Popeye Calender Art

For the past couple of years I've produced a calender for the Popeye Fan Club. Each year I do a different theme. For 2006 I did the History of Popeye and Thimble Theatre (the real name of the Popeye newspaper strip). Above is the cover of the calender depicting how the Sailor has changed through the years.
Above I've recreated Popeye's first appearance. He sure has changed, hasn't he! Actually I combined two panels into one. On the left is Harold Ham Gravy, Olive Oyl's first boyfriend and original star (along with Olive) of Thimble Theatre. Next is Castor Oyl, Olive's Brother. Beside him is Bernice the Whiffle Hen, the Luck Bird. When you rub the three hairs on her head, you will have incredible luck. Castor received Bernice as a gift from his explorer Uncle and when he found out about her great power, Castor buys a boat and hires Popeye to sail them to Dice island, a gambling resort.
For 2007 the theme was Holidays. Whatever holiday was in the certain month, I did a drawing depicting Popeye and his pals celebrating the holiday. Above is Father's Day for June.
Here is Valentines Day for February.
For 2008 I did twelve different pin-ups of the Thimble Theatre cast. For September I did Popeye and his adopted son, Swee'pea.

Happy Christopher Reeve Day

Love and respect to the best actor to portray Superman on the anniversary of his birth. Even in his personal tragedy he proved he was a Man of Steel in helping others and lobbying the government to help more with research and aid for those with disabilities.

He is greatly missed.

The above image is the property of the CapedWonder Web-Site

Huckleberry Hero Hump-Day

Captain Marvel
Plastic Man

It's mid-week madness as Huck poses as two of my all-time favorite super-heroes, The World's Mightiest Mortal and The Stretchable Sleuth.

This doesn't make any sense

This is for the Comic Book Geeks in the audience. (Everyone else can read it too!)
On the Comic Book Resources Web-site they have a poll asking readers to vote on the greatest Super-Heroes of the 1940's. THIS was the height of the Golden Age of Comic Books and when Super-Heroes were truly super fighting the Axis Powers of World War II. They make mention of of 1930's with Superman, Batman, The Sub-Mariner and the Original Human Torch paving the way.


The list consists of the following:
1) The original Flash - Jay Garrick
2) Hawkman -Carter Hall
3) The Spectre
4) The Spirit
5) The original Green Lantern - Alan Scott
6) Captain America
7) The original Starman - Ted Knight
8) Plastic Man
9) Wonder Woman
10) Superboy

A good list...with one glaring omission - WHERE THE HELL IS CAPTAIN MARVEL??!!

Captain Marvel was the best selling Comic Book of the Forties. This doesn't make him the best, but in my opinion he was the most fun to read. Cap sold so well that all through-out the Forties, DC Comics constantly had a lawsuit against Fawcett (the publishers of Captain Marvel) because He was the biggest competitor to Superman.

Captain Marvel was every kids dream of a Super-Hero. Impossible as it is, Captain Marvel was the best way of a young reader to imagine of becoming a Super-Hero. Cap's alter-ego was a ten year old boy named Billy Batson. All he had to do was shout the magic word "SHAZAM!" and he changed into the adult Captain Marvel. This appealed to so many readers of the Captains adventures, that for a period of three years in the mid 1940's, Captain Marvel Adventures was the only Comic Book to sell twice a month!

This omission makes no sense to me. When I first discovered Comic's Fandom and Fanzines of the Golden Age of Comics, they always talked of Captain Marvel and the Fawcett Heroes. Fawcett ceased publication of Super-Heroes comics in 1953 when most hero titles died off and tired of the constant lawsuits from DC. And when DC revived him in 1973, the comic book fandom was ecstatic. Cap is still around today, but has suffered under the hands of people who don't understand what the character is about.

