Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon figure and comic strip
character created by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1929 and syndicated
by the Hearst newspaper's King Features Syndicate. Popeye
is a merchant sailor with a gravelly voice who smokes
a corn-cob pipe and mutters to himself under his breath;
he has pronounced, muscular arms. When in trouble, he
eats spinach, which gives him superhuman strength, often
to save his sweetheart Olive Oyl from his nemesis Bluto/Brutus,
or to defend himself against some fearsome foe. Although
Popeye is short, odd-looking, uneducated, inarticulate,
belligerent, and has one eye and no teeth, many consider
him a precursor to the superheroes which would eventually
come to dominate the world of comic books.
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