Looks like Dagwood Bumstead isn't above stealing someone else's good idea.
Faced with the tragic realization that he has only so many jokes about sandwiches and Mr. Dithers left to tell, the hapless Bumstead has cast about for something new. Unfortunately, his "new" is someone else's old: Dag has stitched together a wrist-worn cell phone in a deilberate attempt to copy the success the venerable Tracy has had with his two-way wrist radio.
Just take a gander at today's "Blondie," in which Dagwood falls for a sales pitch and ends up using a "cell phone wrist strap"to anchor his favorite mobile device to his hand. "Every once in a while, someone comes up with a real winner!" Dagwood declares.
That person was Dick Tracy, who we suspect is filing an injunction at the U.S. Patent Office at this very moment. Tracy's famous "two-way wrist radio" was a handheld mobile device put into regular use before the Palm, Blackberry or Apple Newton were ever glimmers in their creators' eyes. As such, Dagwood may be trampling on any number of trademarks and copyrights.
And then again, Tracy may not care. Not because he's out fightnig Pruneface or B.B. Eyes, mind you, but because he's upgraded his technology. Why, just this past July, Tracy scrapped his reliable two-way wrist radio for a new Wrist Wizard, which we suspect is his cartoonists' answer to the Apple iPhone.
Either way, Dag just cant' win. Not only is his cell phone wrist strap a thin attempt to capitalize on someone else's idea, but it's also too little, too late. Dick Tracy has already leapfrogged him.
Better stick to building a better sandwich, Dagwood, because you're not so hot at builidng new gadgets.
To reach the Comics Examiner, email me at bristei@aol.com or follow me on Twitter @bristei
Comments