Dice Island (1928)
Dice Island Review
Dice Island is the 1st storyline in the Popeye the Sailor comic strip series. It’s such a terrific, highly entertaining story.
Castor’s uncle gives him Bernice, a rare Whiffle Hen with the ability to escape any form of potential trap or danger, spiraling into a series of kidnapping and deceptions leading Castor, Ham Gravy and Olive to the gambling center Dice Island. This is where they first encounter none other than Popeye himself. This storyline was published in 1928 at the height of the Thimble Theatre comics, comics that featured the exploits of Castor Oyl, Olive and their friends. So, this comic should be read as a Castor story with Popeye only being there as a sidekick.
The comic is absolutely wonderful. This early period of comics is different than other subsequent eras. This is where the stories would seamlessly transition from one to another, where every single page is a continuing story with minor gags that may feel as detours, but complement the story wonderfully. This storyline in particular felt super long and for me highly enjoyable. The first half with the Whiffle Hen had such a fun money-centered narrative that saw Castor having to contend that he has a valuable hen in his possession.
The second half sees them go to the titular island and this is where the storyline went from humorous but constrained in setting to fully open in world building and adventure. This is where we meet Popeye for the first time and he was an instantly iconic creation. He’s such a redneck that he fitted perfectly with Castor’s more refined demeanor. The two have a great dynamic here while Olive herself got some moments to shine too. The villains were fantastic as well.
The illustration work was wonderful, though of course not particularly memorable in imagery, but the character work was terrific as their angular shapes and more “ugly” looks worked wonders to make them easily distinguishable from other comics creations. The humor and dialogue in this comic are absolutely wonderful and the theme of greed is so well explored for both laughs and as a cautionary tale. It just flowed really well despite being somewhat limited in scope.
