Oscar     In the spring of 1931 Popeye is summoned to the nation of Nazilia by its king, Blozo. Nazilia is located in the Addynoid Islands somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The largest of the islands is shared by Nazilia and a rival kingdom, Tonsylvania. Nazilia is presently at war with Tonsylvania and its king, Gargileo. Blozo's advisors have convinced him that Popeye may be able to help them win their war with the Tonsylvanians.

    As a condition of his employment, Popeye insists he be made a general in the Nazilian army. Blozo objects. Their army already has 75 generals, one for every tree on the island. Additional generals would have nothing to hide behind. Blozo also fears that his chief general (whatever that is) will object to Popeye's elevation. General Bunzo is a political power in Nazilia whom even Blozo fears. Popeye is decidedly unimpressed.

    On May 16th, 1931, the two are still debating Popeye's potential rank. Bunzo's military orderly, a tall, thin individual with a row of prominent teeth protruding from under his upper lip, overhears the conversation. "Durty work." He says as he goes to report to his commander. This would be the very first appearance of Oscar in the "Thimble Theatre."

     Oscar is another in a long list of Segar creations who arrived in the comic strip without fanfare to toil away in the background while awaiting their chance to shine. Just as in the real theater, some of them were eventually pulled from the chorus line, like Popeye and Wimpy, to become stars in the strip, while others, like Geezil and Roughhouse, never were. Unfortunately for Oscar he wasn't given more than a small share of the spotlight until it was too late. Although he appeared in approximately 190 comic strips, all of them dailies, and took part in eight Segar continuities, more than the Sea Hag, Alice the Goon or even Poopdeck Pappy, Oscar was grossly underutilized. He spent too many years as Bunzo's orderly or Blozo's royal office boy to have much chance to show his true stuff.

     In the 1931 continuity, Oscar isn't given a name until November 9th. 1931, his 27th strip. He is merely referred to as "orderly" or "boy." About all he does in the story is make reports to Bunzo on Popeye's activities and to Popeye on Bunzo's, sort of a double agent. His second storyline is virtually identical to the first in that Oscar does little more than stand next to Bunzo, Popeye or Blozo and make wry commentary. He also likes to salute General Bunzo with his hand held vertically, fingers pointing straight up, his thumb pointing forward directly away from him and the base of his pinky finger touching his nose. Try it. It's not so easy.

     Oscar's third continuity is the Eighth Sea where Popeye meets Bluto the Terrible, and although he's still accompanying Blozo, he has a slightly more active role in the story. While helping Popeye put down a mutiny aboard ship he decides to bore holes in the ship's hull to drown the mutineers. It doesn't dawn on him that if the ship sinks he too will have nothing on which to stand. In this continuity Oscar is playing a role, that of a slightly dimwitted second banana, that is similar to that played by Popeye with Castor Oyl only three years previously. It doesn't take much imagination to see bigger and better things coming Oscar's way. But such was not to be. Immediately after the 8th Sea story concludes, another one begins and although Oscar is in this one too he's back to being Blozo's and Bunzo's lackey. The only differences are that he is no longer in the military. Now instead of being an orderly he has become the royal office boy. He also has a slightly more active role as he tries to woo both Dynah Mow, Bunzo's Mata Hari type spy, and Olive Oyl after he thinks she's been jilted by Popeye. Oscar's 5th and 6th storylines are much the same, and his chances for strip stardom seem to be waning.

     In August of 1936 he finally gets his big break. When Popeye sets sail in his search for Poopdeck Pappy, Oscar signs on as a crewmember. He tells Popeye that he's a sailor now having been sailing the seven seas for almost a week. In this continuity Oscar plays a significant role, more so than even Wimpy or Olive Oyl. It is he who finds Poopdeck stowed away in the hold, although he mistakes him for Popeye. Oscar seems well on his way to having a star on his dressing room door at last. But for no apparent reason, approximately two thirds of the way through the saga, he disappears without explanation. He isn't seen in another strip until a full 14 months later and by then it's too late.

     We sometimes speculate on what would have happened in the "Thimble Theatre" had Segar lived beyond 1938. Would Popeye and Olive had wed as did Dagwood or Li'l Abner? Would we have finally heard the tale associated with Popeye's missing eye? What other wonderful characters would have been introduced to the strip and which new words added to the English language besides "Goon" and "Jeep." One aspect of the strip on which there is likely little speculation or even interest is what would have become of Oscar. Would he have gone back to being Blozo's stooge indefinitely or would he have eventually been allowed to make the break from Nazilia and move to Popeye's town. Perhaps he could have claimed a stool in Roughhouse's Café Delux right between Wimpy and Geezil. What a trio for the Sunday strips THAT would have made.

     This essay is reprinted from the official Popeye Fan Club News magazine. To learn more about the club click on the LINK.