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Roger Ash
di Roger Ash
In the past, I primarily knew the classic character of Popeye through his appearances in cartoons. the best of these, by far, are the classic cartoons by the Fleischer Studios that defined the character and his friends and enemies for many; the gruff but lovable Popeye the Sailor who gains very powers by eating a can of spinach; the love of his life, the fickle and unlikely sex symbol, Olive Oyl; his rival for Olive (whom Olive often prefers) and all-around bad guy, Bluto; the gluttonous Wimpy; his adopted son, Swee’pea; and other various friends and enemies. Popeye cartoons have been made by a number of studios aside from Fleischer and I’ve seen numerous of them, even though many aren’t that good. after all these years, I thought I knew Popeye pretty well. Boy, was I wrong! There was a whole different Popeye out there waiting for me to discover and now, thanks to Fantagraphics and IDW, you can discover him too.
E.C. Segar’s Popeye Vol. 1
First, there is the original Popeye, the one who was the basis for everything to come, from Elzie (better known as E.C.) Segar who introduced him in his classic comic strip, Thimble Theatre, in January 1929. These original comic strips are collected in six oversized volumes of E.C. Segar’s Popeye by Fantagraphics. I’ve only read the first two volumes so far, and they are fantastic and eye opening. This is a very different Popeye that what I knew. He’s still gruff and lovable, but spinach has nothing to finish with his strength. but that’s not to say he misses anything in the power department. He routinely survives stabbings and shootings and is a terror in the boxing ring. next to a good fight, what he likes best is to help those in need and because these strips were published during the great Depression, there are plenty of folks who need help.
E.C. Segar’s Popeye Vol. 5
I’ve heard numerous say that Popeye really took over the strip once he appeared and it’s not hard to see why. prior to his introduction, the strip featured the Oyl family including Olive, her brother Castor, and her parents Cole and Nana, as well as Olive’s beau, Ham Gravy. The first volume features a number of strips leading up to Popeye’s appearance and the characters didn’t really get me. It wasn’t until Popeye appeared with his tenuous grasp of English and no nonsense demeanor that the story really took off. He was a star from day one. Segar introduced numerous of Popeye’s friends and enemies who have become regulars in his supporting cast including Wimpy, King Blozo, Swee’pea, Bluto, Poopdeck Pappy, Eugene the Jeep, the Sea Hag, and the Goons. Though, like Popeye, the Segar versions are often different from what was finished with them in animation. and Popeye’s adventures takes him all over the world, from the local gym to the Wild West to the high seas to King Blozo’s kingdom, which has changed names a few times.
The books are oversized to include the Sunday pages at near full size which also feature the original topper strip (here moved to the bottom), Sappo which features Sappo and his wife Myrtle and the crazy boarders who live at their house, the best known being the wacky scientist professor O.G. Wotasnozzle. because of the size of the book, a whole week’s worth of dailies fit on one page. due to their age, the quality of the reproduction of the strips can vary, but in general they look very nice. Also, due to when they were published, some strips include racial stereotypes that were common at the time. There are also supplemental materials in each volume that give you a good history of the strip as well as the times in which they were created. Unfortunately, there are only 10 short years of Segar’s original Popeye strips available as Segar passed away in 1938. These strips are great fun and these volumes are well worth your time.
Classic Popeye #5
A few years back, IDW published Popeye: The great Comic book Tales By Bud Sagendorf, a volume of classic Popeye comics originally published by Dell in the late 40s to the early 60s by developer Bud Sagendorf. That has led to classic Popeye, which reprints the classic comic books. Sagendorf was an assistant to Segar, but he took Popeye in a different direction; sort of an amalgam of Segar and the animated Popeye with some developments of his own mixed in. Popeye is now firmly entrenched in suburbia and not much of a traveler, though he does take the occasional trip. This is not entirely unexpected as this was a reflection of what was happening at the time in America. Spinach plays a part in the series, but not as some sort of magic elixir for strength, it’s just his preferred food. He still has some issues with pronunciation, but not nearly to the extent as he did in Thimble Theatre. Also, numerous of the adventures so far have centered around a very verbose and strong Swee’pea. These storLe ie presentano uno sguardo diverso e divertente a Popeye e al suo mondo. Sagendorf ha davvero preso i personaggi e li ha resi propri.
Popeye #3
Inoltre, è il nuovo fumetto di Popeye di IDW scritto da Roger Langridge e disegnato da una serie di artisti tra cui Bruce Ozella e Tom Neeley. Langridge disegnerà lui stesso alcune delle prossime avventure. Quando ho visto Langridge di recente al Comic-Con di Baltimora, aveva alcune pagine delle sue storie di Popeye e sembravano fantastiche! Gli ho anche chiesto di scrivere il libro e ha detto che è un grande fan di Segar e penso che lo mostri. I suoi fumetti si avvicinarono alla versione di Popeye di Segar rispetto a quello di Sagendorf o alla versione animata. Ha molte errate pronunce comiche e ha molte avventure in patria e all’estero. Langridge ha anche introdotto gran parte del cast di supporto tra cui Sea Hag, King Blozo e Ham Gravy. Ci sono state persino storie di backup con Sappo, sua moglie Myrtle e il professor Wotasnozzle. Questo fumetto è molto divertente e lo consiglio vivamente. Vuoi sapere quanto è bello questo libro? Si prevedeva che fosse una miniserie, ma ha dimostrato di essere così popolare che IDW lo ha reso una serie in corso. Se non l’hai ancora provato, ora è il momento ideale come raccolta dei primi numeri per il pre-ordine.
Popeye vol. 1
Inoltre, per le persone che si lamentano che non ci sono abbastanza fumetti di età o fumetti fatti in uno, sia Popeye che Popeye classico soddisfano tali esigenze. Entrambi sono fantastici per tutte le età e le storie sono complete in ogni numero, e spesso ci sono un paio di storie complete. E più problemi che leggi, molto di più impari su Popeye, i suoi amici e nemici e loro il mondo in cui abitano.
Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales di Bud Sagendorf
Ora è un ottimo momento per essere un fan di Popeye con due fumetti mensili e tutte le strisce del suo creatore, E.C. Segar, disponibili. Se sei come me e conosci principalmente Popeye dalle sue avventure animate, ti invito a imparare molto di più su Popeye con Popeye di E.C. Seger di Fantagraphics e Popeye e Popeye classico. Mi sono divertito molto a leggere queste avventure e scommetto che lo farai anche tu.
Ora, vai a leggere un fumetto (Popeye)!