A new comics collection provides a history lesson on women's rights.
"Blondie: From Honeymoon to Diapers & Dogs -- Complete Daily Comics, 1933-1935" (IDW, $50) is the second and last of IDW's collections of the earliest "Blondie" strips. The first volume told the story of Blondie and Dagwood's courtship and subsequent marriage, while this one collects their days as young marrieds.
Many of the elements we associate with "Blondie" debut, including Mr. Dithers, Dagwood's boss; Herb and Tootsie Woodley, the next-door neighbors; and the "Dagwood sandwich."
What struck me about this book was that, despite its age and era, Blondie comes off well. Originally presented as a blue-collar bubblehead, she evolves into the brains of the family in this volume (while still retaining her showgirl looks and goofy personality; it's the upending of expectation that's funny). Dagwood, who had in the first volume the unearned confidence (and incompetency) of someone who grew up in a cocoon of wealth, remains incompetent in this volume, but without the riches and confidence -- and therefore becomes the butt of most jokes.
This is essentially the model for the strip for the rest of its run, not to mention virtually every dad in every sitcom on every TV show ever produced. Blondie might not be anyone's idea of a feminist, but feminists should approve: She is clearly the smart one -- and the boss.
Keep in mind that this takes place only a few decades after the Victorian age, when the "angel of the house" model for women prevailed. Sure enough, all of the women in "Blondie" are housewives.
But "Blondie" also takes the position that a woman continues to be the head of household even after her husband comes home. This "hand that rocks the cradle" concept is still popular today, and it makes me wonder if it was popular in the 1930s, when these strips ran, or if "Blondie" more or less invented it.
Whatever the sociology, the strips remain funny 80 years later. That's what's important.
