art.
There is little or no mention of the long-running movie series, its successful tie-in radio series or either of the two TV sitcom versions that came and went. No mention of the odd attempts at animation success or even any real specualtion as to the reasons for BLONDIE lasting this long other than habit!
What’s there, however, is choice and well put together. It’s only when one finds one’s self questioning what ISN’T there that BLONDIE: THE BUMSTEAD FAMILY ALBUM suffers. At its original price of $29.99 or even at its lower current Amazon price, I’d say I felt disappointed that this book’s creators chose to come across as rather self-serving and not offer more background as well as a more diverse selection of reprints. For $3.99 at Borders, however, I’d call this a steal for strip lovers.
— booksteve
yeah, i got that book a year or two ago and was very disappointed- think i paid about 6 bucks for it…