…and this is a 
Sacrilege and cephalopod
Category: Art • Cephalopods
Posted on: August 31, 2007 8:34 AM, by PZ Myers
This is a kind of cephalart quickie, two images that are perfect for Pharyngula. If I had rooms here I'd hang them in ornate frames surrounded by expensive lighting.
Here is the patron saint of Pharyngula, St Architeuthis, by Skot Olsen.
This one is so beautiful it brings a tear to me eye; the only way it could be improved is if it were painted on black velvet. Here's a test: I can't name all the people seated at da Vinci's Last Supper, but I can name every one in this picture. Can you?
Comments
If Jesus had been as smart as Popeye and eaten spinach at the last supper then Judas would have had a black eye instead of 30 pieces of silver. The last 2000 years would have been far different, right?
Posted by: Mike Haubrich, FCD | August 31, 2007 8:48 AM
Wow, and here I thought I was special for knowing who Wimpy was.
Posted by: Aaron | August 31, 2007 9:41 AM
Well, that bush did tell Moses to tell the people or Israel that "I Yam" sent him to them, so maybe Popeye is God.
And Brutus does rhyme with Judas.
Posted by: The Mad Patriot | August 31, 2007 9:41 AM
Lessee, left to right:
Goon, the Sea Hag, Poopdeck Pappy, Bluto/Brutus, ???, Olive Oyl, Popeye, the Jeep (on Wimpy's shoulder), Wimpy (with hamburger, of course), Roughhouse, Swee Pea, Geezil, and ???
Hey, not too bad considering I haven't seen the cartoon in 20 years or so.
Posted by: General Woundwort | August 31, 2007 9:45 AM
Good job, General, although I think of many of these as characters from Segar's "Thimble Theater" strip, as opposed to the animated cartoons. Although the spinach fixation is definitely a Fleischer 'toon addition.
The guy next to Olive is Professor Watasnozzle in the inventor (or possible Professor Brainstein, Jeep expert). The last guy at the table is actually one of the oldest: Castor Oyl, Olive's brother and one of the stars of the pre-Popeye "Theater" strips.
Posted by: Peter Sattler | August 31, 2007 10:05 AM
I'd gladly name them Tuesday for a ScienceBlogs coffee mug today.
Posted by: Jud | August 31, 2007 11:01 AM
It's very weird but the ship captain praying at the feet of the Tentacled One looks an awful lot like a marine biologist of my acquaintance. I'll have to send him a link to the art.
P.S. Great comment, Jud!!
Posted by: Diego | August 31, 2007 11:08 AM
Didn't Popeye have a pal named Barnacle Bill or something like that in the Segar strip? He looked a little like Bluto.
And can anyone clear up how Brutus related to Bluto?
Posted by: lockean | August 31, 2007 11:38 AM
Shame you missed the new Bunny cartoon, welcoming the overlords!
Posted by: JdJ | August 31, 2007 11:40 AM
And can anyone clear up how Brutus related to Bluto?
As I understand it, there was confusion about the copyright to the name "Bluto", so when they made the new cartoon in the 60's they changed his name to "Brutus". He was back to "Bluto" by the time of the Robin Williams movie, though.
Posted by: General Woundwort | August 31, 2007 11:45 AM
Actually, PZ, I initially thought you'd be complaining about the Architeuthis for only having one eye, as is your usual bugbear.
Posted by: DrFrank | August 31, 2007 12:57 PM
My parents once acquired an adult Labrador whose name was Jeep. When his papers arrived, his AKC name was Ciderbrook Eugene. I was proud to make the explanatory connection.
Posted by: Faithful Reader | August 31, 2007 1:07 PM
Skot Olsen's other work is reminiscent of those old Garbage Pail Kids trading cards.
Posted by: Brownian | August 31, 2007 1:19 PM
DC Comics was committing similar blasphemy in the seventies: Here's the Legion of Super-Villains reenacting the Last Supper for, really, no reason whatsoever, with Lightning Lord as Jesus.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Lsv2.jpg
Posted by: Anton Mates | August 31, 2007 1:39 PM
We've already done Zombie last supper, yes? If not, here it is:
Crass twin powers, activate! Form of an asshole!
Posted by: Dustin | August 31, 2007 2:05 PM
Jeez, I missed FOUR of them.
Can't help but wonder: If you were to create the character Popeye today, would you have handicapped rights people all over your ass for making fun of people with one eye? Or animal rights people demanding to know if Jeep was neutered? Or possibly even nutrition nazis saying Wimpy was glorifying bad eating habits (even though the character IS called "Wimpy")?
But then again, for those of us who grew up with Betty and Veronica as the ideals of female beauty, you have to pity that generation who arrived at puberty with only Olive Oyl as the icon of feminine perfection. (And how many of our mothers screamed "Oh, Popeye!" during sex? Okay, that was a rhetorical question -- I don't wanna know.)
Posted by: Hank Fox | August 31, 2007 2:17 PM
Giordano Bruno. Also, he has a few Lovecraft inspired pieces too, and I think they're better suited to Lovecraft than Palencar (since Lovecraft is pretty silly).
Posted by: Dustin | August 31, 2007 2:21 PM
In the theme of cephalopod art (and pirates), have you seen this publication: Peter the Pirate Squid ?
I couldn't tell you whether it is any good; the copy I saw at the local comic book shop has already been sold. But the cover alone is probably worth the price.
Posted by: rrusick | August 31, 2007 3:02 PM
30 pieces of silver? Judas was really overpaid. Well, maybe not since there was this kissing thing. What would Larry Craig have said?
Maybe Jesus and Judas were simply caught in a public restroom and Romain police didn't like it so well.
Posted by: bernarda | August 31, 2007 4:11 PM
And Jesus did say unto them, "Verily, brothers, I have paid him only for a massage. For is it not written that this is not what it looks like?"
Posted by: Dustin | August 31, 2007 5:07 PM
Dustin, you were in the running for my Molly nomination next month, but you just sealed the deal with that one.
Posted by: Brownian | August 31, 2007 5:49 PM
Speaking of sacrilegious cephalopods, gg pointed to a site in an earlier thread on a planned remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, mentioning there a black-and-white screen adaptation of Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu done by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society.
I checked out the page, watched the trailer and figured, what the hell, and bought the DVD.
You know what? That was a darn good decision.
The movie is shot in the style of 1920s black-and-white silent films, and is to my mind one of the best adaptations of an HPL story to screen.
I posted a review on it, but the short version is: If you like Lovecraft, and if you like silent movies, check this one out. I thought it was a hell of a lot of fun.
Posted by: Warren | August 31, 2007 8:07 PM
I don't know any of the others, but the guy in the middle is obviously Popeye the Savior Man.
Posted by: Ego, Egoing, Egone | August 31, 2007 8:47 PM
Reminds me a Robert Anton Wilson line about Popeye as God, "I Yam That I Yam!"
Posted by: Janine | September 1, 2007 12:51 AM