104-529: The Sea Hag is a fictional character owned by King Features Syndicate . She is a tall, masculine-looking witch featured in comics/cartoons as a nemesis to the character Popeye . The Sea Hag was created by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1929 as part of the Thimble Theatre comic strip. The Sea Hag is one of the central enemies of Popeye the Sailor. She is the last witch on earth, and a pirate who sails
208-488: A cigar , his last name being a homophone of "cigar" (pronounced SEE-gar). Comics historian Brian Walker stated: "Segar offered up a masterful blend of comedy, fantasy, satire and suspense in Thimble Theater Starring Popeye ". Owing to Popeye's increasingly high profile, Thimble Theatre became one of King Features' most popular strips during the 1930s. A poll of adult comic strip readers in
312-745: A dire situation. It did not stop there, as spinach could also give Popeye the skills and powers he needed, as in The Man on the Flying Trapeze , where it gave him acrobatic skills. This cartoon, incidentally was the only appearance of Olive Oyl's mother, Nana. In May 1942, Paramount Pictures assumed ownership of Fleischer Studios, fired the Fleischers and began reorganizing the studio, which they renamed Famous Studios . The early Famous-era shorts were often World War II-themed, featuring Popeye fighting Nazi Germans and Japanese soldiers, most notably
416-478: A fickle attitude towards the sailor. Initially, Castor Oyl continued to come up with get-rich-quick schemes and enlisted Popeye in his misadventures. By the end of 1931, however, he settled down as a detective and later on bought a ranch out west. Castor's appearances have resultantly become sparser over time. As Castor faded from the strip, J. Wellington Wimpy , a soft-spoken and eloquent yet cowardly hamburger -loving moocher who would "gladly pay you Tuesday for
520-791: A fictional, magical animal called Eugene the Jeep was added to Popeye, and trademarked. King Features remained a "powerhouse" syndicate throughout the 1950s and the 1960s. In 1965 it launched a children's comic and coloring page. In 1986, King Features acquired the Register and Tribune Syndicate for $ 4.3 million. Later that year, Hearst bought News America Syndicate (formerly Publishers-Hall). By this point, with both King Features and News America (renamed North America Syndicate ), Hearst led all syndication services with 316 features. In 2007, King Features donated its collection of comic-strip proof sheets (two sets of over 60 years' accumulation) to
624-405: A foundling baby in the mail whom he adopted and named Swee'Pea . Other regular characters introduced into the strip following its retool in 1930 were George W. Geezil , an irascible cobbler who spoke in a heavily affected accent and habitually attempted to murder or wish death upon Wimpy; Rough-House, the temperamental owner of a budget diner who served as a long-suffering foil to Wimpy; Eugene
728-665: A girlfriend named Olive Oyl , she tries her best to be rid of Olive and win Popeye over to her favor. Popeye makes it clear to her though that under no circumstances would he be interested in a relationship with her. Enraged, on one occasion she gave Popeye's archenemy Bluto a potion to become young and handsome as a means to win Olive Oyl's heart. Later after thinking that the Sea Hag had died, Popeye had this to say once he discovered that she wasn't: "I yam glad she ain't dead even if she
832-533: A hamburger today" was introduced into the Sunday strip, in which he became a fixture by late 1932. After first appearing in the daily strip in March 1933, Wimpy became a full-time major character alongside Popeye and Olive. Thimble Theatre was renamed Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye in 1931. It was eventually renamed simply Popeye , the name under which the strip continues to run. In July 1933, Popeye received
936-435: A handful of those cartoons had fallen into public domain and were found on numerous low budget VHS tapes and later DVDs. When Turner Entertainment acquired the cartoons in 1986, a long and laborious legal struggle with King Features kept the majority of the original Popeye shorts from official video releases for more than 20 years. King Features instead opted to release a DVD boxed set of the 1960s made-for-television Popeye
1040-551: A heart attack in December 1992 at his home in Norwalk . In 1978, cartoonist Bill Yates (1921–2001) took over as King Features' comics editor. He had previously edited Dell Publishing 's cartoon magazines ( 1000 Jokes , Ballyhoo , For Laughing Out Loud ) and Dell's paperback cartoon collections. Yates resigned from King Features at the end of 1988 to spend full-time on his cartooning, and he died March 26, 2001. In 1988, Yates
1144-428: A lighthearted adventure story as opposed to using typical comic strip style humor. The story also featured a more realistic art style and was edited by Bill Pearson, who also lettered and inked the story as well as the front cover. A second issue, by the same creative team, followed in 1988. The second issue introduced the idea that Bluto and Brutus were actually twin brothers and not the same person, an idea also used in
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#17327759145541248-493: A married couple with a son named Popeye Jr., who hates the taste of spinach, but eats it to boost his strength. Maurice LaMarche performed Popeye's voice as Mercer had died in 1984. The show lasted for one season. USA Network later picked up reruns of the series after CBS's cancellation. Additionally, the series aired on The Family Channel from 1994 until 1995. In 2004, Lionsgate produced an animated television special, Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy to coincide with
1352-545: A minor character yet arguably the protagonist of the strip by 1925. Castor and Olive's parents Cole and Nana Oyl also made frequent appearances beginning in the mid-1920s. By the late 1920s, the strip had likewise acquired a number of notable characters beyond the sphere of Ham Gravy and the Oyl family, including Castor Oyl's wife Cylinda (to whom he was married from 1926 to 1928), her wealthy, misanthropic father Mr. Lotts and Castor's fighting cockerel Blizzard, all of whom had exited
1456-418: A number of Popeye comic books, with his main series running continuously from 1948 to 1984 published in turn by Dell Comics , Gold Key Comics , King Comics , Charlton Comics , and back to Gold Key. The series was originally written and illustrated by Bud Sagendorf . In the series, Popeye became something of a crimefighter, thwarting evil organizations and Bluto's criminal activities. The new villains included
