Clover Press and Yoe! Comics Announce ‘Popeye Variations’ Book

Clover Press and Yoe! Books have teamed up to create “Popeye Variations: Not Yer Pappy’s Comics an’ Art Book.” The 10" x 10" hardcover features more than 100 illustrations from more than 75 underground and mainstream artists and cartoonists with their takes on the spinach-munching Popeye the Sailor Man.  

Popeye the sailor is owned by King Features, a unit of Hearst. In Popeye’s early days, E.C. Segar often shared artwork drawn by fans at the end of the Thimble Theater comic strip. He called it Popeye’s Cartoon Club, giving readers a chance to share the page with Popeye. In 2019, in honor of Popeye's 90th birthday, King Features brought Popeye’s Cartoon Club back with a twist, inviting cartoonists from around the world to contribute their own comic strip featuring Popeye and his friends, which was digitally published on ComicsKingdom.com. “Popeye Variations” makes the work of these artists available for the first time in print.  

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; comic artist, Kelley Jones and “Sam & Max” creator, Steve Purcell. There are comic strips by Jeffrey Brown (“Darth Vader and Son”); Roger Langridge (“The Muppets”); writer, Jeff Parker (“Blighter”); Sarah Winifred Searle (“The Greatest Thing”); writer, Scott Shaw; “Usagi Yojimbo” creator, Stan Sakai and many more. With more than 100 pages, the book includes new art, new comic strips and art by Bud Sagendorf from the original 1940s and 1950s Popeye comic books.  

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“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,” says Hank Kanalz, publisher. “Craig Yoe and Robbie Robbins have curated and designed a beautiful hardcover that must not be missed.”  

“This special book is packed with illustrated eye candy that we know fans will adore,” says Christina Nix Lynch, licensing director, 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.”