Classic Popeye #63 (IDW, October 2017, $4.99)
Published in conjunction with Yoe Books and King Features Syndicate, this issue reprints Popeye #63, originally published in January-February 1962. Written and drawn by Bud Sagendorf, the reprint includes the main, longer story, as well as shorter pieces, including a one-page text piece, "Plowman," but no other editorial or advertising.
Originally published by Dell, Sagendorf's take on Popeye was a wonderful outgrowth of E.C. Segar's original work, and helped cement the character's popularity in the '60s and '70s. In the shorts, Popeye endangers Swee'Pea by moving a mattress, helps Swee'Pea go fishing on a rainy day, goes hitchhiking, and inspects a hole dug by Swee'Pea.
The two longer stories are also fun and enjoyable, though more based on adventure and less on simple gags. In "Haunted Island," Popeye, Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, and Wimpy wash up on an island, where they encounter a mysterious ghost. They build a multi-level treehouse and receive a rent bill before meeting the island's inhabitant.
In "Yellow Rock!" Popeye helps Swee'Pea find gold in the desert, only to raise his—and Wimpy's—expectations unrealistically. When they realize where the gold came from, they are disappointed.
Even though the Sagendorf Popeye material is a sight for sore eyes, the Professor O.G. Wotasnozzle backup story is priceless. In order to avoid traffic on their way to enjoy a picnic lunch with Sappo, the professor shows off several new inventions—only to end up in a police van. I cannot believe that Wotasnozzle never had his own series!
Availability: You can buy this issue online. Previous issues of this reprint series have been collected in Popeye Classics Volume 1, Popeye Classics: Moon Goon and more!, Popeye Classics: Witch Whistle and more!, and other volumes.
Showing posts with label Popeye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Popeye. Show all posts
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Thursday, November 02, 2017
A Beauty to Behold
The Dirty Duck Book #1 (Cocoanut Comix, 1971, 50 cents)
Bobby London did the whole thing, and this black-and-white beauty is a doozy. London, whose Dirty Duck comic strips later appeared in National Lampoon and Playboy magazines, has a very fine ink line, and his early comics—though underground and countercultural in nature—are highly influenced by George Herriman's Krazy Kat, and perhaps E.C. Segar's Popeye. (Interestingly, London actually did the Popeye comic strip in the '80s.) The original art must be a beauty to behold.
Incorporating impressionistic backgrounds and settings a la Herriman, Dirty Duck makes his way through London's world—going to see the Grateful Dead, accidentally injuring a police officer, recognizing famine, hiding from the law (a glorious page perhaps inspired by the Keystone Cops), wrecking a car, seeking privacy, wooing a dowager, and playing croquet.
The comic is somewhat text heavy—though not text dense—and you can read it at multiple levels. I'll have to return to reread the comic to further explore the text as text, As wonderfully and artistically drawn as the comic is—downright elegant for the undergrounds—there's more going on than can be seen on the surface.
Given that this was drawn in the early '70s, I'm wondering what comic strip reprints were available at the time. London was clearly well versed in the the visual language of the early art form, as well as on contemporary undergrounds.
Availability: An IDW/Top Shelf Dirty Duck collection is scheduled for July 2018. London's Popeye work has been collected in Popeye: The Classic Newspaper Comics by Bobby London Volume 1 (1986-1989) and Popeye: The Classic Newspaper Comics by Bobby London Volume 2 (1989-1992).
Bobby London did the whole thing, and this black-and-white beauty is a doozy. London, whose Dirty Duck comic strips later appeared in National Lampoon and Playboy magazines, has a very fine ink line, and his early comics—though underground and countercultural in nature—are highly influenced by George Herriman's Krazy Kat, and perhaps E.C. Segar's Popeye. (Interestingly, London actually did the Popeye comic strip in the '80s.) The original art must be a beauty to behold.
Incorporating impressionistic backgrounds and settings a la Herriman, Dirty Duck makes his way through London's world—going to see the Grateful Dead, accidentally injuring a police officer, recognizing famine, hiding from the law (a glorious page perhaps inspired by the Keystone Cops), wrecking a car, seeking privacy, wooing a dowager, and playing croquet.
The comic is somewhat text heavy—though not text dense—and you can read it at multiple levels. I'll have to return to reread the comic to further explore the text as text, As wonderfully and artistically drawn as the comic is—downright elegant for the undergrounds—there's more going on than can be seen on the surface.
Given that this was drawn in the early '70s, I'm wondering what comic strip reprints were available at the time. London was clearly well versed in the the visual language of the early art form, as well as on contemporary undergrounds.
Availability: An IDW/Top Shelf Dirty Duck collection is scheduled for July 2018. London's Popeye work has been collected in Popeye: The Classic Newspaper Comics by Bobby London Volume 1 (1986-1989) and Popeye: The Classic Newspaper Comics by Bobby London Volume 2 (1989-1992).
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