1560-740: A point of telling audiences that King Features received more than 1,000 strip proposals annually, but chose only one each year. However, in Syd Hoff 's The Art of Cartooning (Stravon, 1973), Byck offered some tips regarding strip submissions, including the creation of central characters with warmth and charm and the avoidance of "themes that are too confining," as he explained: King Features Syndicate's content distribution division distributes more than 150 different comics, games, puzzles, and columns, in digital and print formats, to nearly 5,000 daily, Sunday, weekly and online newspapers and other publishers. Comic properties include Beetle Bailey, Blondie, Dennis
1664-417: A series of Sunday-format comics, a wide assortment of artists depicted the characters in their own styles in one comic each, including Alex Hallatt , Erica Henderson , Tom Neely, Roger Langridge , Larry deSouza, Robert Sikoryak , Jeffrey Brown , Jim Engel, Liniers , Jay Fosgitt, Carol Lay , and Randy Milholland. At the end of the year, Milholland's Cartoon Club comic was declared the number one comic of
1768-509: A series of animated cartoons released by Paramount Pictures . The first cartoon in the series was released in 1933, and Popeye cartoons remained a staple of Paramount's release schedule for nearly 25 years. William Costello was the original voice of Popeye, a voice that was replicated by later performers, such as Jack Mercer and even Mae Questel . Many of the Thimble Theatre characters, including Wimpy, Poopdeck Pappy, and Eugene
1872-494: A series of episodic comic anecdotes depicting the daily life and dysfunctional romantic exploits of Ham Gravy and Olive Oyl. It could be classified as a gag-a-day comic during this period. In mid-1922, Segar began to increasingly engage in lengthier (often months-long) storylines; by the end of the following year, the strip had effectively changed fully into a comedy- adventure style focusing on Ham, Olive, and Olive's ambitious-but-myopic diminutive brother Castor Oyl , initially
1976-434: A seven-year span, he was promoted to associate editor and then, after Kennedy's death, to the position of comics editor on April 23, 2007. In November 2018, Tea Fougner was promoted to editorial director for comics after working as an editor at King Features for nine years. She is the first female-assigned and first genderqueer person to oversee comics editorial at King Features. When asked to speak in public, Byck made
2080-417: A strip based on Edgar Wallace 's Inspector Wade of Scotland Yard ): The last strips Hearst personally selected for syndication were Elliot Caplin & John Cullen Murphy 's Big Ben Bolt and Mort Walker 's Beetle Bailey ; Hearst died in 1951. In the 1940s, Ward Greene (1893–1956) was King Features' editor, having worked his way up through the ranks. He was a reporter and war correspondent for
2184-414: A trademark. In almost every Popeye cartoon, the sailor is invariably put into what seems like a hopeless situation, upon which (usually after a beating), a can of spinach becomes available, and Popeye quickly opens the can and consumes its contents. Upon swallowing the spinach, Popeye's physical strength immediately becomes superhuman, and he is easily able to save the day, and very often rescue Olive Oyl from
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#17327759145542288-703: A tribute to essential workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic . In September 2020, King Features relaunched comic strip Mark Trail , originally launched in 1946, with cartoonist Jules Rivera, author of comic strip Love, Joolz, at the helm. Many King characters were adapted to animation, both theatrical and television cartoons. Strips from King Features were often reprinted by comic book publishers. In 1967, King Features made an effort to publish comic books of its own by establishing King Comics . This short-lived comic-book line showcased King's best-known characters in seven titles: The comics imprint existed for
2392-470: A turban-wearing employee of the nemesis, Dr. Morbid Grimsby. On September 9, 1978, The All New Popeye Hour debuted on the CBS Saturday morning lineup. It was an hour-long animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions , which tried its best to retain the style of the original comic strip (Popeye returned to his original costume and Brutus to his original name of Bluto), while complying with
2496-848: A virtual interactive comic with digital drawing company Mental Canvas on Comics Kingdom. As of January 2022, Comics Kingdom features comic strips and editorial cartoons which can be accessed and read online . This website also features some interactive puzzles . Comics are updated every day, plus a one-year archive is available. Older comics can be accessed by being a Comics Kingdom Royal (a paid member, subscribed to their premium subscription service). Comics Kingdom also features over 30 of comic strips in Spanish . King's A la Carte Online Comics offers syndication of specific strips aimed at "precisely defined audiences" of specialized websites. These are available in such categories as Animals, Environmental, Military, and Technology. Popeye Popeye
2600-408: A year-and-a-half, with titles cover-dated from August 1966 to December 1967. When it ended, the books were picked up and continued by Gold Key Comics , Harvey Comics , and Charlton Comics . In 1967, Al Brodax, then the president of King Features, pitched The Beatles manager Brian Epstein on turning their hit song " Yellow Submarine " into an animated movie. The film was widely considered to be
2704-426: Is The Cuphead Show! for Netflix , an animated series based on the video game Cuphead by Studio MDHR, known for its use of fully hand-drawn characters and animations in the style of Fleischer Studios . The series had started development since July 2019, and was released on February 18, 2022. In June 2019, 20th Century Studios and The Walt Disney Company announced the production of an animated film based on
2808-399: Is Popeye's ward in the comic strips, but his custody is inconsistent in cartoons. There is no absolute sense of continuity in the stories, although certain plot and presentation elements remain mostly constant, including purposeful contradictions in Popeye's capabilities. Popeye seems bereft of manners and uneducated, yet he often comes up with solutions to problems that seem insurmountable to
2912-450: Is a exter bad woman. If they wasn't no bad women, maybe we wouldn't appreciate the good ones. Anyway, she yam what she yam!" Despite this, the Sea Hag has tried to kill Popeye on occasion when upset that Popeye remains uninterested in her romantically. Some 1960s comics had the Sea Hag being the mother of Bluto, although this relationship wasn't mentioned in subsequent stories. King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc.
