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The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye #5
The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye Volume 5: Dailies - 1928-1929
Book by Bobby London
- GenresHumor
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
13 people want to read
About the author
E.C. Segar
142 books34 followersElzie Crisler Segar was a cartoonist, best known as the creator of Popeye, a pop culture character who first appeared in 1929 in Segar's comic strip Thimble Theatre.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 5, 2016
(Volume 5 because Volumes 1-4 were the Sunday strips)
When I began working at a comic store back in the late 80s it was something of a dangerous proposition. I had grown up loving comics illustrations - not just superhero comics, but newspaper strips, single panel cartoons, etc. (I tried my hand at such arts when I was younger but lack of discipline and patience meant I was doomed to fail). Now, when I discover an interest I tend to be rather obsessive about pursuing it, so working at the store allowed me to indulge my wide-ranging interests in ways previously not possible. And one of those aspects was an intense examination of newspaper strips then being made available in varied reprint forms. I explored many famous titles not really to my taste (PRINCE VALIANT for example - beautiful, but not what I was looking for) and others that really fit the bill (DICK TRACY - crime and grotesquery!). And one of those classic strips that was right up my alley was, almost surprisingly, POPEYE!
I say surprisingly because POPEYE hadn't ever made much of an impression on me as a character - oh sure, I loved the amazing, older cartoons as a kid (big surprise - I was also a cartoon maven!) and quite enjoyed the musical film with Robin Williams (perhaps the most perfect casting ever in a film was Shelly Duvall as Olive Oyl) but I'd never really given much thought to the character of Popeye himself. Thanks to these Fantagraphics collections (the series later reprinted in a different format, books of such size they could be used as small doors!) I discovered just what a great strip it was.
Now, this volume contains the narrative (because, yes, while the strip was a gag-a-day comic, it was also a narrative) that eventually introduces Popeye, so he doesn't appear until about halfway through the book. Which is fine, because THIMBLE THEATER (the strip's name before the sailor was introduced) is interesting regardless. It followed the adventures of the Oyl family - Cole & Nana and their adult son & daughter Castor and Olive, along with Olive's slacker boyfriend Ham Gravy - in the port town of Sweet Haven. Almost none of the classic supporting cast (Wimpy, Pappy, Swee'pea) have been introduced at this point.
E.C. Segar's cartooning is just wonderful - he obviously enjoys designing funny characters with distinctive looks that lend themselves to broad slapstick and emotional overreactions. His backgrounds and settings somewhat resemble the open spaces of George Herriman's KRAZY KAT strip (another much-loved discovery!). And the narratives...
The narratives are interesting. Here's what you get:
Ham Gravy, reduced to poverty, answers a "husband wanted" ad and begins romancing a rich woman, which causes Olive to come down with "lunaphobia" from her broken heart. She goes into fits and attacks people, until it's discovered she's faking (and Ham discovers the rich lady is a tyrant and pretty darn old!).
Then Uncle Lubry Kent Oyl returns from Africa with the extremely rare Whiffle Hen (named Bernice). He bets Castor some big money that the whiffle hen cannot be killed and such is the case, as Castor strives mightily to destroy the strange bird (Bernice is very smart and can, seemingly, teleport - thus making her something of a dry run for Eugene the Jeep, still 8 years from making an appearance). In truth, this thread overstays its welcome a bit.
Two strangers offer to buy Bernice for an outrageous sum but the hen has become attached to Castor. The strangers then assault Castor and bury him alive (really!) until Mr. Fadewell - a rich gambling magnate who hired a mysterious women to follow the bird's owner - appears and imprisons the poor sap. The reason - rubbing the three hairs on the whiffle hen's head gives great luck, and Fadewell wants to make sure no person so enchanted can destroy his gambling resort empire based on Dice Island, off the coast of Africa.
Castor escapes, buys a boat and he and Ham hire a sailor - guess who? - to sail them to Dice Island. Olive has stowed away as well. Castor passes the time by cheating Popeye out of his meager pay by using Bernice's power to win at craps, until the sailor gets wise and turns the tables (Bernice's luck charms the person who rubbed her head most recently).
Arriving at Dice Island, Castor succeeds in breaking the bank and the group flees with millions of dollars in winnings. Fadewell, in pursuit, places his operative Snork aboard the ship. Popeye knows something is up and Snork attempts to murder him, shooting the sailor and throwing him into the hold for dead as Castor, Ham and Olive succumb to tension and fear (a very funny extended sequence of weeks in which the three are reduced to quivering nervous wrecks from an overpowering sense that something awful has happened/will happen). Snork attempts to kill the gang and take over the ship. A violent donnybrook breaks out before Popeye reappears to save the day, nearly dying in the process. Fadewell and Snork are defeated! Hooray!
