Dean Young

How could he not ... Look at his head He's got all that hair sticking out. My dad realized he had certain intrinsic qualities, his hair, his eating habits. A lot of funny idiosyncrasies.

But it's hard to count 'Blondie' out, ... We do what we do. And we do it well. Year after year. The strip's just as funny now as it's ever been and, to be perfectly honest, just as popular.

You see, my dad grew up on Hollywood two-reelers and screwball comedies, ... His humor was very surreal and fanciful at times. I grew up on a steady diet of TV sitcoms, so my humor is more-to-earth.

God bless my daddy, ... He was the genius who created this wonderful menagerie of characters. A monkey could do my job with the characters I have to work with. He left me this cast of characters and this dominant gene.

As they settled into marriage, 'Blondie' started to resonate with more people, ... Dagwood wasn't too different than a lot of guys. He forgets to take out the garbage. He'd rather eat one of his huge sandwiches than go out to any fancy restaurant. Hopefully, most people don't have bosses like Mr. Dithers but they could definitely relate to some of the challenges at the workplace.

My dad's comedic sensibilities were uniquely his own and very different from mine, ... But he was very good. He said if I should ever inherited the strip, he wanted me to infuse my own sense of humor into the strip. He wanted me to make it my own.

Eating, sleeping, raising children and making money It's the human experience. Everybody can identify with it.

Was it hard to turn the Bumsteads into a dual-career family I debated a long time before I did it, ... I wasn't sure what business I wanted Blondie to go into. Catering was perfect. The eating business was real close to home.

Some things haven't changed. Dagwood's unspoken motto remains When in doubt, take a nap. That's still his favorite sport, ... He loves napping and eating. He has a black belt in buffets. And he still can't get that raise from his boss. All those things are constants.

The first two months led up to the party page (today), then it will follow the Bumsteads on their anniversary trip to Hawaii, where they'll be gone a month, ... All the different (comics) syndicates are doing crossover story lines where they refer to the anniversary. The whole community of cartoonists. It's really a lot of fun.

The anniversary storyline is quintessential 'Blondie,' ... It follows the trials and tribulations that Blondie and Dagwood face as they plan their anniversary party, the biggest party ever to take place on the funny pages. Their domestic comedy is only accentuated by the addition of so many amazing characters on the guest list.