Blondie Daily Strip, 27 May 1931

Although I have owned this piece for a number of years, it appears that I never posted an image of this early example of a Blondie daily strip which I am certain was drawn by Alex Raymond, ghosting for Chic Young. As I have said more than once before, I strongly disagree with those who claim that Raymond only drew backgrounds and minor characters prior to 1932 and that he abruptly stopped ghosting for Young after the hunger strike and marriage sequences in early 1933. Anyone who compares a typical Blondie daily strip from late 1930/very early 1931 with almost any strip from mid-1931 should see just how markedly the draftsmanship on Blondie improved over a very short passage of time. The increased elegance of the images of Blondie are especially obvious, so much so that it surely reflects a change in artists rather than some sort of natural improvement in the drawing skills of Chic Young himself. The fact that stips from 1934 once again demonstrate the hand of a lesser draftsman is consistent with the departure of Alex Raymond from the strip, but the beautifully rendered images of the title character clearly continue well into 1933.