InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hey look, a penny!"

dr_hermes (dr_hermes) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-03-27 17:23:00

There's a Goon in the hall! (and today's mystery photo)

I've been on this rant before, but if you only know Popeye from the cheap shoddy cartoons cranked out after the Fleischers studio stopped making them (pretty much anything where he's wearing the white sailor suit rather than black shirt and captain hat), or from the uninspired filler printed in the comics since 1938 (nothing against Bud Sagendorf, he's just no Segar), then you really have only seen a pale washed-out shadow of the character. E.C. Segar was one of those cartoonists who caught exactly the right facial expression and body pose to convey glee or rage or despair or disinterest. His storytelling ran a full range from one-page gags to recurring situations to full-blown epics where Popeye and his friends went on adventures to match any serious action strip.It's December 1933. An old friend that Popeye hasn't seen in twenty years turns up, "Salty" Bill Barnacle, and he has an offer to go looking for Plunder Island. ("We'll have some fun. Plenty of danger and adventure, aye! Plenty- we may get murdered an' we may come back with gold - pirate's gold- rubies- and pearls the size of eggs.") Popeye is fed up with running his restaurant, watching Wimpy mooch hamburgers and dealing with Olive's contrary ways, so he's all for it. ("I hankers for the sea- I loves danger- So le's go.")But neither knows at this point that they will be crossing paths with the dreaded Sea Hag and her awful slave the Goon...

I mean, well DAMN. Imagine being ten or eleven years old back then and reading this just before you're sent to bed. Alice the Goon and the Sea Hag, unseen, peering through windows and over fences, and even Popeye is uneasy around them..

Well, today's mystery writer-artist. Umm, she's a woman. I don't think you folks need any clues, to be honest.

(Post a new comment)

	icon_uk 2009-03-27 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	Alice the Goon is the very stuff of nightmares.... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-03-27 07:57 pm UTC (link)
	Oh yes. She was domesticated, even started wearing human clothes. But something about that inhuman face and posture.. If you haven't already seen it, a few minutes on YouTube watching "Goonland" is a treat. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-03-27 09:09 pm UTC (link)
	Actually, the clothes made it worse. Prior to that she was a monster, after the clothes she's a monster who thinks it's people! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-03-28 08:04 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, there's some incongruity there. A little hat with a flower on it should not be worn by a Goon. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Wild Guess: peur_evol 2009-03-27 06:43 pm UTC (link)
	Marie Severin? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Wild Guess: dr_hermes 2009-03-27 07:58 pm UTC (link)
	No, sorry. Marie Severin has curly black hair, I believe. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	swiftgold.livejournal.com 2009-03-27 10:09 pm UTC (link)
	Isn't Wendy Pini, is it? coming in late to the game... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-03-27 10:49 pm UTC (link)
	Afraid not, but that reminds that I have enough pics of Wendy Pini to do a whole gallery for her turn at a mystery photo. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tahngarth 2009-03-28 04:24 am UTC (link)
	Possibly in Red Sonja outfits... Erm, I mean... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-03-28 02:31 pm UTC (link)
	[Innocent look] I'm sure I don't know what you could mean. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tahngarth 2009-03-28 02:43 pm UTC (link)
	Suuuuure you don't. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	tahngarth 2009-03-28 02:45 pm UTC (link)
	In regards to the Popeye rant... that seems to be the case with a lot of things that go from successful creator-driven comics/movies/TV-series or whatever to being produced for the sake of preserving the trademarks. An inevitable part of our modern society, maybe? There are of course some cases where the original creator of something fails to realize its full potential. (Reply to this) (Thread)

dr_hermes
2009-03-28 06:29 pm UTC (link)

It may be inevitable, but I don't think it's anything new. There were huge masses of follow-up material to THE ILIAD, ODYSSEY and AENEID, nowhere near as good, of course. Everything from DON QUIXOTE to DIVINE COMEDY had vast piles of unauthorized sequels, follow-ups, pastiches and spoofs. I guess the concept of copyright and trademark soon wore that down. Although Edgar Rice Burroughs' heirs still have to occasionally crack down on someone trying to publish new Tarzan or John Carter stories without permission.

Certainly, there were cases where the later stories were in fact better than the originals by the creator. I can't think of many off the top of my head, though.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	dr_hermes 2009-03-28 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	Well, it's been more than twenty-four hours and the following guest was identified, so here the answer is. Go to http://www.colleendoran.com/ to learn all about this writer/artist, whose work has matured very nicely. Come back tomorrow to play again! (Reply to this)