3016-499: Is a unit of Hearst Holdings, Inc., which combines the Hearst Corporation's cable-network partnerships, television programming and distribution activities, and syndication companies. King Features' affiliate syndicates are North America Syndicate and Cowles Syndicate. William Randolph Hearst 's newspapers began syndicating material in 1895 after receiving requests from other newspapers. The first official Hearst syndicate
3120-543: Is an American content distribution and animation studio , consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips , newspaper columns , editorial cartoons , puzzles , and games to nearly 5,000 newspapers worldwide. King Features Syndicate also produces intellectual properties, develops new content and franchises (like The Cuphead Show! , which it produced with Netflix ), and licenses its classic characters and properties. King Features Syndicate
3224-528: Is instantly discernible. Sagendorf continued to use many obscure characters from the Segar years, especially O. G. Wotasnozzle and King Blozo. Sagendorf's new characters, such as the Thung, also had a very Segar-like quality. What set Sagendorf apart from Segar more than anything else was his sense of pacing. Where plotlines moved very quickly with Segar, it sometimes took an entire week of Sagendorf's daily strips for
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3328-482: Is powerless against him, and is subsequently shown running as Eugene attacks her with magical electricity from his tail), and on one occasion Santa Claus . She can even alter her appearance to that of her alter ego, "Rose of the Sea". The Sea Hag has a pet vulture named Bernard as her familiar . Bernard is abnormally strong and can easily carry a human in flight. The Sea Hag also commands an army of Goons. The most famous of
3432-433: Is shorter. As of 2024, Thimble Theatre comic strips from 1919 through 1928 have entered the public domain, concluding seventeen days before Popeye's first appearance. Even after the strips enter the public domain, trademarks regarding Popeye remain with King Features, as trademarks do not expire unless they cease to be used, and King Features has used the trademark continuously since the character's debut. There have been
3536-646: The Atlanta Journal for four years (1913–17), moving to the New-York Tribune in 1917 and then returning to the Atlanta Journal as correspondent in France and Germany (1918–19). He joined King Features in 1920, became a writer and editor of the magazine section in 1925, advancing to executive editor and general manager. Vice president Bradley Kelly (1894–1969) was a comics editor during
3640-485: The New York Journal on December 19, 1919. The paper's owner, William Randolph Hearst , also owned King Features Syndicate , which syndicated the strip. Thimble Theatre was intended as a replacement for Midget Movies by Ed Wheelan (Wheelan having recently resigned from King Features). While initially failing to attract a large audience, the strip nonetheless increasingly accumulated a modest following as
3744-494: The 1980 live-action film directed by Robert Altman and starring Robin Williams as Popeye. Charles M. Schulz said, "I think Popeye was a perfect comic strip, consistent in drawing and humor". In 2002, TV Guide ranked Popeye number 20 on its "50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" list. The person believed to have inspired Popeye was Polish born Frank "Rocky" Fiegel, a tough laborer from Chester, Illinois who
3848-760: The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection while retaining the collection in electronic form for reference purposes. In November 2015, King Features released a book, entitled "King of the Comics: One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate" to commemorate its 100th anniversary . The book features a compilation of strips and the histories behind King Features strips. As of 2016, with 62 strips being syndicated, Hearst
3952-547: The 1920s continued. At the end of its first decade, the strip resultantly appeared in over a dozen newspapers and had acquired a corresponding Sunday strip (which had debuted on January 25, 1925, within the Hearst-owned New York American paper). Thimble Theatre's first main characters were the lanky, long-nosed slacker Harold Hamgravy (rapidly shortened to simply "Ham Gravy") and his scrappy, headstrong girlfriend Olive Oyl. In its earliest weeks,
4056-497: The 1940s. Sylvan Byck (1904–1982) was head editor of the syndicate's comics features for several decades, from the 1950s until his retirement in 1978. A King Features employee for more than 40 years and comics editor for 33 years, Byck was 78 when he died July 8, 1982. Comic-strip artist John Celardo (1918–2012) began as a King comics editor in 1973. In 1973, Tom Pritchard (1928–1992) joined King Features, and became executive editor in 1990, overseeing daily editorial operations and
4160-617: The 1942 short You're a Sap, Mr. Jap . In late 1943, the Popeye series began to be produced in Technicolor , beginning with Her Honor the Mare. Famous/Paramount continued producing the Popeye series until 1957, with Spooky Swabs being the last of the 125 Famous shorts in the series. Paramount then sold the Popeye film catalog to Associated Artists Productions , which was bought out by United Artists in 1958. Through various mergers,
4264-458: The 1970s and the cancellation of the daily strip in 1992 (in favor of reprints), the comic, now solely a Sunday strip, remains one of the longest-running strips in syndication today. Thimble Theatre had a number of topper strips on the Sunday page during its run; the main topper, Sappo , ran for 21 years, from February 28, 1926, to May 18, 1947. ( Sappo was a revival of an earlier Segar daily strip called The Five-Fifteen , aka Sappo
