Wealthy playboys and flappers just weren't funny anymore, ... So (dad) got them married, and (Dagwood) was disowned by his millionaire daddy. When they got into the kitchen and started having kids, it took off like a rocket.
My dad's comedic sensibilities were uniquely his own and very different from mine, ... But he was very good. He said if I should ever inherited the strip, he wanted me to infuse my own sense of humor into the strip. He wanted me to make it my own.
As a kid, I remember my dad working on the strip, ... There'd always be just roars of laughter coming from his studio. The strip was fun for him and I think that sense of fun was infectious.
You see, my dad grew up on Hollywood two-reelers and screwball comedies, ... His humor was very surreal and fanciful at times. I grew up on a steady diet of TV sitcoms, so my humor is more-to-earth.
How could he not? ... Look at his head: He's got all that hair sticking out. My dad realized he had certain intrinsic qualities, his hair, his eating habits. A lot of funny idiosyncrasies.