Customer Reviews

Blondie: The Bumstead Family History

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When you buy a book about a comic strip that is 75 years old, you expect to see some comic strips from 75 years ago, 65 years ago, 55 years ago, and so on. Trace the historical changes in the characters. Show how the artist responded to World War II, the 1950's, the 1960's, the 1970's.

Nope. Except for one brief section, 90% of the strips are from the year 2003, and the other 10% are from 1997 for some reason. Those are easy to find. I wanted to see what the strips looked like in 1943, or 1953, or 1963, or 1973, or 1983 for that matter.

Evidently whoever compiled this book thought readers were too stupid to notice that all of the strips came from the same year, or so gullible they'd buy the book without checking (I did, I'll admit it, but only because it was 75% off).

Unbelievable rip-off! If you paid full price for this book, return it to the publisher with a letter of complaint. Mine is going right into the garbage.

I totally agree with an early reviewer. I bought this book expecting some sort of sequential history of the strip. Except for about 8 pages it has no historical value at all. Those seeking a collection of recent strips will no doubt be satisified, as for me, I will return it immediately.

Blondie is one of the most popular comic strips in the world. This book gives descriptions of the characters, briefly tells the history of the strip and gives short biographies of the creators. Of course, there are also several hundred comic strips reprinted. Only a handful of the strips are from the early days of Blondie, with the vast majority being from the last 20 years. One interesting thing is the inclusion of tributes to Blondie by other comic strips for Blondie's 75th anniversary. I would have liked it if there were more older strips included, but the strips that are here are good. Blondie must have done something right to have lasted this long.

I'm a long-time reader of Blondie from my newspaper, and though it's never been one of my very favorite comic strips, I've enjoyed it through the years. So I was glad to add this 75th anniversary book of it to my comics collection. Yet like several other reviewers, I'm a little disappointed with the book. For one thing, it's very odd that in it there's a small section of some of the first Blondie comics from the early 1930s, and a few strips from the 1990s, while the vast majority are from 2000 on! So what happened to the ones from 1935 to 1990?! If the copyright dates are correct, as they seem to be from ones I can verify, there's NONE in here from 1935 to 1990!! Like other reviewers, I would like to have seen some development of the strip. Secondly, the book divides the strip into categories such as Blondie Goes to Work, Family Life, Dagwood at Work, and so on, and while that does make it easier to discuss aspects of Blondie, I would really rather read these topics mixed-up as we get in the newspaper. And third, the comics presented here are hit-and-miss. Some are great and some are pretty lame, and it's hard for me to believe that some of these are among the best examples of a 75-year-old strip!

However, there are some positive aspects of this book, too. I did enjoy seeing the very early Blondie strips that were very different from ones of recent years. And I've enjoyed much of the text written by Melena Ryzik, especially the historical sections. Also, I like the fact that many of the comics are reproduced in color, even many daily ones, and I believe all the Sunday ones. Then too, the 75th anniversary section, which includes the placing of characters from Blondie into other well-known strips such as Snuffy Smith and Hi and Lois, is a lot of fun. Finally, the book is very attractively presented, from the book cover to the graphics and photos within. So, although I have some serious reservations about BLONDIE: THE BUMSTEAD FAMILY HISTORY, I did enjoy reading it.

If you are a fan of the cartoon strip, Blondie, then you must treasure a copy of this great compendium. Chic Young is one of the best creators of a cartoon character and his creation has entertained millions of fans all over the world. This book is the ultimate prize for the fans since it contains some of the best strips.

The Dagwood & Blondie are wonderful couple, and they have two children, Alexander and Cookie. Dagwood works for a construction company, called Dither's Company. Dagwood by nature is generally clumsy, disorganized, sleeps on the job, and loves food. Blondie is very beautiful, a great wife, good cook, and a caring mother. Busmstead's best friends are their next door neighbors, Herb and Tootsie Woodley, the family dog, Daisy, his boss Mr. Dithers, mailman Mr. Beasley, the neighborhood kid Elmo Tuttle, and Lou, the proprietor of the local diner. Through the years, Blondie is transformed from being a house wife to owning a catering business with Tootsie as her partner. The rest of the story remained the same over the years.