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4368-485: The 75th anniversary of Popeye. Billy West performed the voice of Popeye, describing the production as "the hardest job I ever did, ever" and the voice of Popeye as "like a buzzsaw on your throat". The uncut version was released on DVD on November 9, 2004; and was aired in a re-edited version on Fox on December 17, 2004, and again on December 30, 2005. Its style was influenced by the 1930s Fleischer cartoons, and featured Swee'Pea, Wimpy, Bluto, Olive Oyl, Poopdeck Pappy, and
4472-711: The ABC comedy Fresh Off the Boat . Confronted by newspaper cutbacks, King Features has explored new venues, such as placing comic strips on mobile phones. In 2006, it launched DailyINK . On a web page and via email, the DailyINK service made available more than 90 vintage and current comic strips, puzzles, and editorial cartoons. The vintage strips included Bringing Up Father , Buz Sawyer , Flash Gordon , Krazy Kat , The Little King , The Phantom , and Rip Kirby . King Features editor-in-chief Jay Kennedy introduced
4576-524: The April 1937 issue of Fortune magazine voted Popeye their second-favorite comic strip (after Little Orphan Annie ). By 1938, Thimble Theatre was running in 500 newspapers, and over 600 licensed "Popeye" products were on sale. The success of the strip meant Segar was earning $ 100,000 a year at the time of his death. The strip continued after Segar's death in 1938 under a succession of artists and writers. Following an eventual name change to Popeye in
4680-738: The Archivist" posts exploring comic-strip history. The "Last 7" feature enables the reader to see a week's worth of comics on one page. On January 13, 2012, the DailyINK app was voted as the People's Champ in the Funny category in the 2011 Pixel Awards. Established in 2006, the Pixel Awards honor sites and apps displaying excellence in web design and development. Other nominees in the Funny category: JibJab Media Inc, Threaded, Snowball of Duty: White Opps and SoBe Staring Contest. In 2012, Jackys Diary
4784-506: The CBS lineup in September 1983, the year before Jack Mercer's death. These cartoons have also been released on VHS and DVD. During the time these cartoons were in production, CBS aired The Popeye Valentine's Day Special – Sweethearts at Sea on February 14, 1979. Popeye briefly returned to CBS in 1987 for Popeye and Son , another Hanna-Barbera series, which featured Popeye and Olive as
4888-956: The Commuter , which ran from December 24, 1920, to February 17, 1925.) For seven weeks in 1936, Segar replaced Sappo with Pete and Pansy – For Kids Only (Sept 27 - Nov 8, 1936). There were also a series of topper panel strips that ran next to Sappo . Segar drew one of them, Popeye's Cartoon Club (April 8, 1934 – May 5, 1935). The rest were produced by Joe Musial and Bud Sagendorf : Wiggle Line Movie (September 11 – November 13, 1938), Wimpy's Zoo's Who (November 20, 1938 – December 1, 1940), Play-Store (December 8, 1940 – July 18, 1943), Popeye's Army and Navy (July 25 – September 12, 1943), Pinup Jeep (September 19, 1943 - April 2, 1944), and Me Life by Popeye (April 9, 1944-?). Following Segar's illness and eventual death in 1938 (with his final Thimble Theatre strip appearing October 2 of that year), numerous people were hired to draw and write
4992-597: The Goons is Alice the Goon . Because she is a woman, Popeye cannot physically attack her. His honor says that he would never hit a woman, even someone as evil as the Sea Hag. In such cases, it is Olive Oyl herself who steps in and does physical damage to her. One notable exception to this is in the 1960s cartoon "Old Salt Tale", where Popeye grabs her whip and uses it to fling her into the sea. Upon meeting Popeye, she falls madly in love with him. Discovering that Popeye already has
5096-524: The Jeep , a yellow, vaguely doglike animal from Africa with magical powers; the Sea Hag , a terrible pirate and the last witch on Earth; Alice the Goon , a monstrous creature who entered the strip as the Sea Hag's henchwoman and continued as Swee'Pea's babysitter ; the hapless, perpetually anxious King Blozo; Blozo's unintelligent lackey Oscar; Popeye's lecherous, scheming father Poopdeck Pappy ; and Toar, an ageless, dim-witted caveman. Segar's strip
5200-498: The Jeep, eventually made appearances in the Paramount cartoons, though Olive Oyl's extended family and Ham Gravy were absent. Thanks to the animated-short series, Popeye became even more of a sensation than he had been in comic strips, and by 1938, polls showed that the sailor was Hollywood's most popular cartoon character. Although Segar may have used spinach as a prop a few times, it was Max Fleischer who realized its potential as
5304-477: The Magician , Office Hours , Quincy and Radio Patrol . On November 15, 2010, a subscription rate increase to $ 19.99 was announced, effective December 15, 2010, with applications available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, plus a "new and improved" DailyINK in 2011. The redesign was by Blenderbox. Added features included original publication dates, a forum, and a blog, mostly promotional, but also with "Ask
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#17327759145545408-545: The Menace , The Family Circus , Curtis , Rhymes with Orange , Arctic Circle , Macanudo , and Zits . The division additionally offers services for smaller publishers and community papers, including pagination and colorization services through its sister company, RBMA. In March 2018, to mark International Women's Day , many King Features cartoonists included messages about female empowerment and other topics that resonated with them. In April 2020, Bianca Xunise became
5512-602: The Painted Ponies." King Features also represents David and Goliath, an apparel and accessories line popular with teenagers. King Features additionally licenses outdoor apparel brand PURENorway, Moomins , Icelandic lifestyle brand Tulipop , ringtone character Crazy Frog and South Korean animated character PUCCA . As a sales tool, the King Features design team created colorful strip sample folders resembling movie press kits. With rising paper costs and
