Popeye and Olive Oyl

Popeye and Olive Oyl

Many would argue that Popeye and Olive Oyl are two of the least likely people to be together. Popeye was "uncouth, tattooed, a food faddist given to unpredictable outbursts of violence. Olive Oyl was a flat-chested flirt with a dowdy sense of style and involved in a long-term relationship. Olive Oyl was supposed to be twenty-nine years old, be five foot ten inches, and weigh ninety-six pounds. Her shoe size was designed as an unusual and probably no-existent 14-AAAAAA. Although these two were an odd couple, they have been together for sixty-seven years

There are several issues in Popeye and Olive Oyl's relationship that need reconciling. Despite Olive's obvious attraction to Popeye, she continues to lead Bluto along, and Popeye refuses to "make a decent woman of Olive, whose biological clock must sound like Big Ben." The creator of Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Mort Walker offered an answer to the puzzling relationship of the two characters. "A one-eyed sailor with inverted arms, and she's the shape of a toothpick. I guess they were meant for each other," he said.

Popeye and Olive Oyl

Popeye and Olive Oyl

Popeye and Olive have had their ups and downs since their relationship bloomed. Under Olive's influence, Popeye has cleaned himself up a little bit. Hy Eisman, Popeye's drawer since 1994, explains, "In the early days, there was a lot of physical abuse, because in those days you could do that in a comic strip." Now, however, with the modern domestic abuse problems, Popeye would never and could never hit Olive. Respect plays a more active role in their relationship, and Olive has a beneficial effect on Popeye's life. This portrays the idea that even a "spinach-eating bilge rat can evolve. All he needs is a good woman."