The Life Story of Popeye by Segar – A Wayback Whensday Special
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Thimble Theatre in January 1929 saw the introduction of a one-eyed sailor with watermelon forearms who was hired to get Castor Oyl to Dice Island and back, During the course of the adventure Popeye, the sailor, was revealed to be virtually indestructible – with a lot of help from the supernatural power of The Whiffle Hen.
With the end of that story Popeye was relegated to cast off status as he was just a supporting character who was of no further use to cartoonist E.C. Segar. But he had won the hearts of comic strip readers who demanded his return and with some urging from King Features Syndicate where that demand was heard Segar found a reason to bring Popeye back after a 7 week absence. Never again to go into comic strip limbo.
Two years after his introduction Popeye had become so popular that newspapers began adding his name to the title of the comic strip, often in larger letters than the official title.
Eager to beat their competitors to the popular character at a time when territorial exclusivity still held firm Thimble Theatre newspaper circulation numbers soared. And while the continuing adventures of Popeye were wildly entertaining there was a desire by the public to know more about his background. And so creator Segar wrote a biography of Popeye’s early life before he first appeared in Thimble Theatre.
With King Features’ consent we present “The Life Story of Popeye” from January/February 1931.
Addenda: An Unofficial Chapter Six.
Bonus – the cast of Thimble Theatre as of 1930:
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