Back home (Popeye is phased out, his role done) - and now millionaires - Olive starts dressing like a "modern woman" (immodest dresses with rising hemline) which upsets Papa Cole.
News of the new millionaires reaches the ears of once-wealthy, now destitute Julius J. Herringbone, who appears to romance Olive (much to Ham's consternation). Castor and Ham decide they need a man of action to threaten Herringbone out of Olive's life and scare up Popeye (discovered shooting craps on the dock) who soon sends the bounder packing.
Castor decides to give Popeye a formal education with a tutor but meanwhile he invests the group's millions with Glibb & Blabber, unaware that they are con artists. Told that their money has been invested in a brass mine in the Beezark mountains, Castor & Popeye go to investigate and reassure the family that they aren't being ripped off. Popeye's penchant for violent confrontation in the small town gets the pair arrested (Popeye threatens to beat up a cop) and they eventually break out of jail.
With the police in hot pursuit, Castor and Popeye make it to the ocean in a stolen boat and end up on a spooky, mysterious ghost ship, "The Black Barnacle", which Popeye believes is owned by The Sea Hag ("a witch-like creature of the deep"). As the policeman from town finally catches up to them, the hideous Sea Hag watches from a dark hold....
Lots and lots of fun. The Depression era setting is interesting (as Robert Crumb once said, "you can smell the cooked cabbage") and Popeye is fascinating in his early form. Ugly (his face is often referred to as "a shipwreck"), violent, profane (he swears almost constantly), sarcastic (his very first line, to Castor's query if he's a sailor, is "Ya think I'm a cowboy?"), strong (although spinach is nowhere to be seen at this point) and nearly invulnerable (he is shot multiple times - although, granted, he does nearly die), he already shows interesting contrasts with these tough aspects - he's occasionally sensitive but generally very self-confident, falls in love with any woman who shows him a kindness, he may not be smart but he's sharp and wily and his nobler nature occasionally asserts itself. One can see how contemporary audiences would grow to look forward to his daily appearances.
A great, fun read and highly recommended - for kids and the young at heart!
When I began working at a comic store back in the late 80s it was something of a dangerous proposition. I had grown up loving comics illustrations - not just superhero comics, but newspaper strips, single panel cartoons, etc. (I tried my hand at such arts when I was younger but lack of discipline and patience meant I was doomed to fail). Now, when I discover an interest I tend to be rather obsessive about pursuing it, so working at the store allowed me to indulge my wide-ranging interests in ways previously not possible. And one of those aspects was an intense examination of newspaper strips then being made available in varied reprint forms. I explored many famous titles not really to my taste (PRINCE VALIANT for example - beautiful, but not what I was looking for) and others that really fit the bill (DICK TRACY - crime and grotesquery!). And one of those classic strips that was right up my alley was, almost surprisingly, POPEYE!
I say surprisingly because POPEYE hadn't ever made much of an impression on me as a character - oh sure, I loved the amazing, older cartoons as a kid (big surprise - I was also a cartoon maven!) and quite enjoyed the musical film with Robin Williams (perhaps the most perfect casting ever in a film was Shelly Duvall as Olive Oyl) but I'd never really given much thought to the character of Popeye himself. Thanks to these Fantagraphics collections (the series later reprinted in a different format, books of such size they could be used as small doors!) I discovered just what a great strip it was.
Now, this volume contains the narrative (because, yes, while the strip was a gag-a-day comic, it was also a narrative) that eventually introduces Popeye, so he doesn't appear until about halfway through the book. Which is fine, because THIMBLE THEATER (the strip's name before the sailor was introduced) is interesting regardless. It followed the adventures of the Oyl family - Cole & Nana and their adult son & daughter Castor and Olive, along with Olive's slacker boyfriend Ham Gravy - in the port town of Sweet Haven. Almost none of the classic supporting cast (Wimpy, Pappy, Swee'pea) have been introduced at this point.
E.C. Segar's cartooning is just wonderful - he obviously enjoys designing funny characters with distinctive looks that lend themselves to broad slapstick and emotional overreactions. His backgrounds and settings somewhat resemble the open spaces of George Herriman's KRAZY KAT strip (another much-loved discovery!). And the narratives...
The narratives are interesting. Here's what you get:
Ham Gravy, reduced to poverty, answers a "husband wanted" ad and begins romancing a rich woman, which causes Olive to come down with "lunaphobia" from her broken heart. She goes into fits and attacks people, until it's discovered she's faking (and Ham discovers the rich lady is a tyrant and pretty darn old!).
Then Uncle Lubry Kent Oyl returns from Africa with the extremely rare Whiffle Hen (named Bernice). He bets Castor some big money that the whiffle hen cannot be killed and such is the case, as Castor strives mightily to destroy the strange bird (Bernice is very smart and can, seemingly, teleport - thus making her something of a dry run for Eugene the Jeep, still 8 years from making an appearance). In truth, this thread overstays its welcome a bit.
