This article is about the comic story. For the characters, see Misermites.
This is a story from Popeye, the original series published by Dell in 1948. The series was later renamed to Popeye the Sailor as it continued with other publishers. It has also been reprinted in other comic books by other publishers since then.
"Misermites!"[]
Credits[]
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Details[]
| Full Title: | "Misermites!" or "I'd Rather Have Termites!" |
| Number of pages: | 16 |
| Story Type: | comic story |
| Characters: | Popeye, Wimpy, Swee'Pea, Zoog and King Miser the One-Third |
| Prints: | Popeye (Dell, 1948 series) #9 (October-November 1949) Popeye (World Distributors, 1950 series) #11 Popeye the Sailor (Western, 1948 series) #75 (February 1965) Popeye Classics (comic book) (IDW, 2012 series) #9 (April 2013) Popeye Classics (hardcover) (IDW, 2013 series) #2 (June 2013) |
Plot[]
The lighthouse keeper for the small seaport town of Seawet is horrified when he sees several small boats entering the harbor. He wastes no time getting on his bike to pedal through town. He warns the citizens to take shelter in their cellars and hide from the Misermites. As he passes a small inn, he wakes up Popeye, Wimpy and Swee'Pea. The commotion also alerts the inn's manager, who arrives at the door and order everyone to head for the cellar as well.
Popeye refuses to hide from anything, so the manager tells him to look out the window and see the danger for himself. He pokes his head out the window to see a horde of little men ransacking the town of everything in sight. The manager explains the Misermites are a race of thieves from a neighboring island and they plunder the town every six months. Whenever they attack, everyone in town hides in their cellars until they leave. At that moment, the thieves enter the room and take everything they can get their hands on, even Swee'Pea.
Popeye heads outside with Wimpy to look for his boy-kid. Popeye talks to one of the dwarfs for information, but the Misermite bops the sailor on the head with a sledgehammer. When Popeye picks himself off the ground, Wimpy says the scoundrel ran off toward the docks. Both men separate to find one of the invaders and some answers, but they meet up two hours late with no success. Back at the inn, the manager tells them where their island is located and warns that the king is guarded by a huge monster. Popeye decides they must follow them back to the island in the morning and get Swee'Pea back.
Meanwhile, the Misermites go over the loot loaded into their boats as they make the journey back home, and the most valuable prize of all is a sack filled with Swee'Pea. When they arrive at their island, the little boy is presented to King Miser the One-Third by the crook that kidnapped him. The thief dumps his captive out of the bag and suggests the boy should be used to lure Popeye to the island so he can fight the king's bodyguard Zoog. The monarch calls for a meeting with the ministers to plot Popeye's doom so Zoog can have some fighting practice.
When Popeye and Wimpy arrive in the morning, they are welcomed and lead to the throne room where Swee'Pea is chained up. King Miser informs Popeye and Wimpy that the boy will be released if the sailor can win him back, then both men are made to fall through trapdoors into the dungeon. Soon afterwards, a prison guard hands Popeye a contract for the fight. The contract states Swee'Pea will be released if Popeye wins, but if he loses, the sailor must leave to never return. Popeye agrees and is led outside.
Once outside, Popeye sees a Misermite twice as large as a house. The fight lasts for several hours, but the colossus finally goes down with Popeye's double Twisker Sock. With this mighty blow, Zoog starts falling to pieces and reveals he is only a giant machine operated by dozens of Misermites inside. The king honors the contract and releases Swee'Pea. Popeye also makes him return everything they stole from Seawet.
Last Updated: 5/19/2023