Popeye has been fighting to the finish and eating his spinach in newspapers, on television, on the silver screen, in comic books and on just about anything you can think of licensing since he first appeared in Elzie Segar’s THIMBLE THEATER comic strip in 1929. Although Popeye originally appeared as a rough-and-tumble secondary sailor character, ten years into the strip’s run he became its favorite son with readers of all ages. Since that time, Popeye, Olive Oyl, Wimpy, and Swee’ Pea have become international sensations and symbols of two-fisted fun and adventure.

This year everyone in Chester, Illinois, rolled out the spinach-green carpet on September 11-13 with its 30th annual Popeye Picnic celebration. It was here that EC Segar grew up and created the strip which was based on some of the city’s more colorful citizens. In addition to parades, games, historic lectures, costume contests, radio plays and the unveiling of the latest life-size granite character statue, the city offered visitors an all-new POPEYE PICNIC comic book premium, the first such comic produced featuring Popeye and his pals in over 30 years.

The new POPEYE PICNIC comic premium was the brainchild of Chris Yambar and his company, PREMIUM POP, a division of CLI 2.0 (formerly known as Comic Library International). The premium features 32 pages of original material found nowhere else. Yambar, who wrote the issue, was joined by fellow artists George Broderick, Jr., and Ken Wheaton. Popeye newspaper strip creator Hy Eisman and comic book artist George Wildman contributed pin-ups for the project. The book not only allows the Popeye cast to attend the actual picnic celebration in Chester, it allows Popeye to travel back in history to meet his creator, the citizens who inspired Olive and Wimpy, and Rocky Feigle, the man who was the inspiration for Popeye himself.“

Popeye is a true American icon,” Yambar stated from his studio in Youngstown, Ohio. “Joining forces with the people of Chester to create a premium comic honoring the character and his birthplace was a natural. Coming up with a story line that allowed Popeye to celebrate his 80th birthday face-to-face with himself…that was supernatural!”

Finding the right talent to birth the project was no problem for the award-winning Yambar, who is recognized for his work on mainline titles such as Bart Simpson Comics, Radioactive Man, Mister Magoo and his own creation, Mr.Beat. He quickly enlisted the help of Pittsburgh, PA’s  George Broderick, Jr.,  (Lost In Space, I Dream of Jeannie, Speed Racer, The Munsters) and Rochester, NY’s Ken Wheaton (Futurama, Kolchak, Buckaroo Banzai), who are lifelong Popeye fans.

“George and Ken would have killed me if I had asked anyone else to draw this comic,” Yambar laughed. “Working on Popeye was their dream project. Thanks to the city of Chester, Illinois, and the kind people over at King Features Syndicate, that dream became a reality. It was an honor for all of us at Premium Pop to work on such a time-honored property as Popeye. What a benchmark way to begin our new premium comics division.”

On Friday, September 11, Eisman and Wildman joined Yambar, Broderick, Jr., and Wheaton (TEAM POPEYE) for a historic five-man POPEYE PICNIC comic signing from 4 to 6 PM at the Chester Library. The event duplicated on Saturday, September 12, from 3 to 4:30 PM.

“There are not enough words in the English language to describe how thrilled we are with the new Popeye comic premium produced by Chris Yambar, George Broderick, Jr., and Ken Wheaton,” exclaimed Michael McClure, Chester’s Popeye Picnic Chairman since 2004. “After an over-30-year hiatus, this is the first authentic and original use of the traditional Popeye character in printed comic form. The world of Popeye fans owes undying gratitude to Premium Pop for the opportunity to add this tremendously fun premium to their collections. Every comic enthusiast, whether a Popeye devotee or not, will want to own a copy.”

"Chester is a wonderful town," gushed Broderick, Jr., "everyone there is warm and friendly and they treated us like ROCK STARS!"

For more information about the Popeye Picnic celebration, visit www.popeyepicnic.com.

Popeye the Sailor and all related characters are TM & copyright King Features Syndicate. All Rights Reserved. Popeye is the Registered Trademark of King Features Inc. and TM Hearst Holdings Inc.