Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for February 06, 2009

1938, eh? That's 5 years after Blondie & Dagwood married. So what does that make them?

Experience. That is what we need. Help us now when we need it the most.

I suspect Joanie has been bathing in the blood of virgins. Or maybe just sneaking some HGH.

How long ago was it Trudeau had that amazing sequence when divorced Joannie Caucus and Rick Redfern finally DID it? Day after day for a week, just silent panels zooming over the city, finally coming through the open window to reveal a smiling Joannie next to a sleeping Rick. And now she’s *70*?? Gawd, am I starting to feel old!!

tobybartels says: 1938, eh? That’s 5 years after Blondie & Dagwood married. So what does that make them?

Immortal.

Do you enjoy feeling old? Try this one on for size. Back when it was fashionable, sometime during the 70s, GBT did a series of strips about a VietNamese orphan who had been adopted by an American family. (There had been a lot of that going on.) Little baby girl Kim usually had the tag line of the strip. You may remember her first words, “Big Mac, Big Mac”.

Kim still makes appearances in the strip. She’s Michael Doonesbury’s wife.

At 3 score and almost 2, I do NOT yet feel old! Everything still works and works well. Most of the time I enjoy being young and alive, except when it is below zero, like it was this morning. Then I become aware of every bone break, muscle tear and such things I have ever had.

tobybartels says:

1938, eh? That’s 5 years after Blondie & Dagwood married. So what does that make them? Well Toby, considering that they have 2 teenager, I guess it makes them pretty frisky.

I don’t think of my age either, except when I go through a patch where my back aches or my neck hurts, which neither do so far this year. The only time I can tell you my age off the top of my head is when I hit each new decade. Otherwise, I’ve got to subtract my birth year from the current year.

Today I’m celebrating the 25th anniversary of my 39th birthday.

Happy birthday, mplsstreetrwy! Many happy returns of the 39th.

Bill Holbrook’s started to age his characters in earnest in his two syndicated strips. He’d been holding them in a certain age track for several years, but admitted one day that he’d been doing so against his personal interest in how to make the stories progress, so he presented the aging effects on the characters in one strip and moved on from there. Realtime is now in effect in On the Fastrack and Safe Havens. His web-only strip, Kevin and Kell, isn’t progressing as rapidly but has shown age creep.