Two strangers offer to buy Bernice for an outrageous sum but the hen has become attached to Castor. The strangers then assault Castor and bury him alive (really!) until Mr. Fadewell - a rich gambling magnate who hired a mysterious women to follow the bird's owner - appears and imprisons the poor sap. The reason - rubbing the three hairs on the whiffle hen's head gives great luck, and Fadewell wants to make sure no person so enchanted can destroy his gambling resort empire based on Dice Island, off the coast of Africa.
Castor escapes, buys a boat and he and Ham hire a sailor - guess who? - to sail them to Dice Island. Olive has stowed away as well. Castor passes the time by cheating Popeye out of his meager pay by using Bernice's power to win at craps, until the sailor gets wise and turns the tables (Bernice's luck charms the person who rubbed her head most recently).
Arriving at Dice Island, Castor succeeds in breaking the bank and the group flees with millions of dollars in winnings. Fadewell, in pursuit, places his operative Snork aboard the ship. Popeye knows something is up and Snork attempts to murder him, shooting the sailor and throwing him into the hold for dead as Castor, Ham and Olive succumb to tension and fear (a very funny extended sequence of weeks in which the three are reduced to quivering nervous wrecks from an overpowering sense that something awful has happened/will happen). Snork attempts to kill the gang and take over the ship. A violent donnybrook breaks out before Popeye reappears to save the day, nearly dying in the process. Fadewell and Snork are defeated! Hooray!
Back home (Popeye is phased out, his role done) - and now millionaires - Olive starts dressing like a "modern woman" (immodest dresses with rising hemline) which upsets Papa Cole.
News of the new millionaires reaches the ears of once-wealthy, now destitute Julius J. Herringbone, who appears to romance Olive (much to Ham's consternation). Castor and Ham decide they need a man of action to threaten Herringbone out of Olive's life and scare up Popeye (discovered shooting craps on the dock) who soon sends the bounder packing.
Castor decides to give Popeye a formal education with a tutor but meanwhile he invests the group's millions with Glibb & Blabber, unaware that they are con artists. Told that their money has been invested in a brass mine in the Beezark mountains, Castor & Popeye go to investigate and reassure the family that they aren't being ripped off. Popeye's penchant for violent confrontation in the small town gets the pair arrested (Popeye threatens to beat up a cop) and they eventually break out of jail.
With the police in hot pursuit, Castor and Popeye make it to the ocean in a stolen boat and end up on a spooky, mysterious ghost ship, "The Black Barnacle", which Popeye believes is owned by The Sea Hag ("a witch-like creature of the deep"). As the policeman from town finally catches up to them, the hideous Sea Hag watches from a dark hold....
Lots and lots of fun. The Depression era setting is interesting (as Robert Crumb once said, "you can smell the cooked cabbage") and Popeye is fascinating in his early form. Ugly (his face is often referred to as "a shipwreck"), violent, profane (he swears almost constantly), sarcastic (his very first line, to Castor's query if he's a sailor, is "Ya think I'm a cowboy?"), strong (although spinach is nowhere to be seen at this point) and nearly invulnerable (he is shot multiple times - although, granted, he does nearly die), he already shows interesting contrasts with these tough aspects - he's occasionally sensitive but generally very self-confident, falls in love with any woman who shows him a kindness, he may not be smart but he's sharp and wily and his nobler nature occasionally asserts itself. One can see how contemporary audiences would grow to look forward to his daily appearances.
A great, fun read and highly recommended - for kids and the young at heart!
August 12, 2012
I was a subscriber to this series of reprints, a generation ago, and loved, loved Segar's cartooning! Same great publisher, Fantagraphics, has upped the ante and done a new series of these classic original strips from the 1930s, and I wish I could afford to buy them again to compare.
February 27, 2021
I probably bought this in the early 1990s and must have read it several times over the years but I did not record when. This collects the daily strips which consisted of three tiers of two panels per tier though sometimes the third tier was just one big panel. So each page has three daily strips. The main characters in the strip were brother and sister, Castor and Olive Oyl, and Ham Gravy and Popeye does not make his first appearance until page 59. As this is a continued story it would not have made sense to start the book with the appearance of Popeye. Indeed Popeye does not look much like the character he later became nor does his speech sound much like classic Popeye though it does change towards the end. So this is really for fans who want to see how Popeye developed rather than people expecting him to eat spinach and say, "I yam what I yam" as he does neither. It is funny though but not as funny as the strip would later become.
August 17, 2023
It is tragic to me that only three remain to read!
November 30, 2024
Blow me down! Ja think I’m a cowboy?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews