Elzie Crisler Segar (; December 8, 1894 – October 13, 1938), known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

E. C. Segar, was an American cartoonist. He created

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Thimble Theatre Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar."E. C. Segar", in Walker, Brian. ''The Comics: The Complete Collection''. New York: Abrams ComicArts, 2011. (pp. 238–243) "E. C. Segar", in Tumey, Paul C. ''Screwball! : The Cartoonists Who Made The Funnies Funny''. San Diego : IDW Publishing, 2019 (pp. 158–179) Charles M. Schulz said of Segar's work: "I think ''Popeye'' was a perfect comic strip, consistent in drawing and humor".

Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...

described Segar as "''the'' unbridled genius as far as I was concerned".

Early life

Segar was born on December 8, 1894, and raised in

Chester, Illinois Chester is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, Illinois, United States, on a bluff above the Mississippi River. The population was 7,640 at the 2020 census. It lies south of St. Louis, Missouri. History Founding Samuel Smith is s ...

, a small town near the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

.O'Sullivan, Judith. ''The Great American Comic Strip''.Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1990. (pp. 186–187) The son of Jewish parents Erma Irene (Crisler) and Amzi Andrews Segar, a

handyman A handyman, also known as a fixer, handyperson or handyworker, maintenance worker, maintenance man, repairman, repair worker, or repair technician, is a person who is knowledgeable in skills such as basic carpentry, plumbing, minor electrical w ...

, his earliest work experiences included assisting his father in house painting and paper hanging. Skilled at playing drums, he also provided musical accompaniment to films and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

acts in the local theater, where he was eventually given the job of film

projectionist A projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector, particularly as an employee of a movie theater. Projectionists are also known as "operators". Historical background N.B. The dates given in the subject headings are approximate. Early ...

at the Chester Opera House, where he also did live performances. At age 18, he decided to become a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. He took a correspondence course in cartooning from W. L. Evans of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He said that after work he "lit up the

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. The ...

s about midnight and worked on the course until 3 a.m." During this time, Segar also began studying the work of cartoonists that he would later cite as influences on his work, including

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), better known as Rube Goldberg (), was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated ...

George McManus George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicated comic strip, ''Bringing Up Father''. Biography B ...

and

George Herriman George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip ''Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience a ...

(especially Herriman's strip ''Stumble Inn''). Asked how to say his name, he told ''

The Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current Opinion''. ...

'' it was "SEE-gar". Funk, Charles Earle. ''What's the Name, Please?'', Funk & Wagnalls, 1936. He commonly signed his work simply Segar or E. Segar above a drawing of a cigar.

Early work

Segar moved to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he met

Richard F. Outcault Richard Felton Outcault (; January 14, 1863 – September 25, 1928) was an American cartoonist. He was the creator of the series ''The Yellow Kid'' and ''Buster Brown'' and is considered a key pioneer of the modern comic strip. Life and career ...

, the creator of ''

The Yellow Kid The Yellow Kid (Mickey Dugan) is an American comic-strip character that appeared from 1895 to 1898 in Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'', and later William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. Created and drawn by Richard F. Outcault in t ...

'' and ''

Buster Brown Buster Brown is a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault that was adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904. The characters of Buster Brown, Mary Jane, and his dog Tige became well known to the American publ ...

''. Outcault encouraged him and introduced him at the '' Chicago Herald''. On March 12, 1916, the ''Herald'' published Segar's first comic, ''

Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers ''Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers'' was an American gag-a-day celebrity comics comic strip by Stuart Carothers In 1918, he moved on to

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

's ''Chicago Evening American'', for which he created ''Looping the Loop'' and worked as a second-string drama critic. ''Looping the Loop'' was a comic strip that gave a whimsical take on the events in Chicago's " Loop" district. "Looping the Loop" made jokes about such issues as silent movies, plays, and the changing seasons; it proved popular with the ''Herald's'' readers. Segar married Myrtle Johnson that year; they had two children. In October 1919, Segar covered that year's World Series, creating eight cartoons for the sports pages.

''Thimble Theatre'', ''Sappo'' and ''Popeye''

''Evening American''

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

William Curley thought Segar could succeed in New York, so he sent him to

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

, where Segar worked for many years. King Features asked Segar to create a comic strip to replace ''Midget Movies'' by

Ed Wheelan Edgar Stow Wheelan (1888–1966), who signed his work Ed Wheelan, was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip ''Minute Movies'', satirizing silent films, and his comic book ''Fat and Slat'', published by EC Comics. He was one of the ...

, who had recently resigned from the syndicate.Clark, Alan and Laurel. ''Comics: An Illustrated History''. London, Green Wood Publishing, 1992. (p. 54) Segar created ''

Thimble Theatre Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.New York Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...

'', as the replacement for Wheelan's strip. The ''Thimble Theatre'' strip made its debut on December 19, 1919, featuring the characters

Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...

