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Rating:  -
Popeye shows up as a natural man. A flawed, older man who has lived a hard life. He is profligate and has low impulse control. He shoots craps whenever he has excess cash. He lies when convenient; but, deep down he is a decent guy who will give the shirt off his back to anyone that neds it. No wonder he was popular. Read these comics and reaqlize that people haven't changed all that much.
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Simply one of the finest books I've purchased in recent memory. I own many of the earlier Fantagraphics-published Popeye books ("The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye" series) and this book is a far better product and value. I particularly applaud the removal of the sydicate-added titles and by-lines above the daily strips that were included in the above-mentioned books. Their omission makes for a smooth read. Much praise, also, for the far superior production and design on the book. And the fact that I can get all the material in six volumes including all the color Sundays as opposed to what was previously published in well over a dozen volumes almost twenty years ago? Sweet news, indeed.
I won't go into the brilliance and relevance of the book's content, others better qualified have and will do so here and elsewhere. This book and its forthcoming volumes are essential. I'm so pleased they finally did the material real justice.
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It's designed well and it looks great on my shelf. It is very interesting and a joy to read. If you are a fan of the old-time comic strip, this is a treat. If you are not, you will be when you finish.
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This project marks Fantagraphics' second swipe at "Thimble Theatre: The Popeye Years." Having previously issued a series of paperbacks collecting all of Segar's "Popeye"-related "Theatre" strips, Fantagraphics really does right by the sailor man this time around, presenting black and white daily strips and color Sunday strips from 1928-1931 in a handsome, over-sized hardback volume. I have several of the paperbacks but had never before read the "Dice Island" narrative that introduced Popeye. The grand reputation of this famous continuity is fully justified. Like Floyd Gottfredson and Carl Barks, Segar was a true master of humorous adventure, and though he was a less gifted artist than either of the aforementioned gents, the quality of his storytelling is so high that it doesn't much matter.
The Popeye of this era is quite a revelation to those of us who grew up on all those vapid Famous Studios and King Features Cartoons (not to mention -- *shudder* -- "Popeye and Son"). Even those of us who know something of the slightly more decorous Popeye of the later Segar years might gasp with shock at the sight of the decidedly homely and pugnacious early version of the character picking fights with a series of suitors for Olive Oyl's hand and breaking all known rules of boxing (except those relating to cheating, of course) during his early career as a "s'prise fighter." Segar maintained separate story arcs in his daily and Sunday strips at this time, and it is in the Sundays that one of the more familiar lineaments of Popeye's character -- his stormy love affair with Olive - was first developed. In the daily strip, by contrast, after the "Dice Island" jaunt and an early encounter with The Sea Hag, Popeye settles down (relatively speaking) to solving mysteries in tandem with pint-sized Castor Oyl, the original lead character of "Thimble Theatre. Though Segar momentarily put Popeye in dry dock after the "Dice Island" adventure - quickly bringing him back after word of the sailor's instant popularity filtered back up the grapevine - it is pretty clear that Segar knew that he had a winner in this character. For a "supporting" player, Popeye gets an inordinate amount of attention during "Dice Island," from the very beginning. Once Popeye returns to the spotlight, of course, he never truly cedes it. While it's unfortunate that we'll have to wait until the end of 2007 to see the second installment in this series, I think it'll be worth the wait.
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I don't know if Robin Williams did justice to Popeye or just relegated this comic strip icon to the vegetable aisle in the canned produce section in most North American groceries. I can honestly tell you, I am of the group that thinks Popeye has overcome his stay in my collective cerebral filling cabinet in some corner of my brain. Popeye had become a parody in Family Guy as a completely undecipherable handicap person, and when you really look at Popeye one can see his physical appearance as being a bit on the weird. Popeye had the typical stereotypical rehash story in Famous Funnies cartoons with the spinach bit at the end of each episode after Popeye was beaten to a pulp. Like Lazarus he would come back with the spinach resurgence. After this bit over and over, you get tired of this repetitive message of the little guy getting beat down by the world's bad guys.
So when Fantagraphics planned to release E.C. Segar's Popeye, I did not give it much thought. Why? Was I going to be treated to the same concepts that my youth was trained to the images presented to me by the later incarnations of Popeye folklore. I was surprised by the characterization of the Popeye universe created by E.C. Segar. I really thought the strips of this time were lame and lacked cohesive stories. I was in for a shock. It made me a firm believer in Popeye once again. I can honestly tell you, I can't wait till they release volume two.
See also Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938
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