By Magdalena Hernandez

Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History, Second Edition, by Fred M. Grandinetti (McFarland & Company; Jefferson, North Carolina; 337 pages; $45)

Comics don't get no respect. Sure, they're an acceptable diversion when you're a kid. But how many adults pay close attention to what's going on in the funny pages?

Still, the tide seems to be turning, if ever so slowly. American Splendor and Crumb introduced a couple of counterculture cartoonists to mainstream movie audiences and renewed acclaim. Graphic novelists such as Art Spiegelman and Phoebe Gloeckner continue to earn praise for their unusual perspectives on difficult topics.

Which is only fair. The most successful cartoon heroes tap into our deepest unconscious desires. To live life as a carefree teenager surrounded by Betty's and Veronica's charms. To leap tall buildings in a single bound. To be one tough gazookus, which hates all palookas.

That's right: One of our more enduring heroes turned seventy-six in January, likely inspiring an enthusiastic round of "Happy Boitdays." Popeye the Sailor Man has captivated generations of admirers. In fact, he stars in the longest-running cartoon series ever (take that, SpongeBob SquarePants).

In Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History, Fred Grandinetti, AS'84, who cofounded the International Popeye Fan Club seventeen years ago, covers the ancient mariner with the wide-ranging energy of a diehard fanatic. Not only does he sketch Popeye's evolution as he sailed from comic strip, to silver screen, to the murky waters of TV syndication, he also includes comprehensive character and episode guides.

Ever wonder why Popeye sometimes sports a captain's hat? Why Bluto occasionally answers to "Brutus"? Why some cartoons show Popeye with both eyes wide open? Grandinetti provides the answers to all your Popeye pop-culture queries.

As the author chronicles, the seeds for Popeye were sown in 1919 when cartoonist E. C. Segar began inking a strip called "Thimble Theatre," featuring Olive Oyl and her family. Ten years later, cartoon history was made when Olive's brother Castor Oyl enounters "an odd-looking, fat-forearmed, pipe-smoking sailor." The old salt's popularity grew quickly, and he soon took center stage in his own strip.

Yet it's something of a surprise to learn that Popeye and his quirks didn't spring fully formed from Segar's mind. Filmmakers Max and Dave Fleischer, who began producing animated Popeye films in 1933, were instrumental in developing some of the familiar iconic imagery, such as the can of spinach and the Popeye the Sailor Man (toot, toot) theme song. Even the famous phrase "I yam what I yam" originated on a Popeye radio show that ran from 1935 through 1937; the show's sponsor, Wheatena, wanted to avoid any plugs for spinach.

After Segar's death in 1938, various animators stepped in to man the strip and the comic books, a kind of artistic musical chairs that introduced inconsistencies into the cartoon's style and personalities.

Remarkably, over the decades Popeye has appeared in every major medium: comic strips, comic books, radio, recordings, TV, stage, animated and live-action films. Not to mention countless product endorsements. Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History invites us to rethink Popeye's place in the culture by underscoring his popularity and sway.

For his part, Grandinetti argues Popeye is historically more admired than a certain four-fingered rodent. "No one can deny that Mickey Mouse is popular with millions today as a popular cartoon symbol," he writes, "but for the sheer volume of animated cartoons produced starting in the 1930s to the 1980s, Popeye still holds the record as the most successful animated cartoon character for both film and television."

The swab even influenced Superman, Grandinetti says: "Jerry Siegel, one of Superman's creators . . . readily admits that the animated Popeye cartoons were a primary influence. He envisioned similar fast-paced action turning on the hero's superhuman strength, but played straight instead of for laughs."

Don't forget the vintage toys and lunchboxes. The author claims Popeye has become "one of the most popular and sought-after character collectibles today."

Oddly, though, Grandinetti doesn't delve much into why Popeye has enjoyed such lasting popularity. The longest meditation on the topic comes from a pastor, whose reprinted letter discusses how the strip's characters teach spiritual values while they entertain.

Spiritual growth aside, a few surprises emerge when you reacquaint yourself with the old sea dog's exploits, which include a fair bit of saltiness. For instance, in the older cartoons, fickle girlfriend Olive Oyl (who only looks extra-virgin, owing to her apparent lack of secondary sexual characteristics) blithely flirts with Bluto and other ardent admirers, leaving Popeye to save her from what today might be called date rape.

Then there's Popeye's readiness to brawl. The comic strip was created during boxing's heyday, Grandinetti explains, and the theatrical shorts were geared toward adults, which caused the animators to up the grittiness level even more.

The book shines whenever such context is provided. But despite the book's subtitle, Grandinetti stops just short of addressing much of the social commentary inherent in the cartoons.

In the 1950s, we're told, a "common plot device" had Olive Oyl appearing as a potential employer of Popeye and Bluto. And in the 1970s cartoons, Olive functions "more as a team player with Popeye than as someone he has to save from Bluto," Grandinetti says, without further elaboration.

Readers can connect their own dots, of course-the women's movement was so transforming American culture that Olive's damsel-in-distress persona needed adjustment-but the author misses opportunities to deepen the book's impact by glossing over teachable moments like these.

That's not to say Grandinetti entirely resists editorializing. He weighs in on a number of subjects, many related to animation. Ted Turner's "shoddy" colorization of the black-and-white cartoons, he says, often introduced careless mistakes. In one obvious howler, the colorized version shortened the name on baby nephew Peepeye's highchair to "Pee."

With more cultural analysis, this book would have packed an even more muscular wallop. All in all, though, it's still a terrific resource for anyone interested in pop culture, comic books, animation, or Popeye himself. Grandinetti knows his sailor man inside and out. And that ain't just pipe-tootin'.

Magdalena Hernandez, MBA'02, is a senior editor.

Courageous Healing: How to Fully and Quickly Recover from Traumatic Experiences or Feelings of Anger and Resentment
by Fred Craver; Riko Books; 2004

After suffering multiple misfortunes-including partial blindness-Fred Craver, MEd'77, found healing via a variety of avenues.

Part memoir, part manual, Courageous Healing recounts this journey to recovery. Using affirmations and new therapeutic techniques, Craver transformed anger and grief into peace and contentment. By dissolving negative feelings, he claimed hard-won renewal.

Here's a self-help book that transcends the typical ten-step prescription. Craver has penned a useful book for anyone striving to conquer personal setbacks.

Democratic Development and Political Terrorism: The Global Perspective
edited by William Crotty; Northeastern University Press; 2004

This essay collection-edited by Professor William Crotty, Thomas P. O'Neill Chair in Public Life and Center for the Study of Democracy director-helps us grapple with the challenges of a post-9/11 world, including terrorism's global scale.

Writers explore such topics as the root causes of terrorism, the complexities of attempts to democratize totalitarian regimes, the relationship between terrorism and authoritarian repression, and the ways in which foreign policy can check international political violence.

The result is a comprehensive, if chilling, analysis of our new reality.