, Castor Oyl and Harold Hamgravy, whose name was quickly shortened in the strip to simply " Ham Gravy". They were the strip's leads for about a decade. Segar began writing long storylines or "continuities" for ''Thimble Theatre'' in 1922. In these, the characters would have lengthy adventures in Africa and the Wild West."E.C. Segar's Knockouts of 1925 (and Low Blows Before and After) : The Unknown Thimble Theatre Period" in ''NEMO :The Classic Comics Library'' no. 3, October 1983 (pp. 6–25). In one storyline, the characters encountered a superhuman "tough guy" named Harry Hardegg, who was able to break a moving buzz saw with his head. Comics historian

Bill Blackbeard William Elsworth Blackbeard (April 28, 1926 – March 10, 2011), better known as Bill Blackbeard, was a writer-editor and the founder-director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, a comprehensive collection of comic strips and cartoon art fr ...

has described Harry Hardegg as a "prototype" for Popeye. Segar also created ''The Five-Fifteen'' for King Features in 1920; it was retitled ''Sappo'' in 1926, although numerous newspapers had already retitled the strip 'Sappo the Commuter' by 1924. ''The Five-Fifteen'' started its run as a Monday-through-Saturday strip, concluding its initial daily run in February 1925. In 1926, the strip, now officially retitled, was revived as a Sunday-only topper to the ''Thimble Theatre'' Sunday pages. Initially, this strip revolved about the exploits of suburban couple John and Myrtle Sappo. In May 1932, however, Segar introduced the eccentric scientist and inventor (and self-proclaimed "genius") O.G. Wotasnozzle into the strip as a regular. Wotasnozzle's bizarre machines soon became the focus of the strip, with John Sappo frequently cast as his test subject and straight man. On January 17, 1929, when Castor Oyl needed a

mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor' ...

to navigate his ship to Dice Island, Castor picked up a weatherbeaten sailor named Popeye in the docks. Popeye's first line in the strip, upon being asked if he was a sailor, was "'Ja think I'm a cowboy?" It is believed Segar remembered a tough laborer named Frank "Rocky" Fiegel who was always getting in fights but also gave out candy and treats to children, including a young Segar. At first Segar intended Popeye to be a once-off character, but after large numbers of newspaper readers wrote in requesting the character's return, Segar reintroduced Popeye as a full-time regular in August 1929, eventually enabling the sailor to become the focal point of the strip. Segar initially depicted Popeye as a quarrelling antihero. Segar's storylines for the Popeye-focused ''Thimble Theatre'' drew on several fictional genres, including

Westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

, pirate

swashbuckler A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, ...

s, Sports stories, and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

stories. Some of the other notable characters Segar created include J. Wellington Wimpy and

Eugene the Jeep Eugene the Jeep is a character (arts), character in the ''Popeye (comic strip), Popeye'' comic strip. A mysterious animal with magical or supernatural abilities, the Jeep first appeared in the ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (March 16, 1936). He ...

. In 1929, Segar and his friend, screenwriter Norton S. Parker, began work on ''The Sea Hag'', a prose novel for adults that would have featured both Popeye and the villainess the

Sea Hag The Sea Hag is a fictional character owned by King Features Syndicate. She is a tall, masculine-looking witch featured in comics/cartoons as a nemesis to the character Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created b ...

. However, King Features refused to grant Segar and Parker permission to publish the novel. ''The Sea Hag'' has never been put into print. In 1934, King Features (noting the increasing popularity of the Popeye character with children) ordered Segar to tone down Popeye's swearing and brawling. Although irritated by the order, Segar complied, and made Popeye more of a straightforward hero, more ubiquitously emphasizing his already-established affinity for aiding children and animals rather than his more violent and irascible tendencies, which persisted in a somewhat reduced form. Segar continued to produce ''Thimble Theatre'', published in five hundred newspapers globally by 1938, until his death. Beginning in 1933, Popeye was adapted into a series of

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

by the

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

, which increased the character's already-ascendant popularity even further. Popeye was also licensed by King Features for hundreds of toys, games and other products. The commercial success of these products ensured King Features paid Segar highly for his work; by 1938, the syndicate was giving Segar a salary of $100,000 a year.

Later life and death

Segar later moved to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. According to

Bud Sagendorf Forrest Cowles Sagendorf (March 22, 1915 – September 22, 1994), better known as Bud Sagendorf, was an American cartoonist, notable for his work on King Features Syndicate's '' Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye'' comic strip. Personal life Born in ...

, he lived near George Herriman. Although they admired each other's work, they never visited each other in this period. After a prolonged illness, Segar died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on October 13, 1938, aged 43 years old.

Legacy and reprints

Segar was among the first cartoonists to combine humorous situations with long-running adventures. Comics creators who cited E.C. Segar's work as an influence included

Jerry Siegel Jerome "Jerry" Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of ...

and

Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster ( ; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938). Shuster was involv ...