Captain Marvel is one of my all-time favorite Super-Heroes. I've always said that my favorite Heroes of the 40's were Cap and Plastic Man. If I was going to vote (and I'm not due to the omission) I would vote for Captain America. C.A. is important to the Forties because of World War II and the patriotism of the era. And because he is a great character! Captain America is another favorite of mine and the first ten issues produced by his creators Joe Simon and the Great Jack Kirby are some of the best of the Golden Age.

Like anything else, sometimes things in this world don't make any sense to me.

Plas

One of my favorite Super-Heroes is Plastic Man. The above picture is a poster that I did that hangs in my studio.

Plas was created by Jack Cole, a native of New Castle, Pa. Cole was a comedic genius, having worked on humorous titles before working on the exploding super-hero titles that was taking over the medium, which he did equally well.

Plas was different because he was played for laughs during the Golden Age of Comics when everyone else was a straight forward crime-fighter. Even when Plas was fighting Nazi spies, it was done comically due to his stretching abilities. Plastic Man even became a special agent for the F.B.I., even though before he gained his abilities he was a small time thug named Eel O'Brian. When he gained his unusual powers he decided to turn his life around and use them for good.

If you ever get the chance to read these classic comics, I highly recommend them. DC Comics has published eight volumes of The Plastic Man Archives, and I believe that they are available at your local Libraries.

Huckleberry Hero Hump-Day

Bouncing Boy

Lightning Lad

This week we have a couple members from the Legendary Legion of Super-Heroes.




Sorry this week's entry was late. Long story short: My back went out having to move my new and old refrigerators and I couldn't sit at the drawing table to get this weeks heroes finished.

Trademark DC Comics

Experimenting with the Classics

This is the Tasmanian Devil as we know him. The above sketch is based on the model sheets that were done for merchandising in the 1990's.
I did this drawing as an experiment to see what Taz would look like if he more realistic looking. Basically the same concept, only a little more furrier and with claws.

From time to time I like to do drawings of classic characters, human or animal, and see what they would look like if they were "real". It's fun and challenging. They don't always work out the way I would like, but for the most part I'm pretty happy with the results. I'll post more of them in the future.

Tasmanian Devil is copyrighted by Warner Bros./Time-Warner

Hungry...

How about a 'Burger?

September 11, 2001

Please remember to take the time today to honor the people who lost their lives on America's second day of infamy.
And let's also say a prayer for their families and an extra prayer for the survivors of these horrendous attacks.
And a very special prayer to the brave Firemen and Policemen who gave selflessly on that terrible day. They are our TRUE Super-heroes!

May God Bless Them and May God Bless America.

It's Huckleberry Hero Hump-Day!

The Human Torch
Nightcrawler

It's another Wednesday, so here's Huck as couple heroes from the Mighty Marvel Universe.

Toys

The Mighty Destroyer
Krypto the Super Dog
Yellowjacket

"There not toys, THEIR ACTION FIGURES!"

Seriously, I also customize action figures.

Remember When...

Remember when the three major networks, ABC, CBS and NBC played 4 to 5 hours of cartoons on Saturday Mornings?



I sure miss them days!

Popeye Picnic

This weekend is the annual Popeye Picnic out of Chester, Illinois. Chester was the birthplace and hometown of Popeye's creator, Elzie Crisler Segar. Every year the townspeople have a celebration of Popeye and Segar the second weekend of September. Each year they have a different theme and decorate accordingly. Above is the statue that was erected in 1977 in Segar's honor. The statue is located in Segar Park, just off the banks of the Mississippi River.
Last year they erected a statue of Olive Oyl. This drawing was done to be submitted as t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. It unfortunately wasn't picked. Chester plans to erect a statue each year of all the friends (and enemies) of Popeye at different locations around town.
Last years theme was Popeye vs. The Space Invaders. In 1977, UFO Magazine wrote an article that aliens had landed in Chester and in one night, completely obliterated the town, animals and citizens. In the same night, the aliens rebuilt the town and re-populated the town with humans and animals.
Whether this actually happened nobody knows for sure. (The town's folk don't really believe this) The town has become somewhat popular for this and have had visitors from all over the world come to see where the aliens landed. The above sketch was submitted to be used for different events around town. I forget where they used it.

