More Master Cartoonist Mojo
on September 17, 2011
We’re going back a bit here. This Zombie Boy strip sits next to a E. C. Segar pre-Popeye Thimble Theatre daily from 4-20-1926 with Olive Oyl’s brother Castor Oyl and Ham Gravy, a boyfriend she had before she hooked up with Popeye. I love to see the contrast between my strip’s bright bristol and the older paper that Segar used from 85 years ago.
Zombie Boy Meets Thimble Theatre
Cartooning and cartoonists were such a major thing back then. Rich & famous, with huge audiences, and lots of newspaper space. Ah, for the good old days!
Yeah, palatial mansions, chauffeur-driven limos, country estates, servants, brandy, cigars, a staff doing your strip while you golf and travel the world…. ahh, what a life those cartoonists had! I’m going to go eat some ramen noodles now…
None of my comics would ever make it to a newspaper. At least the internet gives raw amateurs like myself the opportunity to get our work out there & read. Otherwise the only person to see my comics would be my wife. If no one was interested in reading them I probably wouldn’t do them. Who would’ve thought years ago before the internet that I could draw comics that would be read by people all over the world. The net sure is an incredible tool isn’t it?
Yes, Tony, the internet has opened a lot of doors for cartoonists around the world. I believe the future of comics lies on the web and in electronic distribution. I would never have been exposed to your wonderful work if not for the good ole WWW! And I agree, I want people to see my work, otherwise I would find something else to do.
No fair! 🙂
Means+motive+opportunity=Mojo! It’s all in fun, but I swear you can feel an energy from those old strips!
Whoa – a talented cartoonist who gets his mojo from E. C. Segar. You, sir, have just been bookmarked. (Props to Bearman, which is where I found your link.)
Thanks, Brian. Welcome to my site, and thanks for commenting. I’m fortunate to have a job where I have access to lots of wonderful original comic strips from the turn of the century forward. It’s truly amazing to hold some of those great treasures in your hands. You really can feel the energy still coming off of them.
Segar was brilliant! It’s a shame that he died so young… and tragic that his family was swindled by the syndicate out of ever seeing a penny out of Popeye after he died! From what I understand, in every place except the U.S., Popeye has entered public domain.
Segar’s assistant, Bud Sagendorf took over the strip after Segar’s death in 1938, and he was Segar’s son-in-law. It’s standard procedure for the syndicate to split the profits 50/50 with the artists, and Popeye was highly successful. So the strip stayed in the family, because Sagendorf was married to Segar’s daughter, Marie.