, Boody Rogers, Charles M. Schulz,

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

, and

Stephen Hillenburg Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (August 21, 1961 – November 26, 2018) was an American animator, writer, producer, director, voice actor, and marine biology educator. Hillenburg was best known for creating the animated television series ''SpongeBo ...

. A revival of interest in Segar's creations began with

Woody Gelman Woodrow Gelman (1915 – February 9, 1978) was a publisher, cartoonist, novelist and an artist-writer for both animation and comic books. As the publisher of Nostalgia Press, he pioneered the reprinting of vintage comic strips in quality hardcov ...

's Nostalgia Press.

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

's live-action film ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer ( ; January 26, 1929 – January 17, 2025) was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Pulitzer Prize for Editori ...

was based directly on Gelman's ''Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye the Sailor'', a hardcover reprint collection of 1936–37 Segar strips published in 1971 by Nostalgia Press. In 2006,

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

published the first of a six-volume book set reprinting all ''Thimble Theatre'' daily and Sunday strips from 1928 to 1938, beginning with the adventure that introduced Popeye. In 1971, the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

created the Elzie Segar Award in his honor. According to the Society's website, the award was "presented to a person who has made a unique and outstanding contribution to the profession of cartooning." The NCS board of directors chose the first winners, while King Features selected recipients in later years. Honorees have included

Charles Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz ( ; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist, the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'' which features his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is widely regarded as ...

Bil Keane William Aloysius Keane (October 5, 1922 – November 8, 2011) was an American cartoonist best known for the newspaper comic strip ''The Family Circus''. He began it in 1960 and his son Jeff Keane continues to produce it. Early life and edu ...

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (w ...

, Bill Gallo and

Mort Walker Addison Morton Walker (September 3, 1923 – January 27, 2018) was an American comic strip writer, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips ''Beetle Bailey'' in 1950 and ''Hi and Lois'' in 1954. He signed Addison to some of his strips. ...

. The award was discontinued in 1999. In 2012, cartoonists

Roger Langridge Roger Langridge (born 14 February 1967) is a New Zealand comics writer, artist and letterer, currently living in Britain. Biography Langridge originally came to public prominence most notably with the '' Judge Dredd Megazine'' series ''The St ...

and

Bruce Ozella Bruce Ozella (born November 10, 1958) is an American cartoonist, best known for his revival of ''Popeye'' in 2012. After study at Boston's New England School of Art & Design, Ozella worked as a graphic designer and illustrator in Boston for more ...

teamed to revive the spirit of Segar in a 12-issue

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

, ''Popeye'', published by IDW. In 2018, Sunday Press Books published ''Thimble Theatre & The Pre-Popeye Comics of E.C. Segar'', collecting Segar's early comic strip work, primarily the ''Thimble Theatre'' Sunday pages published between 1925 and 1930.

Timeline

Popeye & Friends Character Trail

In 1977, Segar's hometown of Chester, Illinois, named a park in his honor. The park contains a six-foot-tall bronze statue of Popeye. The annual Popeye Picnic, a weekend-long event that celebrates the character with a parade, film festival and other activities, is held the first weekend after Labor Day. In 2006, Chester launched the "Popeye & Friends Character Trail", which links a series of statues of Segar's characters located throughout town. Each stands on a base inscribed with the names of donors who contributed to its cost and is unveiled and dedicated during the Popeye Picnic. The 2006 debut sculpture of hamburger-loving Wimpy stands in Gazebo Park. A statue of Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea and the Jeep, located near the Randolph County Courthouse, followed in 2007. In 2008, a

Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Bluto made his fi ...

statue was dedicated at the corner of Swanwick and W. Holmes Streets, in front of Buena Vista Bank. The 2009 statue of Castor Oyl and Bernice the Whiffle Hen stands in front of Chester Memorial Hospital. One additional statue has been unveiled each year. Spinach Can Collectibles/Popeye Museum is located in the center of the city (Opera House). On December 8, 2009, Google celebrated Segar's 115th birthday with
Google Doodle of Popeye.
The doodle used Popeye's body as the 'g', had 'oogl', drawn to resemble Segar's drawing style, and a spinach can as the 'e', and featured Popeye punching the 'oogl' to cause the spinach to fly at him through the air.

References

Works cited

External links

*
Official site for Popeye & Friends Character Trail

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Zak Sally ''Minneapolis City Pages''

E.C. Segar Gallery

E.C. Segar's 115th Birthday Doodle in Google Logo Museum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Segar, E.C. 1894 births American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists Jewish American comics writers Jewish American comics artists Jewish humorists People from Chester, Illinois American humorists Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees 1938 deaths Deaths from leukemia in California Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica Popeye Fleischer Studios people