Popeye, crossdresser with a cause

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

THIMBLE THEATRE by EC Segar is so one of the greatest comics strips ever to hit print. The humor, pathos, action and suspense remain amazingly effective almost a century later. The art and dialogue work perfectly. And the Fleischer Brothers cartoons from the 1930s (even though not quite as good as the strip) show much of this magic.



This Sunday page from June 1932 is a good example. Popeye has taken in an desperate orphan*(for a rough weathered old sailor, he has a heart like a big marshmallow). Trying to make her feel at home, he puts on a skirt and plays at being her grandmother. Popeye is so confident in himself that he's not embarassed at all to go out in public like this. When the abusive "Big Butch" comes to claim the little girl, he has no idea what he's confronting and Popeye thrashes him. It's interesting too that the cop not only doesn't try to stop the "woman" beating her husband unconscious, he encourages it ("Knock him around all you please, Grandma.")

_________

*(1932, no Department of Child Services or anything like that, no Welfare, millions out of work and going hungry. There were plenty of homeless children on the streets.

Comments

[crinosg.insanejournal.com]

"Females is more dangerous than males anyhow!"

Popeye: Feminist.

(And he wouldn't strike the sea hag because she's a lady).

[fungo_squiggly.insanejournal.com]

Eh, he's just referencing Kipling.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

He was not above slugging Olive, particularly if she was smacking him with frying pans, dishes, furniture. She was pretty violent in her own right, and a few bad guys had to be saved from her.

Swee'pea was capable of knocking an adult senseless, too, but of course he was raised on spinach. I don't even want to mention Poopdeck Pappy, he thought punching people was like waving to them. The only cast member you could assume wasn't likely to hit you was Wimpy, but you were lucky to get away from him with a penny to your name.

[randyripoff.insanejournal.com]

If you can afford them, the huge collections of the strips being put out now by Fantagraphics are absolutely worth the money. They're funny, there's a ton of adventure, the Sunday strips stand on their own and are quite exciting.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

They are amazingly good and, despite the inconvenience storing them, I'm glad they are full sized. It's boggling how newspapers have shrunk over the years.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

Popeye is pure gold, no matter what medium he's in. Even in some of the crappier cartoons in which he's appeared, his character makes them watchable - and here, of course, he's dynamite.

[lbd_nytetrayn.insanejournal.com]

Awesome stuff, I hope more will be posted.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"