LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Feb. Vintage Comics & Comic Art #827  / 

43495

E. C. Segar - Popeye Daily Comic Strip Original

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Comics Start Price:7,750.00 USD Estimated At:6,400.00 - 9,600.00 USD
E. C. Segar - Popeye Daily Comic Strip Original
<B>E. C. Segar - Popeye Daily Comic Strip Featuring Bluto Original Art, dated 9-23-32 (King Features Syndicate, 1932).</B></I> Take note Bluto boosters, for here is a spectacular offering -- this daily features a raucous round from the historic first slugfest between Popeye and his arch-nemesis, Bluto. This episode hails from the milestone story, "The Eighth Sea," which kicked-off on September 12, 1932. Few, if any, comic strip characters enjoyed a knock-down, drag out fight as much as E. C. Segar's pugnacious powerhouse, Popeye. However, the two-fisted sailor shows his good manners in this high-seas slugfest with Bluto titled, "Politeness Pays." Bully boy Bluto was only featured in a dozen or so strips drawn by E. C. Segar. The evolution of the character Bluto (or as he is sometimes called, Brutus) is worth recounting. When the Fleischer Studio was in the early stages of developing their "Popeye" animated films, they decided they needed a strong antagonist to play opposite Popeye, often in an ongoing "love triangle" with Olive Oyl. The Fleischer Studio sent Segar a telegram asking him to create such a character and Segar accommodated the request by giving his assistant, a very young Bud Sagendorf, the task of researching the old strip proofs and compiling a list of Popeye's foes. Segar used this research to formulate a formidable "composite" character. The brute was named "Bluto the Terrible" -- a hulking and ruthless pirate. Although Bluto was developed for the animated films, his introduction to the public was actually made in the <I>Thimble Theatre </B></I>comic strip. It all began when Popeye hears of a parrot who knows the location of a vast treasure. The sailor man finds the parrot and buys it from his owner (who warns Popeye that a terrible pirate named Bluto is also after the treasure). Eventually the scheme is uncovered, and Bluto announces that he will kill Popeye at dawn with his bare hands. This is arguably the finest Bluto daily that Segar ever drew -- for Popeye art collectors it's an opportunity too great to pass up. This slam-bang episode has an image area of 20.5" x 4.5", and aside from a few touches of whiteout in two of the word balloons and on the publication dates, the art is in Excellent condition.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot