Four Color #26

Four Color #26 brings everyone's favorite squinty sailor to Dell's long-running anthology series in a full 68 pages of color comics — quite a generous read for a dime in 1943. The cover sets a lively, puzzled mood: Popeye stands face-to-face with a stout, red-capped fellow while a question mark hovers overhead, a chicken scurries underfoot, a mysterious nest sits nearby, and a little bluebird darts past above them all. It's a wonderfully busy scene that captures the cheerful, slightly chaotic energy Popeye fans have always loved.