| [Edit]
Baby Blues is a comic strip series produced by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott since January 7th, 1990.
top
Introduction
|
The strip is mainly about raising babies and children. Children in the strip are more often than not unaware of their parents' difficulties (but also fear of their punishments), and parents often meet a dilemma, being exhausted and frustrated of the children's incooperation, as well as ultimate love towards them.
There was a short-lived Baby Blues animated series that aired from June to August of 2000 on The WB network before being cancelled. It was then picked up in 2002 by the Cartoon Network, and run as part of its Adult Swim block. Comedian Julia Sweeney was the voice of Wanda MacPherson. Its theme song was "It's All Been Done" by Barenaked Ladies.
|
top
Characters
The strip mainly consists of three families:
top
Main Family (MacPhersons)
|
Wanda Wizowski-MacPherson: The mother. Though she originally had a job, she was forced to stay at home to look after her children. Easily frustrated (due to the job of being a mother), and jealous of any mothers who seem to do better than she does. Wanda Wizowski-MacPherson was born March 23rd, 1965. She stands 5' 5" tall. She has black hair and brown eyes.
Darryl MacPherson: The father. A manager, noticeable with the extremely big nose. Sometimes unaware of his wife's exhausted state.
Zoe Jennifer MacPherson: The eldest daughter ("born" January 7th, 1990 – her birth starts the strip). She is a very fussy girl and tends to talk non-stop. Likes to tease or scare her brother, Hammie. Zoe is a bright child. She has a large vocabulary and good logic skills. She was the only sibling out of her family to appear on the TV series.
Hamish MacPherson: The son, usually called Ham or Hammie ("born" April 29th, 1995). He has great fondness and uninhibited enthusiasm for trucks, and can tell their model on sight, as proven in several strips. Likes to tell his mom when his big sister teases or bullies him, but generally he gets mad less often than Zoe. He also likes driving Zoe mad or watching Zoe get into trouble (without doing anything himself). He was named after his great-great-grandfather, who was called "Ham".
Wren MacPherson: The youngest daughter ("born" October 26th, 2002) See Strip. Still an infant at the time of this writing. She does not seem to be as much of a nuisance as her elder siblings. Wren is a very curious baby. She often is shown climbing on top of things or grabbing at things. She loves to stick things in her mouth.
|
top
The White supporting family
This family joined the strip around March 1991.
Bunny: The mother and the main character of this family. She is the target of any possible jealousy from Wanda, because Bunny outrages her by being perfect in many aspects (such as body, life-style, etc.) Nearly all main adult characters don't like her and have, on occasion, tricked her. Bunny does seem oblivious to how she irritates Wanda, or anyone else. She is also oblivious, at times, to the convenience or needs of others in contrast to her own. She still has moments of near-human quality, especially concerning motherhood, despite her fairly obtuse personality.
Butch: Bunny's husband. Generally unaware of his wife's behavior towards the neighbors. Tends to spoil Bunny, a point which Bunny herself enjoys discussing in detail with her neighbors.
Bogart: The elder son. He's the greatest victim of Zoe's teasing and bullying (because he doesn't cope with teasing as well as Hammie), she calls him a "crybaby". Named after movie star Humphrey Bogart, since he was conceived while his parents were watching "The African Queen." It is evident, based on some dialogs, that Bogart is not as fond of his extra curricular life as Bunny might think he is.
Wendell John and Wendell Jon: Twin boys born August 10th, 2002 See Strip. Easily confused since their names are homophones. They were conceived whilst their parents watched "Dumb and Dumber". Zoe has said that she shuffles them whenever Bunny isn't looking, making it unlikely that Bunny knows the difference between the two. Before they were named, they were called "Puce" and "Teal" based on the colors of their wrist bands.
top
The Black supporting family
|
Yolanda: is the mother of this family and a long-time supporter of Wanda, usually quiet when Wanda quarrels with Bunny.
Mike: Yolanda's husband, as much of a guy as Darryl. Tends to support Darryl's point of view, though not as subtly as he might think.
Keesha: Eldest daughter, Zoe's close friend.
|
top
Other supporting characters
Rhonda Wizowski: Wanda's younger sister. Enjoys the life of being a single woman. She usually shows up as the babysitter when Wanda and Darryl go out and leave their children behind. Recently, she is shown wanting to find a man and start a family. Was recently shown to have an online relationship with a person named Thom, who called her Linda and caused her to throw wine at her computer; she broke up with him.
Hugh Wizowski: Wanda's father, likes to brag about his healthy life.
Maggie Wizowski: Wanda's mother, quiet about her views on Wanda, its easy to spot a resemblence between her and her daughters. She approves of Wanda's lifestyle as a result of her three grandchildren, and would prefer Rhonda to settle down and have children as well. Drives Rhonda nuts.
"Mac" MacPherson: Darryl's father, notorious for spoiling the kids in spite of their parents' wishes.
Pauline MacPherson: Darryl's mother, keeps "Mac" in line, especially concerning his spoiling the kids. Apparently obsessive about neatness.
Trent: Best friend of Hammie since kindergarten. He teaches Hammie to do many weird things. A child of the same name has appeared as a friend of Zoe on May 6th, 1997 See Strip.
top
Minor Characters
Zoe: A child that goes to the same school as Zoe (main character), who shares the same name. She is usually referred to "The Golden Haired Girl" by Zoe (main character). She is constantly cruel to Zoe (main character) and even called Wanda ugly and fat in one comic. She was a character who was in two short stints, and hasn't reappeared.
Bryan: A child in Zoe's preschool class, is shown to have an obsession with Dinosaurs that stems so deep, he is in fact, always a dinosaur, unless in the presence of his mother. First appeared June 30th, 1997 See Strip.
Kiki: The MacPherson's permanent babysitter, known to have six brothers and sisters, and began changing diapers at 3 years of age. First appeared March 21st, 1997 See Strip
The Brewers: The childless couple from down the lane, known to have a swimming pool, and problems concerning infertility. First appeared August 23rd, 1996 See Strip
Dr. Beezy: Wanda's obstetrician for her third pregnancy, in place of Dr. West. Dr. Beezy has had no trouble putting up with Darryl's oddness. When asked for her qualifications, she responded, "Three kids, ages 5, 7, and 10. Two natural, One C-Section, and I'm told I have very warm hands." Dr. Beezy was introduced February 11th, 2002 See Strip.
top
Time line
Unlike other strips, children in Baby Blues' do grow as time passes, though slower than real time.
The authors claimed that the time ratio is 3 to 1 * (that is, three days in real time equals one day in the strip), but the fact is only true when a MacPherson's kid is born and hasn't celebrated the first birthday. As the strip goes on, the ratio becomes about 2 to 1. Characters do not celebrate all their birthdays even in terms of comic time.
As of 2006, the strip has been on for 16 years and the main character, Zoe MacPherson, is 7 years old (she claimed to be almost 8 on the strip around Christmas, December 23rd, 2004 See Strip, but her birthday wasn't celebrated on January 7th, 2005). Meanwhile, her brother Hammie appeared for eleven years and is now 5. In Zoe's show-and-tell, it was revealed that Wren MacPherson was 7 months old See Strip.
top
Trivia, Symbols, Etc.
January 11th, 2003 - Frame 1 appears to be paying homage to Calvin & Hobbes, if you look at the doll on the bottom of the pile, it strongly resembles Calvin. See Strip
top
The Books
|
|