This year's theme is Popeye vs. the Pirates. This drawing was done as a recreation of Patcheye the Pirate created by Bud Sagendorf. Sagendorf was Segar's only apprentice and in the late 1940's he started writing and drawing the Popeye comic books and in 1957, he took over the newspaper strip. Sagendorf created many new characters for the Thimble Theatre cast. (the newspaper strip's REAL name). Patcheye is the ghost of Popeye's great-grandfather. He will seen around Chester this weekend.

If you ever get the chance to visit Chester, I highly recommend it. It's a cute little town with great people. And when you're there, stop in at Spinach Can Collectibles. This is the Headquarters of the Popeye Fan Club. It is also a museum of all things Popeye and a place to buy great Popeye merchandise.

Huckleberry Hero Hump-Day

This is Huckleberry Hound. He was the first star of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera's first venture into prime-time television. After twenty plus successful years at MGM and seven Academy Awards for their Tom & Jerry cartoons, Bill and Joe started their own animation studio and introduced to the world Limited Animation. These cartoons could be made with a lesser amount of cel drawings...meaning their movement was limited. This meant smaller budgets so they could be produced on a weekly basis for television. But what these cartoons lacked in action, they made up with witty dialogue and great personalities and characteristics.
Huck was an everyman character, meaning that he played everything from a policeman, a fireman, postman(see above), cowboy, jungle explorer, spy etc., etc. But he remained true to his character in each one of his 'toons, a simple country dog who never let the worst of any situation get the better of him or rile him. He would always smile at the audience and make a comment at the current situation he was involved in, take his lumps and move on to the next scene all the time singing (badly) his favorite song "My Darling Clementine".

With this in mind, I did a few sketches of Huck dressed as some of my favorite super-heroes. When done and liking how they turned out, I decided to do a series of Ol' Huckleberry as some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Here are a few:

Green Lantern - The Sentinel of the Space-ways!

Daredevil - The Man Without Fear!

Dr. Strange - The Sorcerer Supreme!

I hope to make this a regular feature every Wednesday, hence the title Huckleberry Hero Hump-Day. I hope you like them.

Doing a test

Just doing a test with the different sizes that Blogger has available. And I remebered that I had a color scan of this sketch.

The Goober Gulpin' Guardian

The World's Silliest Super Hero - Super Goof! I love this cover! I am currently working on a special project with this character.
This is the cover I did for the first story I wrote starring Super Goof. It's a take-off of the cover of the classic first issue of Superman by Joe Shuster. Note the pictures of the co-stars at the bottom. I'll have to post this story in the future.

Super Goof/Goofy is trademarked by Disney

Some random artwork

Some examples of my artwork: The Cast of Thimble Theatre
Dishonest John and Cecil, The Sea-Sick Sea Serpent
Captain Marvel Jr.
Plastic Man

Top Cat and the Gang

Trademarks by K.F.S., Bob Clampett, DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera

Welcome to the Goon's blog

Hello Everyone!

This blog is something I've wanted to do since I first purchased a computer - a format to share with the public my artwork and stories.

I'm a freelance artist and writer specializing in cartooning. I hope to work professionally in comic books and animation. I've done art for friends and family, businesses, fan magazines and t-shirts. I have also written for numerous fanzines and done reviews on comics and movies (DVDs) and cartoons.

I currently write & draw for The Official Popeye Fan Club out of Chester Illinois, the birthplace of Popeye's Creator, Elzie Crisler Segar. Popeye is one of my all-time favorite characters. You will see a lot of Popeye here.

I will share with you my art and stories. I will talk about my favorite Comic Book series, creators, characters, cartoons, movies and more.

I hope you like what I share here and welcome your comments.

Thanks

Popeye is trademarked by King Features Syndicate