Baby Blues | |
---|---|
Author(s) | Jerry Scott, Rick Kirkman |
Current status/schedule | Running |
Launch date | January 7, 1990 |
Syndicate(s) | Creators Syndicate (1990–1995) King Features Syndicate (1995–2022) Andrews McMeel Syndication (2022-present) |
Publisher(s) | Andrews McMeel Publishing |
Genre(s) | Humor |
Baby Blues is an American comic strip created and produced by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott since January 7, 1990. [1] Distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1995 until January 2022, and distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication as of January 2022, the strip focuses on the MacPherson family and specifically on the raising of the three MacPherson children.
When the strip debuted, the MacPherson family consisted of Darryl and Wanda and newborn Zoe. The first strip took place in the hospital room shortly after Zoe was born. Later, two more children—Hammie, the middle child and the only son, and Wren, the youngest child—were added to the family. Both Kirkman and Scott have drawn from their own parenting experiences as a source for the strip's content.
The strip features three families. The MacPhersons are the main focus. Butch and Bunny together with Yolanda and Mike make occasional appearances.
The children in Baby Blues have aged as the strip has progressed, although at a slower rate than real-time. Kirkman and Scott have stated that the strip's timeline is "about a 3 to 1 ratio." [22] As of 2021, Zoe, Hammie and Wren are 9, 7, and 2 respectively.
The first three Scrapbooks in the list below were not labelled "scrapbook" and didn't get a number, but they can be assumed to be number 1, 2 and 3 in that series because in the time line they precede number 4 of the Scrapbooks, and all of these books follow the same concept, i.e. they are collections of Baby Blues strips from the newspapers. Starting with Scrapbook 30, the books come in a larger format and contain more strips. Scrapbooks are paperbacks.
Scrapbook No. | Title | Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Baby Blues: This is going to be tougher than we thought. | April 1991 | 978-0-8092-3996-2 |
2 | She Started It! | September 1992 | 978-0-8092-3266-6 |
3 | Guess Who Didn't Take a Nap? | March 1993 | 978-0-8362-1715-5 |
4 | I Thought Labor Ended When the Baby Was Born | March 1994 | 978-0-8362-1744-5 |
5 | We Are Experiencing Parental Difficulties… Please Stand By | March 1995 | 978-0-8362-1781-0 |
6 | Night of the Living Dad | March 1996 | 978-0-8362-1310-2 |
7 | I Saw Elvis in My Ultrasound | September 1996 | 978-0-8362-2130-5 |
8 | One More and We're Outnumbered! | March 1997 | 978-0-8362-2692-8 |
9 | Check, Please… | March 1998 | 978-0-8362-5423-5 |
10 | Threats, Bribes & Videotape | August 1998 | 978-0-8362-6750-1 |
11 | If I'm a Stay-at-Home Mom, Why Am I Always in the Car? | March 1999 | 978-0-8362-7845-3 |
12 | Lift and Separate | March 2000 | 978-0-7407-0455-0 |
13 | I Shouldn't Have to Scream More Than Once! | August 2000 | 978-0-7407-0557-1 |
14 | Motherhood Is Not for Wimps | March 2001 | 978-0-7407-1393-4 |
15 | Baby Blues: Unplugged | March 2002 | 978-0-7407-2323-0 |
16 | Dad to the Bone | August 2002 | 978-0-7407-2670-5 |
17 | Never a Dry Moment | March 2003 | 978-0-7407-3304-8 |
18 | Two Plus One Is Enough | March 2004 | 978-0-7407-4140-1 |
19 | Playdate: Category 5 | September 2004 | 978-0-7407-4665-9 |
20 | Our Server Is Down! | October 2005 | 978-0-7407-5445-6 |
21 | Something Chocolate This Way Comes | April 2006 | 978-0-7407-5686-3 |
22 | Briefcase Full of Baby Blues | April 2007 | 978-0-7407-6355-7 |
23 | Night Shift | October 2007 | 978-0-7407-6842-2 |
24 | My Space | March 2009 | 978-0-7407-8089-9 |