5616-403: The Popeye character became so popular that he was given a larger role by the following year, and the strip was taken up by many more newspapers as a result. Initial strips presented Olive as being less than impressed with Popeye, but she eventually left Ham to become Popeye's girlfriend in March 1930, precipitating Ham's exit as a regular weeks later. Over the years, however, she has often displayed
5720-448: The Popeye characters to fit the times. For instance, Popeye grows his own spinach and has replaced his corncob pipe with a bosun's whistle . Bluto no longer sports a beard and focuses his time on stealing Popeye's spinach rather than his girlfriend. Olive Oyl is shown as an inventor and engineer. The characters are drawn to appear younger than typically done, save Swea'pea, and no words are spoken, with all actions mimed. I'm Popeye
5824-579: The Sailor cartoons, to which it retained the rights, in 2004. In the meantime, home video rights to the Associated Artists Productions library were transferred from CBS/Fox Video to MGM/UA Home Video in 1986, and eventually to Warner Home Video in 1999. In 2006, Warner Home Video announced it would release all of the Popeye cartoons produced for theatrical release between 1933 and 1957 on DVD, restored and uncut. Three volumes were released between 2007 and 2008, covering all of
5928-482: The Sailor is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar . The character first appeared on January 17, 1929, in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre . The strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, but the one-eyed sailor quickly became the lead character, and Thimble Theatre became one of King Features' most popular properties during the 1930s. Following Segar's death in 1938, Thimble Theatre (later renamed Popeye )
6032-483: The Sea Hag as its characters. On November 6, 2007, Lionsgate re-released Popeye's Voyage on DVD with redesigned cover art. On December 2, 2018, a Popeye web series named Popeye's Island Adventures produced by WildBrain subsidiary WildBrain Spark Studios premiered on the official Popeye YouTube channel. With intent on drawing in a younger, contemporary, international audience, the new series has updated
6136-545: The Sea Hag. Since King Features has exclusive rights to these Popeye cartoons, they have been released on home video, with 85 of them included in a 75th anniversary Popeye DVD boxed set in 2004. Popeye, Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea and Wimpy were featured prominently in the cartoon movie " Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter ", which debuted on October 7, 1972, as one of the episodes of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie . In this cartoon, Brutus also appears as
6240-505: The Seven Seas in her ship "The Black Barnacle". She has a headquarters on Plunder Island, where she keeps a pride of lions that she uses to dispatch her enemies. She also has a deep knowledge of magic artifacts, and has used many of them to great effect over the years. She is able to practice Voodoo magic and powerful enough to capture the equally magical Eugene the Jeep (though in the 1961 cartoon "Myskery Melody" she declares her magic
6344-555: The Thursday strips, which focus on Popeye and his extended family, while Tuesday strips focus on Olive and her own adventures. These were initially drawn by Shadia Amin, who was later replaced by Emi Burdge in October 2023. The two storylines run in parallel and occasionally intersect. In November 1932, King Features signed an agreement with Fleischer Studios to have Popeye and the other Thimble Theatre characters begin appearing in
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#17327759145546448-551: The bank at the casino using the unbeatable good luck conferred by stroking the head feathers of Bernice the Whiffle Hen. Weeks later, on the trip back, Popeye was shot many times by Jack Snork, an undercover stooge of Fadewell's, but survived by rubbing Bernice's head. After the adventure's conclusion in June, Popeye left the strip, but, owing to reader reaction, he was brought back after an absence of only five weeks. Ultimately,
6552-504: The beginnings and ends of each cartoon, or in some cases, in their complete, uncut original theatrical versions direct from such prints that originally contained the front-and-end Paramount credits. The series aired 135 Popeye shorts over 45 episodes, until March 2004. The Popeye Show continued to air on Cartoon Network's spin-off network Boomerang . While many of the Paramount Popeye cartoons remained unavailable on video,
6656-509: The black-and-white cartoons produced from 1933 to 1943. In December 2018, a fourth volume featuring the first 14 color shorts from 1943 to 1945 was released on DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Home Video through the Warner Archive Collection . In 1960, King Features Syndicate commissioned a new series of cartoons titled Popeye the Sailor , but this time for television syndication. Al Brodax served as executive producer of
6760-523: The can along with the contents. Since the 1970s, Popeye is seldom depicted using his pipe to smoke tobacco. Popeye's exploits are also enhanced by a few recurring plot elements. One is the love triangle among Popeye, Olive Oyl , and Bluto (sometimes called Brutus), and Bluto's endless machinations to claim Olive at Popeye's expense. Another is his near-saintly perseverance in overcoming any obstacle to please Olive, who often (if temporarily) renounces Popeye for Bluto. Segar's Thimble Theatre debuted in
