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Kotisivun kohokohdat,
Haastattelut ja sarakkeet
Roger Ash
kirjoittanut Roger Ash
In the past, I primarily knew the classic character of Popeye through his appearances in cartoons. the best of these, by far, are the classic cartoons by the Fleischer Studios that defined the character and his friends and enemies for many; the gruff but lovable Popeye the Sailor who gains very powers by eating a can of spinach; the love of his life, the fickle and unlikely sex symbol, Olive Oyl; his rival for Olive (whom Olive often prefers) and all-around bad guy, Bluto; the gluttonous Wimpy; his adopted son, Swee’pea; and other various friends and enemies. Popeye cartoons have been made by a number of studios aside from Fleischer and I’ve seen numerous of them, even though many aren’t that good. after all these years, I thought I knew Popeye pretty well. Boy, was I wrong! There was a whole different Popeye out there waiting for me to discover and now, thanks to Fantagraphics and IDW, you can discover him too.
E.C. Segar’s Popeye Vol. 1
First, there is the original Popeye, the one who was the basis for everything to come, from Elzie (better known as E.C.) Segar who introduced him in his classic comic strip, Thimble Theatre, in January 1929. These original comic strips are collected in six oversized volumes of E.C. Segar’s Popeye by Fantagraphics. I’ve only read the first two volumes so far, and they are fantastic and eye opening. This is a very different Popeye that what I knew. He’s still gruff and lovable, but spinach has nothing to finish with his strength. but that’s not to say he misses anything in the power department. He routinely survives stabbings and shootings and is a terror in the boxing ring. next to a good fight, what he likes best is to help those in need and because these strips were published during the great Depression, there are plenty of folks who need help.
E.C. Segar’s Popeye Vol. 5
I’ve heard numerous say that Popeye really took over the strip once he appeared and it’s not hard to see why. prior to his introduction, the strip featured the Oyl family including Olive, her brother Castor, and her parents Cole and Nana, as well as Olive’s beau, Ham Gravy. The first volume features a number of strips leading up to Popeye’s appearance and the characters didn’t really get me. It wasn’t until Popeye appeared with his tenuous grasp of English and no nonsense demeanor that the story really took off. He was a star from day one. Segar introduced numerous of Popeye’s friends and enemies who have become regulars in his supporting cast including Wimpy, King Blozo, Swee’pea, Bluto, Poopdeck Pappy, Eugene the Jeep, the Sea Hag, and the Goons. Though, like Popeye, the Segar versions are often different from what was finished with them in animation. and Popeye’s adventures takes him all over the world, from the local gym to the Wild West to the high seas to King Blozo’s kingdom, which has changed names a few times.
The books are oversized to include the Sunday pages at near full size which also feature the original topper strip (here moved to the bottom), Sappo which features Sappo and his wife Myrtle and the crazy boarders who live at their house, the best known being the wacky scientist professor O.G. Wotasnozzle. because of the size of the book, a whole week’s worth of dailies fit on one page. due to their age, the quality of the reproduction of the strips can vary, but in general they look very nice. Also, due to when they were published, some strips include racial stereotypes that were common at the time. There are also supplemental materials in each volume that give you a good history of the strip as well as the times in which they were created. Unfortunately, there are only 10 short years of Segar’s original Popeye strips available as Segar passed away in 1938. These strips are great fun and these volumes are well worth your time.
Classic Popeye #5
A few years back, IDW published Popeye: The great Comic book Tales By Bud Sagendorf, a volume of classic Popeye comics originally published by Dell in the late 40s to the early 60s by developer Bud Sagendorf. That has led to classic Popeye, which reprints the classic comic books. Sagendorf was an assistant to Segar, but he took Popeye in a different direction; sort of an amalgam of Segar and the animated Popeye with some developments of his own mixed in. Popeye is now firmly entrenched in suburbia and not much of a traveler, though he does take the occasional trip. This is not entirely unexpected as this was a reflection of what was happening at the time in America. Spinach plays a part in the series, but not as some sort of magic elixir for strength, it’s just his preferred food. He still has some issues with pronunciation, but not nearly to the extent as he did in Thimble Theatre. Also, numerous of the adventures so far have centered around a very verbose and strong Swee’pea. These storIES: llä on erilainen ja hauska katsaus Popeye ja hänen maailmaansa. Sagendorf todella otti hahmot ja teki heistä oman.
Popeye #3
Kaiken tämän lisäksi on IDW: n uusi Popeye -sarjakuva, jonka on kirjoittanut Roger Langridge, ja joukko taiteilijoita, kuten Bruce Ozella ja Tom Neeley. Langridge piirtää itse joitain tulevia seikkailuja. Kun näin Langridgen äskettäin Baltimore Comic-Conissa, hänellä oli joitain sivuja Popeye-tarinoistaan ja ne näyttivät fantastisilta! Kysyin häneltä myös kirjan kirjoittamisesta ja hän sanoi olevansa valtava Segar -fani ja mielestäni se osoittaa. Hänen sarjakuvansa ovat lähempänä Segarin Popeye -versiota kuin Sagendorfin tai animoidun version. Hänellä on paljon koomisia väärinkäytöksiä ja hänellä on paljon seikkailuja kotona ja ulkomailla. Langridge on myös tuonut suuren osan tukevista näyttelijöistä, mukaan lukien Sea Hag, King Blozo ja Ham Gravce. On jopa ollut varmuuskopiotarinoita, joissa Sappo, hänen vaimonsa Myrtle ja professori Wotasnozzle. Tämä sarjakuva on vain hauskaa ja suosittelen sitä. Haluatko tietää kuinka hyvä tämä kirja on? Sen odotettiin olevan minisarja, mutta se osoitti olevan niin suosittu, että IDW teki siitä jatkuvan sarjan. Jos et ole vielä kokeillut sitä, nyt on ihanteellinen aika kokoelmana ensimmäisistä numeroista on saatavana ennakkotilaamiseksi.
Popeye Vol. 1
Lisäksi ihmisille, jotka valittavat, että kaiken ikäisiä sarjakuvia tai valmistettuja sarjakuvia ei ole tarpeeksi, sekä Popeye että klassinen Popeye täyttävät nämä tarpeet. Molemmat ovat hienoja kaiken ikäisille ja tarinat ovat täydellisiä jokaisessa numerossa, ja usein on olemassa pari täydellistä tarinaa. Ja mitä paljon enemmän lukemasi aiheita, sitä enemmän opit Popeyestä, hänen ystävistään ja vihollisistaan ja he maailma, jossa he asuvat.
Popeye: Bud Sagendorfin Great Comic Book Tales
Nyt on hyvä aika olla Popeye -fani, jolla on kaksi kuukausittaista sarjakuvaa, samoin kuin kaikki hänen luojansa, E.C. Segarin nauhat. Jos olet kuin minä ja tiedät ensisijaisesti Popeyen hänen animoiduista seikkailuistaan, kutsun teitä oppimaan paljon lisää Popeyestä Fantagraphicsin E.C. Segarin Popeye ja IDW: n Popeye ja Classic Popeye. Minulla on ollut hauskaa näiden seikkailujen lukeminen ja lyön vetoa.
Mene nyt lukemaan (Popeye) sarjakuva!