SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 129

 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ A Key Moment - Mini-Episode #6

 

Popeye Cartoonist Bud Sagendorf introduced Hardtack in a Sunday funnies comic strip on April 23, 1967. (Believe it or not, I have "TWO" copies of this newspaper comic strip clipping in my 1967 portfolio collection!)

 

Swee'Pea's new rival Hardtack appeared in some other newspaper comics strips and also appeared in a few comic books later in 1967. My first exposure to the character was in a back issue that I found in the comic book POPEYE #86 (June 1967) ... which is the Summer of Love and the same month that The Beatles released their classic SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND album... to give the timeline context. Most of the Popeye comic books of those eras did not have their copyrights renewed and are in the public domain over at Gold Key, King Comics, Whitman, and Charlton Comics (i.e. The Blue Beetle, The Question, etc.) for those that research these type of things. It least that is what my research has found reading some articles by others and looking things up and such for myself.

 

On the aforementioned comic book cover on issue #86, Hardtack is portrayed trapped inside a birdcage being carried for transportation. (I guess that makes him a cage fighter?). That particular comical child endangerment comic book cover always caught my attention.

 

I'm still going through old comic strips and comic books of that era that I have purchased and collected, but other than a recent official modern quick appearance not too long ago by the current cartoonist working on the official POPEYE comic strip, it seems to me in my own research (so far) that Hardtack as a character and concept was abandoned by Sagendorf after his use mainly in 1967. Perhaps he was thrown out because he didn't catch on or whatever. Perhaps he was a guest "throwaway" character for a few one and done tales and Sagendorf did all he wanted to do with the character. I dunno. There were also many other "guest characters" that would have a spotlight for a small period of time in Sagendorf's comic strips for a brief stint of about a month or so and then just disappear completely after their initial use back in the Sixties and then would just never come back. I have ideas for a few of these other characters to re-introduce them as I can in future parody humor tales.

 

Personally, I love the character Hardtack and I think he gives Swee'Pea his own "Brutus-like" young frienemy rival like "Butch" (a la 'Our Gang/Little Rascals') or (to a lesser extent) "Scutt Farkas (a la 'A Christmas Story') as an archetypal adversary. But I think if you've been reading my comic strips lately, you probably figured that out!

 

I dig the character to play off of Swee'Pea

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Scott

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 128

 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 127

 

There will be a new comic strip tomorrow on Wednesday

 

I'll be back tomorrow on Wednesday with a new comic strip as we wrap up the questionnaire interview this week. 

 

Life got hectic for me on Monday night, but I got out more SEA SHANTY FUNNIES membership packages ready to go out this morning with copies of issue one. 

 

See you in the funny pages.

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 126

 

Detective Popeye?

 (Sorry, this might be one of the more obscure referenced jokes for the old fogies around here like me that fondly remember the 1971 action film starring Gene Hackman. I knew there was always a Popeye-related joke somewhere in there, but my wife let me know that not everyone will get this one if they've never seen or heard of this film. I guess when you have to explain a joke, maybe it wasn't a good joke to begin with. Hit and miss. But whoop, there it is!) 

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 125

 

 

The Summer's Adventure Storyline Begins... 

 

Quick note: Happy June! With the summer upon us, I realize that I have some travel plans over the next three months that will make it difficult for me to keep up with my cartooning schedule in putting together a full SUNDAY FUN DAY COMIC. I've decided to suspend the oversize format for the summer as I will be using this shorter (and hopefully more semi-frequent) format to explore Popeye's newest adventure to rescue Bernice the Whiffle Hen with his companion crew. It is easier for me to break it up in these paced chunks where I can knock it out easier as I do put more details in the artwork with these than the "quicky" black & white noir format.

 

This week, however, I will finish up the black & white noir SEA SHANTY FUNNIES QUESTIONNAIRE during the weekdays this week. I have a few more to do. Then Part Two of this new storyline "BRING HOME THE BIRDY" should continue right on along after that (I am aiming for this next upcoming Sunday). I will keep the story title banner in the righthand corner to help keep track for continuity's sale. Then the storyline will continue during some staggered weekdays throughout the summer as I can get to working on them around my summer schedule.

 

Thanks!

SEA SHANTY FUNNIES™ - Episode 124

 

The Return of the Luau Shoirt.