above: Blondie by Chic Young (1930)
Chic Young’s Blondie comic strip first appeared on September 8, 1930.
above: the debut of Blondie and Dagwood
In 2012 R. C. Harvey informed us of the history of the strip and it’s creator.
The authorized Blondie backstory via The Wayback Machine.
It took a walk down the aisle and a family to make Blondie the most popular comic strip of its time. Chic Young was the first comic strip creator to be syndicated to over 1000 newspapers. In a 1948 Saturday Evening Post profile of Chic distribution numbers for Blondie were given:
Blondie is published by 753 daily and 249 Sunday papers in the United States and Canada, and, abroad, by 93 daily and 41 Sunday papers.
Blondie is one of only a handful to break the 2000 paper ceiling.
above: Dagwood by Stan Drake (1986)
If the numbers are right Blondie is the 7th oldest daily comic strip still being produced –
Gasoline Alley, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith,
Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye, Ginger Meggs, Fritzi Ritz/Nancy, and Blondie.
Congratulations to Blondie and Dagwood on another milestone.
John Marshall (the lead artist on Blondie since 2005) does an INCREDIBLE job. One of the best drawn strips out there!