6864-443: The cartoons for King Features. Jack Mercer , Mae Questel , and Jackson Beck returned for this series, which was produced by a number of companies, including Jack Kinney Productions , Rembrandt Films , Larry Harmon Productions , Halas and Batchelor , and Paramount Cartoon Studios (formerly Famous Studios). The artwork was streamlined and simplified for the television budgets, and 220 cartoons were produced in only two years, with
6968-435: The cast of Netflix 's Queer Eye giving Popeye a makeover. In November 2019, Comics Kingdom launched a YouTube channel featuring classic cartoons from King Features archives. Before launching the channel, in December 2018, King Features launched a series of animated Popeye shorts to its primary YouTube channel, in celebration of the character's 90th "birthday." In July 2020, comic strip Rhymes with Orange launched
7072-456: The comic strip Flash Gordon . Taiki Waititi was attached to direct and John Davis was announced as the producer. On May 11, 2020, it was announced that a Popeye movie is in development at King Features Syndicate with Genndy Tartakovsky coming back to the project. In November 2020, a Hagar the Horrible animated series was announced, written by Eric Zibroski, who wrote and produced
7176-482: The comic strip on December 28, 2008, and April 5, 2009. In 1999, to celebrate Popeye's 70th anniversary, Ocean Comics revisited the franchise with a one-shot comic book, The Wedding of Popeye and Olive Oyl , written by Peter David . The comic book brought together a large portion of the casts of both the comic strip and the animated shorts, and Popeye and Olive Oyl were finally wed after decades of courtship. However, this marriage has not been reflected in all media since
7280-445: The comic was published. In 2012, writer Roger Langridge teamed with cartoonists Bruce Ozella , Ken Wheaton, and Tom Neely (among others) to revive the spirit of Segar in a 12-issue comic book miniseries published by IDW Publishing . Critic PS Hayes in reviewing the series stated: Langridge writes a story with a lot of dialogue (compared to your average comic book) and it's all necessary, funny, and entertaining. Bruce Ozella draws
7384-585: The company entitled King News . William Randolph Hearst paid close attention to the comic strips, even in the last years of his life, as is evident in these 1945–46 correspondence excerpts, originally in Editor & Publisher (December 1946), about the creation of Dick's Adventures in Dreamland — a strip that made its debut on Sunday, January 12, 1947; written by former Daily News reporter Max Trell and illustrated by Neil O'Keefe (who also drew for King Features
7488-468: The daily strip to Ralph Stein, who would continue to collaborate with Zaboly until both the daily and Sunday strips were taken over by Bud Sagendorf in 1959. Sagendorf wrote and drew the daily strip until 1986, and continued to write and draw the Sunday strip until his death in 1994. Sagendorf, who had been Segar's assistant, made a definite effort to retain much of Segar's classic style, although his art
7592-550: The death of his creator, Segar's comic strips (though not the various films, TV shows, theme music , and other media based on them) became public domain in most countries, but remain under copyright in the United States. Because Segar was an employee of King Features Syndicate when he created the Thimble Theatre strip, it is treated as a work for hire under U.S. copyright law. Works for hire are protected for 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever
7696-586: The development of political cartoons, syndicated columns, and editorial services for King Features and North America Syndicate. Born in Bronxville, New York , Pritchard arrived at King Features after work as a reporter at The Record-Journal ( Meriden, Connecticut ), as feature writer with The Hartford Times , as editor-publisher of Connecticut's weekly Wethersfield Post , and as executive editor of The Manchester Journal Inquirer in Connecticut. He died of
7800-456: The downsizing of newspapers, the comic-strip arena became increasingly competitive, and by 2002, King salespeople were making in-person pitches to 1,550 daily newspapers across America. King was then receiving more than 6,000 strip submissions each year, yet it accepted only two or three annually. Interviewed in 2002 by Catherine Donaldson-Evans of Fox News , Kennedy commented: One of the first original animation projects of King Features Animation
7904-413: The feature; those papers make local sales, while King handles national sales. During the 30-day period in which strips are made available on the newspaper sites, readers can post comments on local community forums. In January 2019, to commemorate Popeye 's 90th birthday, multiple King Features cartoonists drew their own versions of the comic and published those strips on Comics Kingdom. One comic included
8008-526: The first animated film for adult audiences, despite its G-rating in United States. In addition to extensive merchandising and licensing of such iconic characters as Betty Boop , Felix the Cat , and Popeye , King Features has diversified to handle popular animation and TV characters (from " Kukla, Fran and Ollie " and " Howdy Doody " to " Mr. Bill " and " Mr. Magoo "), plus publicly displayed, life-sized art sculptures — " CowParade ", "Guitarmania" and "The Trail of
8112-591: The first black woman to join the team of female creators behind King Features strip Six Chix . Six Chix was first syndicated by King Features in May 2019, after King Features saw strip creator Maritsa Patrinos' work online. In June 2020, King Features started syndicating webcomic Rae the Doe . In the same month, cartoonists from King Features, along with artists from Kirkman's, Andrews McMeel Syndication and National Cartoonists Society , hid symbols in their Sunday strips as
