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Archive: Blondie

162

Wednesday quick takes

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Blondie, 10/28/26

Don’t really feel like engaging with the “joke” here, but I do want to point out that at some point in the past week the Bumsteads rearranged the TV table so at least one of them can now see the screen while seated normally. Dagwood still seems to be having trouble, though, if that lean is any indication. You can move the TV even closer, Dagwood! That’s what the wheels are for!

Dustin, 10/28/26

I feel duty bound to acknowledge when one of those comics characters I truly loathe does something praiseworthy. For instance, today I’m pleased by the fact that Dustin’s dad has decided to meekly await death rather than putting any effort into staying alive.

Dennis the Menace, 10/28/26

By iron-clad comics visual law, this guy’s red nose indicates that he’s pretty drunk right now, on the job, presumably in the middle of the day. And who can blame him, when the children who should be his primary customers are wandering in off the street and asking shit like this?

169

Tuesday diatribes

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Blondie, 10/27/26

I know I complain about Dagwood a lot as a character in this strip, but I have to say that one of my absolute least favorite Blondie running gags is when some tediously zany characters come in to Blondie’s catering business to request some wacky theme banquet, and Blondie just taps away on her keyboard like an idiot while they do their little routine. It’s all just depressingly by-the-numbers and unfunny. And, as today’s strip makes clear, these people apparently launch into their little routines rather than just explaining what they want in plain English, which is even more depressingly stupid.

Hi and Lois, 10/27/26

A frequent topic of chatter in the comments of this website is that Chip Flagston looks very little like Hi and very much like both like Hi’s next door neighbor and best friend “Thirsty” Thurston and the garbage man (named either Abercrombie or Fitch, and I refuse to look up which one the blond one is). I have taken the high road and ignored this salacious gossip, instead simply taking it as evidence that Hi and Lois has a single character model for “slovenly slacker type,” but today’s strip, in which Lois admires the garbageman’s physical prowess and asks him if he works out while they both smile broadly, is kind of hard to ignore.

Mary Worth, 10/27/26

“Yeah, he’s the one who I heard it from! So I guess talking to you has been a huge waste of time as per usual, Saul.”

165

The computers are actually responsible for a lot of the other problems

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Blondie, 10/20/26

I feel like panel one here is a great illustration of what a gormless dipshit the current iteration of Dagwood Bumstead is. He’s the type of guy who watches an ad for a car dealership, and the narrator of the ad announces that the car dealership hired a surprise pitchman, and he’s so surprised that he yelps out “HUH?” and gesticulates around wildly. I don’t really have a strong opinion about the Santa stuff, it’s legit to be unhappy about that but also legit to not care or even to be kind of excited about Christmas months in advance, I just have contempt for a guy who allows himself to be fully emotionally invested in the narrative arc of a 30-second local ad spot.

Mary Worth, 10/20/26

Looks like all’s well that’s ending well for Toby and Ian! I guess the lesson learned is that if there are rumors flying around about your husband’s infidelity and you’re thinking about confronting him, maybe don’t? Or maybe just wait till you actually get to the restaurant, because there’s a good chance a surprise party is awaiting you there and it’s going to make all these problems go away. Imagine how awkward it would be if you started a big fight in the car on the way over!

Shoe, 10/20/26

“And you’re gonna have those too, now that a critical mass of people have decided to stop vaccinating their kids! Hope you enjoy your computers, I guess.”