The All-New Blondie Title Panel

Comments ¹⁵

1. Grant

   I didn’t know, so I checked, and that Blondie title panel that was replaced in 1986 was first used at the beginning of March 1955. What is the oldest static title panel still being used now? I think the current B.C. title panel is the original from 1958 with the only change being the credit.

2. Eric

   Which reminds me, Dean Young is either dead or 110 years old by now. (Okay, 87) Who’s writing the strip as of now? Is it just John Marshall, leaving Young as a legacy? (then they should have Chic’s name up there)

   they should credit more of the team.

   1. Rodrigo Araya

      The thing with comics made in the old “assembly-line” fashion of the early-mid 20th century (contrary to the more artisanal approach of most modern strips) is that they are often made by several ghost artists, which makes it hard to make comprehensive credits of the team. Other examples include Garfield, Hagar and the relatively recent Dustin, all of which are handled by several artists who often overlap (such as Eric Reaves, who in addition to draw Hi and Lois, does occasional work on both Blondie and Garfield). Dick Tracy gets around this with the Mint Mystery storylines.

      1. D. D. Degg  (admin)

         Last year Gary said that Hagar is all Hallgren art.
         https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2024/07/30/gary-and-bob-hagars-ghost-cartoonists-but-mostly-gary-hallgren/#comment-512831

   2. Tea Fougner

      Dean’s daughters, Dana and Dianne, are heavily involved in the creative direction of the strip these days. I don’t know if they’re actually scripting it or just coming up with the ideas, but they’re both active members of the creative team.

      1. Eric

         That’s nice. But if Mr. Young isn’t doing the actual writing, then the people who do should have their names on the thing.

      2. D. D. Degg  (admin)

         Eric you know comics history well enough to know that the behind the scenes “assistants” seldom get their names on the strips. Dan Barry had literally scores of people helping him get the Flash Gordon comic into newspapers and none until Bob Fujitani ever got their name on the strip. Roy Thomas wrote The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip for decades without getting public credit. Most of the public thought that Walt Disney himself turned out those dozen comic strips signed with only his name.

      3. Eric

         Of course I do. I know all about the Al Capp-Ham Fisher war over JOE PALOOKA. i just think that once the original artist is gone and his replacement is credited, then THEIR replacement should be credited as well.

         Jim Scancarelli was the fourth guy to be credited for GASOLINE ALLEY and he hasn’t done most of the strips for years.

3. Rodrigo Araya

   Useless factoid only hardcore comics enthusiasts might find remotely interesting:

   Blondie had been the sole strip still running on the old King Features 12-panel two-thirds format for almost 30 years after Toots and Casper ended in December 1956. This format had been around since 1926 when Hearst’s syndicate added topper strips to the Sunday full-pages, with some variations throughout the years.

   1. D. D. Degg  (admin)

      I find that a fascinating bit of comic strip trivia.

4. Atanwat

   The fundamental weakness of zombie strips is that they are not owned by the artist; the syndicate is boss and has total control of the content. If the owners don’t like what the current artist is producing, they can fire him and hire someone else. As far as the syndicate is concerned, the old zombies who still read newsprint only want whatever they had in the past. In the long run, the strip percolates down to a tired collection of running gags, devoid of any brilliance or controversy.

   1. Tea Fougner

      I don’t know which strips you’re referring to, but Blondie is absolutely owned by the Young family.

      1. Rodrigo Araya

         Are there even any syndicate-owned strips running anymore aside from Barney Google, Gasoline Alley and Popeye? It was something more of earlier comic strips created back when cartoonists were employed by major newspapers, which in turn sold the comics to other papers.

         Also, while associated with titles whose creators have long passed, the term “zombie strip” tends to be applied to those comics that are created by more people than the credited artists (opposite to the artisanal approach preferred by modern comics). Garfield and Dustin are often referred as “zombie strips” in spite of their creators being still much alive and involved in the creative process.

      2. D. D. Degg  (admin)

         Alley Oop, Dick Tracy, Heart of the City(?), Nancy, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Gil Thorp, Animal Crackers(?), Mary Worth, Judge Parker, Rex Morgan, Prince Valiant, Mark Trail. Oh, Sally Forth.

      3. Atanwat

         I stand corrected on the ownership issue, but there is often only a very fine line between the “legacy” strips that have been “inherited”, versus the “zombies” that have been “assigned”. Continuing popularity notwithstanding, I think Schulz and Watterson made better decisions than Young, Hart, Walker, and Browne.