8216-429: The first set of them premiering in the autumn of 1960, and the last of them debuting during the 1961–1962 television season. For these cartoons, Bluto's name was changed to "Brutus", as King Features believed at the time that Paramount owned the rights to the name "Bluto". Many of the cartoons made by Paramount used plots and storylines taken directly from the comic strip sequences – as well as characters like King Blozo and
8320-595: The late 1970s. The Gold Key series was illustrated by Wildman and scripted by Bill Pearson , with some issues written by Nick Cuti . Popeye also had his own manga series published by Shōnen Gahōsha , written and drawn by Robotan and Marude Dameo creator Kenji Morita, which ran from 1961 to 1965. In 1988, Ocean Comics released the Popeye Special written by Ron Fortier with art by Ben Dunn . The story presented Popeye's origin story, including his given name of "Ugly Kidd" and attempted to tell more of
8424-427: The medium. In his debut storyline, Popeye's superhumanly proportioned strength and endurance stemmed from the "luck" he acquired by rubbing the feathers of the head of Bernice, a "whiffle hen", thus enabling him to survive fifteen gunshot wounds. By the end of 1929, however, Popeye's strength had become a regularized fixture of his character, with spinach, by 1932, becoming the primary repository of his prowess. Swee'Pea
8528-558: The most popular of the 1930s, and Fleischer Studios , which later became Paramount's own Famous Studios , continued production through 1957. Cartoons produced during World War II included Allied propaganda, as was common among cartoons of the time. These cartoon shorts are now owned by Turner Entertainment and distributed by its sister company Warner Bros. Over the years, Popeye has also appeared in comic books, television cartoons, video games, hundreds of advertisements, peripheral products ranging from spinach to candy cigarettes , and
8632-504: The numerous Misermite dwarfs, who were all identical. Popeye appeared in the British TV Comic becoming the cover story in 1960 with stories written and drawn by "Chick" Henderson. Bluto was referred to as Brutus and was Popeye's only nemesis throughout the entire run. A variety of artists have created Popeye comic book stories since then; for example, George Wildman drew Popeye stories for Charlton Comics from 1969 until
8736-418: The original 1940s–1950s Sagendorf Popeye comic books under the title of Classic Popeye . In November 2022, the publication of a new manga -inspired series called Eye Lie Popeye by Marcus Williams was announced, the series will be published in 2024 by Massive Publishing. In January 2019, in celebration of its 90 years of character, King Feature Syndicate launched the webcomic Popeye's Cartoon Club . In
8840-452: The perfect Popeye. Not only Popeye, but Popeye's whole world. Everything looks like it should, cartoony and goofy. Plus, he brings an unusual amount of detail to something that doesn't really need it. You'll swear that you're looking at an old Whitman Comics issue of Popeye, only it's better. Ozella is a great storyteller and even though the issue is jam packed with dialog, the panels never look cramped at all. In late 2012, IDW began reprinting
8944-400: The plot to be advanced even a small amount. From 1986 to 1992, the daily strip was written and drawn by Bobby London , who, after some controversy, was fired from the strip for a story that could be taken to satirize abortion . London's strips put Popeye and his friends in updated situations, but kept the spirit of Segar's original. One classic storyline, titled "The Return of Bluto", showed
9048-456: The police or the scientific community. He has displayed Sherlock Holmes -like investigative prowess, scientific ingenuity, and successful diplomatic arguments. In the animated cartoons his pipe also proves to be highly versatile. Among other things, it has served as a cutting torch, jet engine, propeller, periscope, musical instrument, and a whistle with which he produces his trademark toot. He also eats spinach through his pipe, sometimes sucking in
9152-401: The prevailing content restrictions on violence. In addition to providing many of the cartoon scripts, Mercer continued to voice Popeye, while Marilyn Schreffler and Allan Melvin became the new voices of Olive Oyl and Bluto, respectively. The All New Popeye Hour ran on CBS until September 1981, when it was cut to a half-hour and retitled The Popeye and Olive Comedy Show . It was removed from
9256-494: The rights are currently controlled by Warner Bros. Discovery . In 2001, Cartoon Network , under the supervision of animation historian Jerry Beck , created a new incarnation of The Popeye Show . The show aired the Fleischer and Famous Studios Popeye shorts in versions approximating their original theatrical releases by editing copies of the original opening and closing credits (taken or recreated from various sources) onto
9360-512: The sailor battling every version of the bearded bully from the comic strip, comic books, and animated films. The Sunday edition of the comic strip was drawn by Hy Eisman from 1994 to 2022. Following Eisman's retirement, the Sunday strip was taken over by R. K. Milholland , who had previously contributed Popeye cartoons to the web-only feature Popeye's Cartoon Club in 2019 and 2020. The daily strip has featured reruns of Sagendorf's strips since London's firing. On January 1, 2009, 70 years since
9464-514: The service early in 2006, commenting: Comics are consistently ranked among the most popular sections by newspaper readers. However, because of space, newspapers are not able to offer as vast a selection as many readers would like, and therefore millions of comic lovers are often not exposed to some of the most creative strips. In creating DailyINK, we wanted to ensure that fans had a destination where they could experience our complete lineup of award-winning comic artists and writers. DailyINK really sets
