1999 was a year rife with controversy. No, we're not just listing Prince albums, we're talking about the very real fan blowback when Popeye was married in his 70th anniversary comic book. 

"The Wedding of Popeye and Olive" ruffled more than a few feathers when it hit comic stands across the nation. Bluto wasn't the only one who needed to speak now or forever hold his peace. Some real-life characters were steamed over the wedding (which by all accounts was an otherwise classy affair). The Official Popeye Fan Club, based in Chester, Illinois, was at the forefront of a vocal minority of fans who disliked the toon union.

"As Popeye would say, 'The whole idea of me marryin' is disgustipatin'.'" Although he was attempting to speak for his favorite 2-D sailor, those were actually the words of fan club president Mike Brooks. "We're not throwing any rice here in Chester. We know Popeye would never hitch up with Olive. It would destroy the love triangle between her, him and Bluto. The wedding is pure fantasy, a scheme, a disgrace." Brooks' very real words and feelings about a very-much-so made up event were recorded forever in the Des Moines Register in April of 1999.

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However, this wasn't necessarily a view shared by all fans, even within the club itself. Brian Hull, a fan club member, had this to say: "I'm a romantic. Why shouldn't Popeye marry? After all, Superman married Lois Lane. The purists should give the marriage a chance." 

While each was entitled to their opinion, President Mike Brooks maintained that only one person could have declared Popeye married. Series creator E.C. Segar, who'd been dead for more than fifty years, never decreed that Popeye was anything but a bachelor. So, in Brooks' mind, a bachelor Popeye must remain.

The most trivia-obsessed among us may recall the 1987 single-season animated television show Popeye and Son, wherein Popeye and Olive Oyl were, in fact, married with children. Most of the fan club didn't consider this "canon," apparently. "We like Segar's Popeye," said Brooks, when confronted with the truth.

Having first appeared in the newspaper comic Thimble Theatre in 1919, Popeye would have been around and in the public consciousness  as a bachelor for eighty years by the time he was married. So, in some way, it makes sense for a group to push back against the change. Fans were used to seeing the sailor man one way, and the wave of change came without their direct approval. But, as has always been true, fans are not in charge of the properties they engage with. We do not pick whether Popeye is married. We do not decide what happens to Luke Skywalker. We're not in a position to tell Spider-Man who to chase after. Fans are along for a ride and can choose whether or not to pay for that ride to continue.