Baby Blues: Ten Years and Still in Diapers: A Baby Blues Treasury (Paperback)

by Jerry Scott (Author), Rick Kirkman (Author) "The thing that strikes us when we look at these early strips is how Baby Blues has changed over the past ten years. . ..." (more)
Key Phrases: snotty gloves, drenched friends, appalling words, Baby Blues, Ten Fords

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Over the years, fans have lovingly accompanied Darryl and Wanda MacPherson on their evolving journey as parents-and what a trip it's been! Filled with temper tantrums and tender affection, with flying food, potty training, and sibling rivalry, Baby Blues has become one of the most beloved family-oriented comic strips in the world. When Zoe was first born, Darryl and Wanda stood back as their home was transformed by chaos. Just as the tyke was going mobile, Wanda found out she was pregnant again, and we watched as the family adapted to the demands of two kids. Now Zoe has matured into a big sister to baby Hamish-who's learning to walk and talk, in addition to rolling. The MacPhersons find their lives have become immeasurably richer, except in terms of actual income! Now comes a special tenth anniversary treasury of the beloved strip, featuring Sundays in all their colorful glory. It should come as no surprise that Baby Blues collections, such as One More and We're Outnumbered, threats, bribes & videotape, and Night of the Living Dad, have been best-sellers. That's because countless Baby Blues fans can identify with the MacPhersons, who balance never-ending mayhem around toys and vegetable consumption with an undying love and quest to raise their little ones into healthy adults. Parents and nonparents alike have fallen head-over-heels for the sidesplitting, yet realistic, family humor that Baby Blues has consistently delivered to their homes over the past decade.

About the Author
Baby Blues writer Jerry Scott began cartooning professionally in the mid-'70s by submitting gag cartoons to magazines; he then took over two strips, Gumdrop and Nancy. With his longtime friend Rick Kirkman, the pair developed Baby Blues, a natural subject considering Kirkman's preoccupation with the birth of his second daughter. Scott lives in Malibu, California; Kirkman in Phoenix, Arizona.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; 1 edition (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740700081
• ISBN-13: 978-0740700088
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #298,305 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great gift idea and more, May 23, 2000

By	J. Berry (Alexandria, Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You already know which comic strips you like, right? But newspapers don't carry every comic strip, so it's possible you aren't familiar with Baby Blues. It's also possible you like the strip but wondered what happens "behind the scenes." You might even be looking for a "housewarming" type gift in the $10-20 range.

I've been introduced to some of my favorite comic strips over the years. So this is my recommendation to the people who haven't heard of Baby Blues. My tastes range from Dilbert, The Far Side, and Calvin & Hobbes to the more obscure Overboard, Robotman and Fusco Brothers to the gentleness of For Better or Worse and Peanuts. Basically, I don't like a lot of "syrup," but my comics must have sensitive human observation. Baby Blues has a raw warmth, with more energy than "For Better" and more realistic characters than "Peanuts."

I enjoyed Baby Blues before my child was born, but it really "hits home" now. It's amusing with or without your own children. But if you're one of the "withs," the book doubles as a mirror!

I always find the lives of the artist and what goes into their drawings interesting from a perspective standpoint. (I liked "The PreHistory of the Far Side.") "10 Years and Still in Diapers" gives this perspective during the early chapters and in a friendly, mildly self-deprecating way.

Instead of yet another bottle of wine, why not bring this book to your next casual get together? Instead of yet another outfit, why not make this a baby shower gift? Besides being "painfully" entertaining, it's attractive enough for the coffee table.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Close to Reality, February 19, 2009

By	first words...God's breath (USA) - See all my reviews

I have become quite fond of a handful of comic strips in the daily paper. Baby Blues is one of my favorite because it strikes a recognizable chord with memories of families whose children have passed before my eyes in the classroom, not to forget in certain family situations. The Family MacPhersons as they are named, portray everyday family life, that is different vignettes, not necessarily total for any one family.
Mom and Dad manage these two toddlers, often being taught the ropes by these two little packages of psychological tricksters, playing against each other, and playing one parent against the other.
If you "read" this book, a "treasury" of comic strips over the years, you can pretty well learn from Zoe (the older sister), and her brother Hammie, how they attempt to outsmart their Mom and Dad. I particularly like the cover picture, as the reader doesn't necessarily know "who it is that is in diapers for 10 years". There may be an analogy of the cartoonists, Kirkman and Scott to portray the parents as close peers of the two little tricksters/manipulators, and thus the diapers for Mom and Dad, as well, as the two children trying to hold the parents at their level.
If you're looking for a good laugh, borrow this from your local library where this book is catalogued under the Dewey Decimal Number 741.5. You can even have "Baby Blues" as part of your Yahoo home page of favorites; if so, you'll get a daily snapshot of this family, without any effort. Try it; you'll laugh and cry, and remember when something touches your life. And, just in case your computer recovers from its recent crash, a book in hand will give you some laughs to cry about. Give it your best shot.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guilty pleasure for the childless-by-choice!, March 12, 2000

By	R. Garcia "Beeyotch" (Brockport, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Here is a whole collection of "Baby Blues", a clever, brutally honest comedy satire all about child-rearing from a couple of good ol' "been-there" daddies! Features a well-meaning but know-nothing dork of a dad, a disgruntled, long-suffering mommy who smiles graciously through clenched teeth, and - the big stars of the strip - Zoe, the precicous but spoiled rotten brat in perky red pigtails and Ham, the pin-headed baby of the whole family with a personality to match his name! A very generous helping of really crazy domestic misadventures for the new parents to find comfort and reassurance in as well as for the happily childless to gloat outrageously over!