The Whaler Joe Story
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For the first time, I think, Randy Milholland has brought Whaler Joe into the Popeye comic strip proper.
But who is Whaler Joe? As explained in the next panel Whaler Joe was Popeye’s foster father.
Whaler Joe is not some johnny-come-lately, he and the situation was created by Popeye creator E.C. Segar.
Popeye was created in 1929 as a one-off character in the Thimble Theatre comic strip, but due to the overwhelming reaction to the character cartoonist Segar quickly brought the sailor back and soon Popeye was the star of the strip. In the following few years Thimble Theatre circulation figures soared and the public wanted to know more about Popeye’s background. so it was that in early 1931 Segar wrote a five part biography of Popeye’s life leading up to that fateful meeting with Castor Oyl.
Whaler Joe never appeared in the Thimble Theatre comic strip rather his relationship as Popeye’s foster father was told in chapter two of the newspaper promotional biography of the early life of Popeye.
Aside: Chapter three of that same biography told how Popeye lost his eye.
And that was that. Whaler Joe faded into the background never to be seen or heard again. Until…
From Randy Milholland’s x/twitter feed:
Whaler Joe is NOT my creation. He was actually a character Segar himself talked about acting as Popeye’s foster dad in a series of “interview” articles he wrote with Popeye. But Whaler Joe never appeared in any comic and I am selfish and wanted to be the first to show him.
Randy Milholland‘s infatuation with minor characters and incidents from Popeye’s past brought Whaler Joe back. First in Milholland’s short Popeye’s Cartoon Club run and then, two years later in his Olive & Popeye strip he and co-cartoonist Shadia Amin joined in welcoming Whaler Joe back into Popeye’s life and fleshed out the background.
Ever since the aging Whaler Joe and daughter Petunia have been part of the supporting cast in Olive & Popeye.
Then Alex Garcia or someone at Comics Kingdom told Marcus Williams about Whaler Joe (the Eye Lie Popeye section of the interview runs from minutes 45 to 68) and Williams enthusiastically included the character and his wife in his Eye Lie Popeye series with issue #2 where Whaler Joe’s background continues to be filled out.
Yesterday for the first time, as far as I know, Whaler Joe was mentioned in the main Popeye comic strip.
A portent of things to come?
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