Popeye the Sailor Man

 

So we discussed Beetle Bailey in the last post. Time to take a look at the most famous sailor in the world . . . POPEYE.

Image By King Features Syndicate - https://www.pinclipart.com/downpngs/ihihobR_popeye-popeye-12-png-popeye-the-sailor-man/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65303730

Popeye actually first appeared in the comic strip "Thimble Theatre" back in January of 1929. The strip was in it's tenth year and Popeye quickly became the focus piece.

He wasn't the spinach eating Popeye we all know at that time, but he became pretty famous and well liked. Listen, I might be old but I'm not old enough to remember these comic strips. 😂

I wonder how many kids tried spinach because of Popeye. I still have a fuzzy recollection of trying it myself to see if I could get that strong, but it tasted horrible! 

One of my favorite movies of all time is Popeye, starring Robin Williams. I watch it occasionally and love the songs in it. I wish it would have caught on so a sequel could have been made.

Popeye continues to be popular with kids nowadays.

Beetle Bailey

 

Two of my favorite cartoon characters when I was growing up were Beetle Bailey and Popeye. I have shirts with each of them on it and really wish I could legally add these characters to my funny mug store.

I was in the army from 1966 - 1969 and spent 2 years in Vietnam. Beetle was popular among many of us for obvious reasons. In basic training, when I was assigned duties of washing dishes or peeling potatoes, I would think of Beetle.

Beetle was always lazy and would avoid work whenever possible. Sgt. Snorkel would be frustrated with him and was always on his case. It kind of reminded me of Gomer Pyle and Sgt. Carter.

By Beetle Bailey comic strip, saved as png file from a 21 November 2007 daily strip posted at Seattle Post-Intelligencer website (seattlepi.com)., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14372036

Beetle Bailey's love life is just as entertaining as his military escapades. He's known for his crush on Miss Buxley, a secretary at the base. Unfortunately for Beetle, his attempts to impress her usually end in hilarious failures.

His sleeping habits were legendary. He could fall asleep anywhere and often did. 

I never really came across anyone during my time in the army that reminded me of Beetle. I guess he was unique.

Betty Boop

 

When my wife was alive, she was a big fan of Betty Boop. Most of us growing up back when found Betty Boop to be funny and sexy. I have a tin sign with her picture on it in my retro style kitchen.

Betty Boop was described in a 1934 court case as "combin[ing] in appearance the childish with the sophisticated—a large round baby face with big eyes and a nose like a button, framed in a somewhat careful coiffure, with a very small body of which perhaps the leading characteristic is the most self-confident little bust imaginable".

The original Betty Boop animations were created in black and white. I have one or two on my YouTube channel. 

She was considered a sex symbol of animations and was popular with the adult audience. She always reminded me somewhat of Mae West. I came across this comic strip of her.

by http://comics.ha.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21681496

I created a coffee mug that I thought women would appreciate. I know my wife would get a kick out of it. You can check it out here Betty Boop Coffee Mug

If you're interested in reading more about Betty Boop, you might enjoy reading The Evolution of Betty Boop. 

Caveman Comic With AI Created Background

 Along with my animations, I've been having fun creating comics. I've just started this, but I also am experimenting using AI to help create some interesting and colorful backgrounds.

Here is one of my first comics. I love doing caveman animations and thought a caveman comic would be interesting. I have some backgrounds I've used in my videos but decided to give AI a shot.

The background was created with AI and the characters were all mine. The fire is mine as well. This was not AI Chat or Midjourney. It was actually Bing.

Any thoughts? I think the background is very colorful. I plan to expand on that by adding layers to the background in particular for my animations, but it also would add interesting possibilities to the comics.

Funny Mugs Make Great Gifts

 So, I decided to take the plunge and open my own online store.

Crazy, right?

I wrote a lot of books under the pseudo name B.D. Knight. My favorites and the ones that more people seemed to gravitate to was Fractured Fairy Tales and stories of humor. They still sell today but I haven't written any more since my wife died in 2015. She was my muse.

So I finally got into animations and am now making comics as well. I get lots of comments about my cartoon animations and the characters are well liked. So I thought maybe I'd start designing and selling funny mugs.

They are available on Etsy and direct through my printing partner. Here is one of my stores: Funny Mugs. You can see they range from cartoon mugs and just funny sayings. My store has only been open for 3 weeks now so I haven't gotten to know which is most popular. 

If you'd like to see these. please check them out. Some have a cartoon on the front and a funny saying next to them, so you'll have to check the different viewpoints.

Anyway, I wanted to show this because, if you're like me, I use mugs as a go to gift.

Bigfoot Hunters Comic

 If you're a Bigfoot believer, you might find this comic comical. I plan to do a series with these characters, so make sure you check back often. 

I guess I'm making a little fun of Bigfoot hunters?