Blondie (comic strip) was adapted into a long-running series of 28 low-budget theatrical B-features, produced by Columbia Pictures. Beginning with "Blondie" in 1938, the series lasted 12 years, through "Beware of Blondie" (1950). The two major roles were Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake (whose first starring role was another comic strip character, Harold Teen) as Dagwood. Faithfulness to the comic strip was a major concern of the creators of the series. Little touches were added that were iconic to the strip, like the appearance of Dagwood's famous sandwiches—and the running gag of Dagwood colliding with the mailman amid a flurry of
Blondie (comic strip) Gersher, Stan Drake, Denis Lebrun, and John Marshall. Despite these changes, "Blondie" has remained popular, appearing in more than 2,000 newspapers in 47 countries and translated into 35 languages. Since 2006, "Blondie" has also been available via email through King Features' DailyINK service. Originally designed to follow in the footsteps of Young's earlier "pretty girl" creations "Beautiful Bab" and "Dumb Dora", "Blondie" focused on the adventures of Blondie Boopadoop—a carefree flapper girl who spent her days in dance halls along with her boyfriend Dagwood Bumstead, heir to a railroad fortune. The name "Boopadoop" derives from the scat singing lyric that