Popeye

Popeye the Sailor is a famous comic strip character, later featured in popular animated cartoons. He was created by Elzie Crisler Segar and first appeared in the King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17 1929. Popeye is an independent sailor with a unique way of speaking, muscular forearms, and an ever-present corncob pipe. His strange, humorous, and often supernatural adventures take him all over the world, and place him in conflict with enemies such as the Sea Hag and King Zlobbo of Brutopia.

The comic strip

Popeye first appeared on January 17, 1929 as a minor character in Segar's newspaper cartoon strip Thimble Theatre, which had been running since 1919 with protagonists Olive Oyl, her brother Castor Oyl, and boyfriend Ham Gravy. The Popeye character became so popular that he was given a larger role. Olive eventually left Ham Gravy to become Popeye's girlfriend, although she often displayed a fickle attitude towards the sailor. Castor Oyl continued to to come up with get-rich-quick schemes, and to get himself and Popeye involved in several misadventures.

Related Topics:
January 17 - 1929 - Castor Oyl

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In 1933, Popeye received a foundling baby in the mail, whom he adopted and named "Swee'Pea". Other regular characters in the strip were J. Wellington Wimpy, a moocher and hamburger lover who would "gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today", George W. Geezil, a local cobbler who speaks in a heavily affected accent and habitually attempted to murder or wish death upon Wimpy, Poopdeck Pappy, Popeye's belligerent and woman-hating father, and Eugene the Jeep, a yellow dog from Africa with magical powers.

Related Topics:
1933 - J. Wellington Wimpy - Hamburger - Africa

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Segar's strip was quite different from the cartoons that followed. The stories were more complex, with many characters that never appeared in the cartoons (King Blozo for example). Spinach usage was rare and Bluto only made one appearance. The original newspaper strips were collected and published in multiple volumes by Fantagraphics.

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Wimpy's name was later borrowed for the Wimpy restaurant chain, one of the first international fast food restaurants featuring hamburgers, which they call Wimpy Burgers. http://www.wimpyburgers.co.uk/

Related Topics:
Wimpy - Fast food restaurant

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The strip is also responsible for popularising, although not inventing, the word 'goon' (meaning a thug or lackey).

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Popeye and other characters from the strip appeared in many Tijuana Bibles, unauthorized of course.

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After Segar's death in 1938, many different artists were hired to draw the strip, the most notable being Bud Sagendorf beginning in 1958. He wrote and drew the daily strip until 1986; and the Sunday strip until his death in 1994. From 1986 to 1992, the daily strip was written and drawn by Bobby London, who after some controversy was fired from the strip. Since then the daily strip has been reprints of older Sagendorf strips, and the Sunday strip was taken over by Hy Eisman in 1994. Acknowledging Popeye's growing popularity, the strip was billed as Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye during the 1960s and 1970s, and eventually was titled simply Popeye.

Related Topics:
1938 - Bud Sagendorf - 1958 - Daily strip - Sunday strip - Bobby London - Hy Eisman - 1960s - 1970s

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