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COMIC BOOK REVIEW! BLONDIE #200, OCTOBER 1972 (Charlton Comics)

Yup, this is the ish of BLONDIE that I was so tempted to buy at Dimoff's way back when but opted out for some CREATURES ON THE PROWL or one of those Marvel monster reprint titles. Now that I actually have this particular magazine in my ever-decaying paws lo these many years later all I can say is...boy did I miss out on a fun time!

This "Special Anniversary Issue" is well-crafted by Paul Fung Jr., a guy who really knew how to get the Chic Young style down and perhaps better'n the creator at that! Given how some of the people who took over the comic strip after Young's vamoosing didn't quite have the feel you kinda wonder why Fung didn't get the job, but his work on the comic book was snat enough and I can't see any longtime BLONDIE fan not wanting to supplement their daily comics fix with this monthly entry which does do the strip more'n just a token slab o' justice!

The nostalgic bent of this particular issue would have thrown me for that good ol' loop had I latched onto the thing that fateful summer day. A series of stories told in flashbacks recalling past highmarks in the BLONDIE saga, Fung's ability to mimic the strip's style at that particular point in time was amazing, something which I'm sure woulda worked swell with not only the old timers who were eating this stuff up first hand but the cornballus nostalgic geeks big on everything old and better'n whatever was going on during them days. And of course kiddos like myself who saw things like comics, music and tee-vee as truly meaningful facets of civilization that were just as important to one's growth and well-being as alla those field trips to go hear PETER AND THE WOLF 'r something like that.

Also boffo in Fung's own recreation of his father's WHEN MAMA WAS A GIRL topper strip comparing some early-twentieth century young gal happenstance with (in this case) an early seventies situation with at times rather humorous and even sarcastic results. The way Fung draws the female form is fantastic...not as yowza as Bob Montana's Betty and Veronica mind you but close enough making me wonder...why don't women look like this anymore? Or if they do, why won't any of 'em even come near me? Well, I'm sure that part of the question can be easily answered, and for purely obvious reasons natch.