The book includes very early strips from the series, when Dagwood and Blondie likes to marry but his parents refuse to accept his choice and insist that he marry a girl from a wealthy family. They get married in Feb 1933! The strips are presented in seven chapters under titles; Getting married, Family life, Dagwood at work, Blondie goes to work, Favorite strips and the 75 anniversary. My favorite is the 75 anniversary, where Dagwood appears in other cartoon strips. In cartoon strip, Sally Forth, Ted Forth asks Sally, "Why the dorky-looking guys always score the hot-looking women." Sally responds, "You tell me." In Hi and Lois, Bumsteads invite the couple for their anniversary and Lois asks if she could bring Trixie. Trixie is bewildered when Blondie says that "as long as Trixie doesn't take the spotlight." Beetle Bailey, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, Hagar the Horrible, and B.C have contributed beautifully to make the Bumsteads anniversary a real success.

1. Blondie, Vols. 1 and 2

2. Blondie and Dagwood's marvelous invention;: An original story about the Bumstead family of the famous Blondie newspaper comics, radio series, and motion pictures,

3. The Best of Hi and Lois

I grew up with Blondie and Dagwood and was looking forward to reliving that by seeing some of the old strips. Unfortunately, the book only shows recent (last decade or so) strips. At the end they reproduce some of the very early strips (where Dagwood renounces his inheritance so that he can marry Blondie). That was great and made you realize how much like a soap opera those early strips were (think Judge Parker or Mary Worth). However, there was nothing in between - it was just described in the text. I wanted to SEE the evolution, e.g. as Dagwood ran for the bus, then started car-pooling; look for those subtle changes in the bedroom, kitchen, TV, etc. I bought the book heavily discounted, so I got my money's worth. I just wish there had been more.

While I wasn't really reading this strip until the mid 90's but after doing so I became a big fan of the strip series along with others like Foxtrot,Jmupstart, Marvin and others and now for a very affordable price I'm now able to get this book to add to my other comic strip books. The one thing I don't understand with all the negative reviews is where does it say it's the earlier strip storyline from the 40's,50s,and 60s in no way does it advertise or promote that so why is there are this blame on the publisher that released this and not on the person buying it and not reading the details of the product. Don't get me wrong it does talk about how long the series has been out but again it doesn't say that this book will have those strips from those eras inside it, at the end of this the series is a wonderful take of the Bumstead family and the hijinx that follows them. The humor is light-hearted with little drama that you would see from previous other longtime comic strips like Mary Worth an the like which is really appreciated since we get more than enough drama in real life....

I bought 'Blondie: The Complete Bumstead Family History' to read on my kindle whenever I want to take a rest from constant reading. Of course the Kindle is black and white, so if I want color, then I have to read this e-book off my Kindle for PC or Apple iPad. Not a problem!

The Kindle Edition of 'Blondie: The Complete Bumstead Family History' is 13.6 MB - quite large by Kindle standards. However, despite the large file size, the scans of the comic strips are not always clear. Often, the captions are low resolution fuzzy, making reading my favorite comic at night difficult. I have solved that problem - I read this kindle book only when I am taking reading breaks during the day! :)

A general comment about the book:

If you are looking for vintage Blondie comics, then buy Blondie & Dagwood's America by the Comic strip's creator himself, Chic Young.

If you don't mind that 80% of 'Blondie: The Complete Bumstead Family History' is current strips from the 1990's to early 2000's, with limited historical value, then this book is fine for you.

Having read previous reviews, I bought 'Blondie: The Complete Bumstead Family History' solely for `comic relief' :D

This book is light and fun, easy to read in bits and pieces. As such, it is an ideal 'browser book' to break the monotony of reading something 'heavy'. For me, 'Blondie' is a much 'more fun' interlude than playing `Scrabble' or `Sudoku' on my Kindle!

SEE MY PHOTO IN CUSTOMER IMAGES

3 STARS for the low resolution scans on some comic strips in the Kindle Edition of 'Blondie: The Complete Bumstead Family History'.

5 STARS for a fun book on my favorite comic strip characters - The Bumstead Family: Dagwood, Blondie, Cookie, Alexander and the supporting 'cast' - Elmo, Mr Dithers et al.

Thanks for bringing these characters to life Chic Young! :)

This is a 200 page history of the comic strip with mostly more recent strips. There is a brief section on some of the early strips in the series and they are excellent. One does wish that more of the earlier strips were included but let's recview what is here.

Even with the more recent strips making up the bulk of the collection, Blondie is still a top comic strip and is very enjoyable. The creator Chic Young's son Dean has done a good job of updating the characters to the times while still keeping the classic themes intact. When I pick up a newspaper comics page, Blondie is still the first one I read before any others. I do agree with some of the other reviewer's in lamenting what is not here but I'll review what is here and that is still very good.

This is a great comprehensive book on Blondie & Dagwood. Anyone who loves Blondie should get this book!