I have a new favorite book of comic strip reprints. I'm not sure what the previous holder of that honor was but it now goes to the first volume of Popeye: I Yam What I Yam, which is just now coming out from Fantagraphics and which I received today. This is not the first time they've reprinted the classic strip by Elzie Segar but it's one of those rare times when I don't mind an "upgrade" that compels you to buy something for a second time. The previous issuance resulted in some nice volumes which I've read over and over. But now, the Fantagraphics folks have given a first-rate treatment to a first-rate strip…a much more attractive volume with more complete runs and better reproduction.
If you only know Popeye from his cartoon appearances and the later comic strips, you don't know how wonderful he can be. Mr. Segar was a brilliant cartoonist who created some of the most vivid, well-rounded personalities to ever appear on a page of newsprint funnies. Popeye…Olive Oyl…Wimpy…their exploits are positively addictive and Popeye is a much more interesting guy than the animated version who gets in trouble, pulls out a can of spinach and punches out Bluto to save the day. (And I'm not knocking the cartoons, which were fine for what they were, especially in the Fleischer era. But like I said, if you only know them, you don't know Popeye.)
The worst thing I can say about this first volume is that it collects early strips (1928-1930) and that the material got even better after that. The dailies are in crisp black-and-white and the Sundays are in color and the whole package is an enormous bargain at about twenty bucks. Here's a link to order it from Amazon. The entirety of Segar's work with the squint-eyed sailor will be collected in six volumes so this isn't even a very expensive commitment on your part.