| Alice the Goon | |
|---|---|
 ' | |
|
Real Name |
Alice |
|
First Appearance |
Thimble Theatre (December 10, 1933) |
|
Original Publisher |
King Features Syndicate |
|
Created by |
E. C. Segar |
Origin[]
Alice the Goon is a fictional character in E. C. Segar's comic strip Thimble Theatre and in the Popeye cartoon series derived from it. Alice is an Amazonian giantess.
The character is introduced as the slave and bodyguard of the sorceress Sea Hag. The Sea Hag has blackmailed Alice into service in exchange for the safety of Alice's child. Popeye helps Alice become the leader of a slave rebellion. Alice's role is loosely based on that of the rebel leader Spartacus.
Alice made her debut in the Sunday, December 10, 1933, Thimble Theatre strip, part of the "Plunder Island" storyline. Initially unnamed and of unspecified sex, she works as a bodyguard for the Sea Hag, a vicious pirate and the last sorceress on Earth. Alice is portrayed as an Amazonian giantess (8 ft 0 in (2.44 m) tall), bald, with a large nose (reminiscent of a proboscis monkey), no visible mouth, and extremely hairy forearms and legs. Her name and sex are given in the January 14, 1934, strip, after she captures Wimpy.
Alice first appears when the Sea Hag returns to Sweethaven searching for a former slave named Cringly, the only one who knows the location of her lair, Plunder Island. After capturing Wimpy and locking him in the deck of her ship, the Black Barnacle, the Sea Hag orders the goon, "Keep an eye on him, Alice!" The characters and readers now realize Alice is female. Upon arriving at Plunder Island, Popeye and Alice fight violently and Popeye threatens to throw Alice off a cliff, until her child (also of unspecified sex) appears and shouts, "Mama!" Realizing that he is fighting a woman, which goes against his principles, Popeye releases Alice and discovers that she became the Sea Hag's slave only because the Hag had threatened her baby. Alice is the leader of a race of goons enslaved by the Sea Hag; Popeye and Alice lead them in a successful Spartacus-like slave rebellion.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Thimble Theater Comic Strip (December 10, 1933 -1934)
Notes[]
- It was discovered that the copyright to Alice's first appearance in the December 10, 1933 comic strip was not renewed 28 years later in 1959 or 1960.