POPEYE VARIATIONS: Dig This Offbeat Salute to the Spinach Eatin’ Sailor Man

Featuring KELLEY JONES, MARY FLEENER, ROGER LANGRIDGE and MORE…

I watched Popeye as a kid. Thought he was great. Still hate spinach, though.

But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to tell you about Popeye Variations, a new book that celebrates the ultimate Sailor Man with art by some of the biggest names in underground and mainstream comics.

It’s just the kind of project you’d expect from Yoe! Comics — which has teamed with Clover Press on a new Kickstarter that I’m willing to wager will be funded as quickly as Popeye’s biceps become warships.

Dig the official press release — plus an EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK at some of the art slated for Popeye Variations.

Clover Press and Yoe! Comics Announce Upcoming Release of POPEYE VARIATIONS, A New Book Featuring 75+ Underground & Mainstream Cartoonists 

Anthology Features 100+ Cartoons from Artists Roz Chast, Shin Ying Khor, Jorge Guitierrez, Steve Purcell, Kelley Jones, Jeffrey Brown, Roger Langridge, R. Sikoryak & More 

Clover Press and Yoe! Books have teamed up to create Popeye Variations: Not Yer Pappy’s Comics an’ Art Book, a 10″ x 10″ hardcover book featuring over 100 illustrations from 75 underground and mainstream artists and cartoonists with their own takes on the spinach-munching, bully-punching Popeye the Sailor Man.

Kelley Jones

The project includes pin-ups from contributors such as Adventure Time storyboard artist Derek Ballard; The New Yorker’s Roz Chast; The Book of Life director and acclaimed painter Jorge Guiterrez; legendary comic artist Kelley Jones and Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell; as well as comic strips by cartoonist Jeffrey Brown (Darth Vader and Son); Cat Farris (The Ghoul Next Door); Eisner Award-winning artist Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook); Eisner Award-winning artist Erica Henderson (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl); National Book Award finalist Shin Ying Khor (The Legend of Auntie Po); Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Liniers; Roger Langridge (The Muppets); The Humans’ creator Tom Neely, R. Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics); writer Jeff Parker (Blighter); Sarah Winifred Searle (The Greatest Thing); legendary writer Scott Shaw; Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai and many more. 

Mary Fleener

With over 100 pages of Popeye art and comic strips, including new art, new comic strips and art by Bud Sagendorf from the original 1940s & 1950s Popeye comic books, this is a must have for any fan and collector of the pop icon Sailor Man. The campaign allows fans to secure early copies of Popeye Variations, plus exclusive collectibles featuring art from the book, via Kickstarter. Popeye Variations campaign is now live on Kickstarter

Joe Wos

Additional contributors include Kate Ashwin, Samir Barrett, Isabella Bannerman, Sandra Bell-Lundy, Olive Rae Brinker, Box Brown, Lar DeSouza, Jim Engel, Ryan Estrada, Andrew Farago, Jay P. Fosgitt, Shaenon K. Garrity, Maddi Gonzalez, Alex Hallett, John Hambrock, Micheline Hess, Bill Holbrook, Susan Camilleri Konar, John Kovaleski, Carol Lay, Bones Leopard, Steve Lieber, Kel McDonald, Randy Milholland, Lonnie Milsap, Yesenia Moises, Shan Murphy, Maritsa Patrinos, Woodrow Phoenix, Rina Piccolo, Justin Pierce, Caro Ramsay, David Reddick, Jules Rivera, John Rose and Sarah Rose, Magnolia Porter Siddell, Jim Siergey, Bob Spang, Vannotes, Marloes De Vries, Jean Wei, Bianca Xunise, Reimena Yee, Savannah Zambrano, and more.

Steve Purcell

Popeye, the iconic, spinach-eating sailorman, is owned by King Features, a unit of Hearst and home to some of the world’s most popular entertainment characters.

In 2012, IDW Publishing and Yoe! Books teamed up to re-present the classic Popeye comic book series that debuted in 1948 by Bud Sagendorf, the long-time assistant to creator E.C. Segar. Many of the variant covers of IDW’s comic book run are featured in this Popeye Variations art book, and several of the original variant cover comic books will be offered as special tiers on this campaign. 

Roger Langridge

“We’re excited to publish this amazing collection of Popeye art, some seen in limited circles, but all deserving to be shared with Popeye fans around the world,” said publisher Hank Kanalz. “Craig Yoe and Robbie Robbins have curated and designed a beautiful hardcover that must not be missed.” 

Sandra Bell-Lundy

“This special book is packed with illustrated eye-candy that we know fans will adore,” said Christina Nix Lynch, licensing director at King Features. “But we are particularly thrilled that the prolific talent responsible for the Popeye’s Cartoon Club digital comics will have the opportunity to see their work live on through a new medium in this beautifully curated anthology.” 

Click here for more information on the Popeye Variations Kickstarter.

MORE

— The TOP 13 FLEISCHER SUPERMAN Cartoons. Click here.

— JACK KIRBY: ANIMATED — A History of the King in Cartoons Is Coming Your Way. Click here.

Author: Dan Greenfield

Share This Post On

4 Comments

  1. Oh my gosh! Wottasnozzle gets referenced! Love it! When I was a kid (early 70s) I read a lot of books about comics that (thankfully) reprinted a bunch of them! Popeye and O. G. Wottasnozzle were both incredibly imaginative!

    Post a Reply
  2. Have you guys seen the current incarnation of Popeye in the papers? It is absolutely horrible. It looks like it was drawn by AI or something. Clean and mechanical, the opposite of what Popeye should be, in my opinion. And not funny. At all.

    Post a Reply
  3. Surprised Terry Austin is not listed under the contributors – I thought he was a big Popeye fan!

    Post a Reply

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: