Four Color #17, the first issue headlined by Popeye (and Wimpy)
Four Color or Four Color Comics or One Shots is a long-running American comic book series, with a total 1,354 issues released by Dell Publishing between 1939 and 1962. Unlike other such publications, Four Color always lent its cover title to established properties and characters adapted from film, television, radio, and even newspaper comic strips. Classics such as the Lone Ranger, Bugs Bunny, Flash Gordon or the many Walt Disney characters were only a few of the series' various subjects. Issue #17 was the first to have Popeye as the titular character, together with Wimpy. Issues #26, #43, #113, #127, #145 and #168 were billed as Popeye comics - with #70 again as "Popeye and Wimpy". Although the Popeye editions began by reprinting Thimble Theatre newspaper strips, they switched to all-new material, authored by Bud Sagendorf, with issue #113 and for a further three Popeye books until Dell began the character's own long-running series. The only exception was a single issue (#219) with Swee'Pea as the title character, published after the Popeye series' launch.