9568-557: The standard for comics online. By offering all of our current favorites updated daily, along with access to our archives of beloved characters as well as political humor and games, we have designed DailyINK.com as a destination fans will want to visit every day for something new. With 11,000 subscribers by June 2010, more vintage strips were added to DailyINK, including Barney Google , Beetle Bailey , Big Ben Bolt , Brick Bradford , The Heart of Juliet Jones , Jackys Diary , The Katzenjammer Kids , Little Iodine , Mandrake
9672-422: The strip by the close of 1928 (although Cylinda would eventually maritally reunite with Castor under R. K. Milholland 's authorship almost a century later). Popeye first appeared in the strip on January 17, 1929, as a minor character. He was initially hired by Castor Oyl and Ham Gravy to crew a ship for a voyage to Dice Island, the location of a casino owned by the crooked gambler Fadewell. Castor intended to break
9776-407: The strip featured the duo, alongside a rotating cast of primarily one-shot characters, acting out various stories and scenarios in a parodic theatrical style (hence the strip's name). As its first year progressed, however, numerous elements of this premise would be relinquished (including the recurring character "Willie Wormwood", introduced as a parody of melodrama villainy), soon rendering the strip
9880-513: The strip. Tom Sims, the son of a Coosa River channel-boat captain, acted as the writer for Thimble Theatre beginning in August 1938 and established the Popeye the Sailorman spin-off. Doc Winner , who had previously filled in for Segar between January and May 1938, initially acted as Sims' artist, with Bela Zaboly succeeding him by December 1939. In 1954, Sims relinquished writing duties on
9984-466: The year on King Features' website, Comics Kingdom. From February through April 2020, Cartoon Club ran an additional five comics by Milholland, which was followed by an extended run from May 28 through July 6, 2020, making Milholland the first person to write a daily-update Popeye comic for King Features since 1994. In August 2022, a new twice-weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) webcomic titled Olive & Popeye debuted. Milholland writes and draws
10088-405: Was always getting in fights. It was believed he could have been a professional boxer. However, he also gave out candy and treats to children, including E.C. Segar, who remembered Fiegel when he created Popeye. Fiegel was described as "[j]ust like the fictional spinach-loving mariner ... a one-eyed, pipe-smoking curmudgeon with a jutting chin." Popeye's story and characterization vary depending on
10192-615: Was called Newspaper Feature Service, Inc. , established in 1913. In 1914, Hearst and his manager Moses Koenigsberg consolidated all of Hearst's syndication enterprises under one banner (although Newspaper Feature Service was still in operation into at least the 1930s). Koenigsberg gave it his own name (the German word König means king ) when he launched King Features Syndicate on November 16, 1915. Production escalated in 1916 with King Features buying and selling its own staff-created feature material. A trade publication — Circulation —
10296-469: Was considered the second-largest comics service, second only to Uclick (now known as Andrews McMeel Syndication ). In December 2017, King Features appointed CJ Kettler as president of the company. Kettler previously was CEO of Sunbow Entertainment and the executive producer of the Netflix series Carmen Sandiego . In 1941, King Features manager Moses Koenigsberg wrote an autobiographical history of
10400-453: Was continued by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf . The strip continues to appear in first-run installments on Sundays, written and drawn by R. K. Milholland . The daily strips are reprints of old Sagendorf stories. In 1933, Max Fleischer adapted the Thimble Theatre characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures . These cartoons proved to be among
10504-404: Was dropped from DailyINK, and the Archivist explained: "Unfortunately, we no longer have the rights to publish the strip." In December 2013, Daily INK was relaunched as part of King Feature's Comics Kingdom . In November 2008, King Features introduced Comics Kingdom, a digital platform that newspapers can embed on their sites. Comics Kingdom splits advertising revenue with newspapers carrying
10608-473: Was published by King Features between 1916 and 1933. In January 1929, the world-famous Popeye character was introduced in King Features' Thimble Theater comic strip. King Features had a series of hits during the 1930s with the launch of Blondie (1930–present), Flash Gordon (1934–2003 Note: Relaunched again in October 2023 by Dan Schkade as a daily and Sunday strip), Mandrake the Magician (1934–2013), and The Phantom (1936–present). In March 1936,
10712-506: Was quite different from the theatrical cartoons that followed. The stories were more complex (often spanning months or even years), with a heavier emphasis on verbal comedy and many characters that never appeared in the cartoons (among them King Blozo, Toar, and Rough-House). Spinach usage, a trait introduced in July 1931, was comparatively infrequent, and Bluto appeared in only one story arc. Segar signed some of his early Popeye comic strips with
10816-649: Was replaced by Jay Kennedy — author of The Official Underground & Newave Comix Price Guide (Norton Boatner, 1982). Kennedy was King Features' lead editor until March 15, 2007, when he drowned in a riptide while vacationing in Costa Rica. Brendan Burford, who attended the School of Visual Arts , was employed for a year as an editorial assistant at DC Comics before joining King Features as an editorial assistant in January 2000. Working closely with Jay Kennedy over
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