(idea from the sandwich-cutting thread)
(we can do other threads on Blondie, Cookie, and Alex)

What are some of his characteristics? I'll name a few.

Loves multi-level sandwiches.

Anything he does aggravates Mr. Dithers.

Will apparently eat anything the greasy-spoon cafe guy puts in front of him for lunch.

Collides with the mailman in a mad rush when running late for work.

Takes naps on the couch while Blondie has "honey-do" things in mind for him.

Has spent time at work bundling rubber bands and making paperclip chains.

Sometimes tries shaving with a dull razor. YEEEEE-OUCH!!!

Has been known to hang outside the bathroom window, wearing only a towel, when finding that Blondie will be walking in with her friends while he's in the bathtub.

Will apparently eat anything the greasy-spoon cafe guy puts in front of him for lunch.

If you've ever noticed what appears to be a little ball of dirt on the floor of the cafe, I found from older comics that originally it was a discarded cigar butt. What it looked like changed due to the shrinking size of the comics.

Regularly entertains, and is entertained by, the smart-beyond-his-years neighborhood kid, Elmo.

Wasn't Dagwood notorious for "do it yourself" projects that evolved into horror stories?

Dagwood had a funny haircut !! :D

In his Universe, time has not changed in 70 years, or has it?

In the strip, just like other ones, the adult characters never age. But their placement in time is updated--Dagwood and Mr. Dithers use PCs at their desk, for example.

I don't know if Alex and Cookie were little kids when the strip began, and were gradually aged. Does anyone know?

Going from memory:

At the very start, Blondie is a single girl, a flapper-era type, and her controversial marriage to heir-to-wealth Dagwood Bumstead is depicted very early on in the strip (1930s). Their first child was Baby Dumpling, later given the name Alexander.

When the 2nd child was born much later, IIRC a naming contest among newspaper readers chose Cookie for the girl.

These 2 hardcover books reprint the earliest daily strips comprehensively:
Wedding 1930-1933
286229
1933-1935 - note how young their son is depicted
286230

I have copies of both of those, but I held off reading them until I acquired the 1st one -- the second one was a steal at around $10. Looking forward to reading both.

So, Alex and Cookie are teenagers or thereabouts now.

More about Dagwood:

He's friends with neighbor Herb Woodley, whose wife is Tootsie (oddly, in the 1950s TV show, she has a different first name). Most of their interactions are at the hedge between yards, and the bulk of them are about borrowed tools.

Most of Dagwood's interactions with Mr. Dithers go as follows:

--he wants a raise and Dithers denies it, often kicking him out of his office.

--he's either late for work or Dithers catches him goofing off.

--he's been fired countless times by Dithers, and is always screwing up contracts.