Popeye the Sailor | |
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Real name |
Popeye |
First appearance |
The Thimble Theatre (January 17, 1929) |
Original publisher |
King Features Syndicate |
Created by |
E. C. Segar |
Origin[]

Popeye punches out a man after being shot 16 times thanks to the luck he gained from the Whiffle Hen.
Popeye was a sailor character created in 1929 by Elzie Crisler Segar for his Thimble Theatre comic strip. Initially introduced into Segar's (then long-established) strip as a minor character, Popeye, throughout his debut storyline, rapidly amassed substantial popularity among the strip's readership, catalyzing his induction into the regular cast in August 1929.
In his intial storyline, Popeye would meet the ever-ambitious Castor Oyl and his sidekick Ham Gravy, who sought Popeye's services in order to travel to the gambling paradise of Dice Island and make it big using the luck-enhancing powers of their mysterious pet, Bernice the Whiffle Hen, and through them he would meet Castor's sister, Olive Oyl who at first was not too fond of the sailor and vice versa. Even her first words to him were harsh: "Take your hooks offa me or I'll lay ya in a scupper", and they fought bitterly---and hilariously---for months
Now fabulously wealthy from the trio's excursion to Dice Island, Olive is sought and courted by the shady equivocator Julius Herringbone, inciting Ham's envy and leading Castor to enlist Popeye to apprehend Herringbone.
Astonished by Popeye's unorthodox manner of speech and lack of academic knowledge, Castor enlists a private tutor to give Popeye a formal education (despite the sailor's simultaneous bewilderment by and adamant refusal to be contained by the tutor's routines and methods).
Having successfully apprehended Herringbone, Castor, Olive and Ham (in his final regular speaking role within the daily continuity) regain their fortunes from Dice Island. Castor proceeds to spend the entirety of his finances on purchasing a "brass mine" (despite Cole Oyl and Nana Oyl's repeated insistence on the fictionality of such an entity) and, accompanied by Popeye and Bernice, sets out to lay claim to the "mine" (to ultimately and predictably unsuccessful results).
Following the exposure of the "brass mine" scam, Popeye falls into a skirmish with a policeman (having first confronted one another in the prior storyline), leading to his and Castor's subsequent arrest; disdainful of Popeye punching a jailer (to unconsciousness), Castor attempts to encourage the sailor to swear off fighting to no avail. Glib and Blabber, the duo of equivocators responsible for the brass mine scam, are arrested soon afterwards and placed into the same cell as Castor and Popeye. While the muscular Blabber attempts to assault Popeye with a knife, the sailor, following a confrontation, finally defeats him with a single abnormally-intense punch, which in turn breaks his arm. Popeye, despite his injury, subsequently warps the bars of the cell, enabling him and Castor to easily escape imprisonment. Pursued by the policeman for reincarceration, the duo are eventually cornered on a coastal clifftop but escape via leaping into the water below, a feat enabled by Popeye's virtual indestructibility.
The pair subsequently purloin a small boat and row into deeper water to evade the policeman, seeking refuge on a ship Popeye suspects to be the Black Barnacle, owned by the malevolent and allegedly-mythical Sea Hag. Despite the sailor's fear of the Hag and "evil spiriks" occupying the vessel, Popeye and Castor board the ship and are soon cornered by the policeman.
In his public domain animated appearances, Popeye dealt with a variety of villains and rivals including his neighbor "Junior", Sinbad the Sailor, Boola the Two-Headed Giant, the Roc, the Sorcerer, the Spooky Swabs, Abu Hassan, and more.
Powers & Abilities[]
Originally 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.
Popeye does not attribute his strength to eating spinach until 1931, but it was discovered by Duke University that the copyright in the 1931 comic was not renewed. Meaning that in 2025, the underlying Popeye character joins his spinach power in the public domain, making the composite available for reuse.
Public Domain Appearances[]
Public Domain Comic Strip Appearances[]
- Thimble Theater Comic Strip (January 17, 1929-December 31, 1929; June 26,1931)
Public Domain Animated Appearances[]
- Let's Sing With Popeye (Fleischer, 1934)
- I'm in the Army Now (Fleischer, 1936)
- Little Swee'Pea (Fleischer, 1936)
- Popeye meets Sinbad the Sailor (Fleischer, 1936)
- I Never Changes My Altitude (Fleischer, 1937)
- The Paneless Window Washer (Fleischer, 1937)
- Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (Fleischer, 1937)
- A Date to Skate (Fleischer, 1938)
- Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (Fleischer, 1939)
- Customers Wanted (Fleischer, 1939)
- Me Musical Nephews (Famous, 1942)
- Shuteye Popeye (Famous, 1952)
- Big Bad Sindbad (Famous, 1952) (archived footage)
- Ancient Fistory (Famous, 1953)
- Bride and Gloom (Famous, 1954)
- Floor Flusher (Famous, 1954)
- Fright to the Finish (Famous, 1954)
- Private Eye Popeye (Famous, 1954)
- Popeye's 20th Anniversary (Famous, 1954)
- Taxi-Turvy (Famous, 1954)
- Greek Mirthology (1954)
- Gopher Spinach (1954)
- Cookin' with Gags (Famous, 1955)
- Assault and Flattery (Famous, 1956) (archived footage)
- A Haul in One (Famous, 1956)
- I Don't Scare (Famous, 1956)
- Out to Punch (Famous, 1956)
- Parlez Vous Woo (Famous, 1956)
- Popeye for President (Famous, 1956)
- Insect to Injury (1956)
- The Crystal Brawl (Famous, 1957)
- Nearlyweds (Famous, 1957)
- Spooky Swabs (Paramount, 1957)
- Patriotic Popeye (1957)
- Spree Lunch (1957)
- Barbecue for Two (TV pilot, 1960)
- Matinee Idol Popeye (TV episode, 1960)
- Weight for Me (TV episode, 1960)
- General Mills Foods Cocoa Puffs TV Commercial with Popeye (1987)
Notes[]
- King Features Syndicate own the trademark for the name Popeye, so his name can only appear in the interior of any story.
- Despite many Popeye cartoons being in the public domain, elements of the shorts such as characters like Bluto, Popeye's nephews, and Wimpy will remain under copyright until 95 full years after their original publication.
- Popeye was arranged to appear in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but was dropped due to Spielberg being unable to negotiate a deal on time.
- In one storyline, the characters encountered a superhuman "tough guy" named Harry Hardegg, who was able to break a moving buzz saw with his head. Comics historian Bill Blackbeard has described Harry Hardegg as a "prototype" for Popeye.
- Popeye has also been used in many commercials and even meet Sonny the Cuckoo Bird in 1987.