25 | The Natural Disorder of Things | October 2009 | 978-0-7407-8540-5 |
26 | Ambushed! In the Family Room | October 2010 | 978-0-7407-9740-8 |
27 | Cut! | April 2011 | 978-1-4494-0182-5 |
28 | Eat, Cry, Poop | November 2011 | 978-1-4494-1458-0 |
29 | Scribbles at an Exhibition | May 2012 | 978-1-4494-0972-2 |
30 | Bedlam | November 2013 | 978-1-4494-3724-4 |
31 | Wetter, Louder, Stickier: A Baby Blues Collection | November 2014 | 978-1-4494-5825-6 |
32 | No Yelling! | October 2015 | 978-1-4494-6303-8 |
33 | Gross! | October 2016 | 978-1-4494-7781-3 |
34 | Binge Parenting | September 2017 | 978-1-4494-8511-5 |
35 | Adult Time | October 2018 | 978-1-4494-8512-2 |
36 | Surviving the Great Indoors | October 2019 | 978-1-5248-5175-0 |
37 | BB3X: The Third Decade | October 2020 | 978-1-5248-6072-1 |
38 | Stink Eye | November 2021 | 978-1-5248-6902-1 |
39 | Multitasking | December 2022 | 978-1-5248-7562-6 |
40 | NOT GUILTY-ish | October 2023 | 978-1-5248-8094-1 |
41 | Everything Everywhere... | October 2024 | 978-1-5248-8779-7 |
Treasuries are collections / compilations from strips in the Scrapbooks. Almost all of the Treasuries are paperbacks, just one is a hardcover (marked as "HC" here below).
Title | Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|
The Super-Absorbent, Biodegradable, Family-Size Baby Blues | September 1997 | 978-0-8362-3657-6 |
Ten Years And Still in Diapers | August 1999 | 978-0-7407-0008-8 |
Butt-Naked Baby Blues | August 2001 | 978-0-7407-1852-6 |
Wall-to-Wall Baby Blues | August 2003 | 978-0-7407-3811-1 |
Driving Under the Influence of Children | May 2005 | 978-0-7407-5005-2 |
Framed! | September 2006 | 978-0-7407-6194-2 |
X-Treme Parenting | April 2008 | 978-0-7407-7097-5 |
BBXX: Baby Blues: The First Two Decades (HC) | October 2012 | 978-0-7407-9828-3 |
These two books are not labelled "treasuries", but follow a similar concept, i.e. they also repeat strips from the Scrapbooks, but emphasize a specific topic (school; the relationship between Darryl and Wanda). They are paperbacks.
Title | Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|
The Day Phonics Kicked In: Baby Blues Goes Back to School | September 2008 | 978-0-7407-7738-7 |
We Were Here First | April 2010 | 978-0-7407-9111-6 |
These books are collections / compilations similar to the Treasuries, but the Gift Books are smaller in size and come as hardcovers.
Title | Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|
We Are Not Alone | May 1996 | 978-0-8362-1325-6 |
It's A Boy | February 2010 | 978-0-7407-9166-6 |
It's A Girl | February 2010 | 978-0-7407-9167-3 |
Baby Blues was adapted into an animated television series for The WB. The animated version's timeline was from when Darryl and Wanda first gave birth to Zoe. Mike O'Malley supplied the voice of Darryl while Julia Sweeney played Wanda.
The first eight episodes of Baby Blues originally aired on The WB from July 28 to August 24, 2000, before being canceled. The five remaining episodes from the first season eventually aired on Adult Swim in 2002. [23] A second season, consisting of 13 episodes, was produced but never aired. [24]
The television series differed from the comic strip by focusing on Darryl and Wanda's relationship with the Bittermans, a neighbor family with three children (Rodney, Megan, and Shelby); Kenny, Darryl's co-worker; and Bizzy, the babysitter for Zoe. Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott had only minimal creative control over the television series.
The theme song was "It's All Been Done" by the Barenaked Ladies.
Baby Blues has been translated into, among others, French, German and Swedish. This strip appeared in Canadian French-language newspapers on January 14, 2006.
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