If I’d been paying more attention to the title page cast list, I suppose the story might have been ruined. Not having ever read Popeye (in memory… I may have read the comic strip as a kid), I was only familiar with the characters who were in the movie.
Roger Langridge and Bruce Ozella have a system for Popeye. Each page has nine panels in various arrangement. I wish I knew if it were Langridge’s idea or Ozella’s. It brings a comic strip feel to the book, without ever feeling constrained. This issue’s story, for example, has a definite beginning, middle and end. And the way Langridge develops the middle is just fantastic.
My favorite thing about the book is Olive Oyl. Langridge makes her stuck-up, judgmental and a little trampy.
I’ve never understood the appeal of Popeye. Langridge and Ozella may change my mind; their version is great.
CREDITS
The Land of Jeeps; writer, Roger Langridge; artist and letterer, Bruce Ozella; colorist, Luke McDonnell; editors, Ted Adams, Craig Yoe and Clizia Gussoni; publisher, IDW Publishing.
The Stop Button 
Leave a Reply