For the last month or so, the most exciting thing in comics to me hasn’t been Rebirth or whatever the heck Marvel is doing. It’s been IDW’s massive reprints of Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates, which covers more than 12 years in 6 volumes, from its start in 1934 to when Caniff left the strip in 1946. I’m in the second half of Volume 4 now, in March of 1942.
There’s so much great stuff in this comic. I’d been interested in it for years -- the first time I’d heard of it was in the context of an Amazing Heroes interview with Kieth Giffen that I read when I was in college, when he was describing his hopes for the (then upcoming) 5 Years Later run of Legion of Superheroes to be “something like Terry and the Pirates in space” (or something to that effect). I wound up loving that run (at least for its first couple of years), so I always wanted to see what Giffen was shooting for.
I bought my first T&P volume a few years ago, and read it in big chunks. The first characters are introduced -- Pat Ryan, Terry Lee, Connie, Normandie Drake, the Dragon Lady, Captain Judas -- and there’s great adventure to it -- far more sophisticated than what we’d see four years later when Superman was born. No wonder Siegel & Shuster had a hard time selling their strip, when much more mature & fully realized works like this were the competion!
For some reason, I put down volume 2 and didn’t pick it up for a few years. But once I did, a couple of months ago, I’ve been burning through the books at an alarming rate. There are crime stories, romances, war stories -- more and more of them as WWII looms ever closer -- and everything in between. There’s a revelation about the strong, silent Big Stoop that stopped me in my tracks. And in fall of 1941, Caniff killed a major character, an action he apparently had to go onto the radio to justify. (I held off posting about my T&P addiction on this board because I was afraid I’d have that death spoiled for me before I got there -- a 75-year-old development!)
Anyway, has anyone else read these? Did you find them as charming and compelling as I do? I can’t wait to read more.
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“Anyway, has anyone else read these? Did you find them as charming and compelling as I do?”
In a word, yes and yes. I’ve been meaning to drop you a line and ask how your reading project was going ever since you mentioned it a while ago on the “What Comics Are You Reading Today?” discussion.
I have a bad habit of starting a long reading project, abandoning it, then coming back to it at a later date. Problem is, when I come back I always used to start at the beginning again. Consequently I have read the early years of Terry and the Pirates a number of times, the later years fewer. But in 2008 I made a New Year’s resolution to return to a project at the point I abandoned it. That’s worked out very well for me in the years since. One of these days I’ll get around to finishing Will Eisner’s Spirit for the first time. But I digress.
Are you planning to continue on to Caniff’s Steve Canyon? If so, I don’t need my Kitchen Sink Press reprints now that they’re being duplicated by IDW. Let me know if you are interested and we’ll work something out. Similarly, several years ago I traded my Flying Buttress Press reprints of Terry and the Pirates to Tim Cousar when they were duplicated in my collection by IDW.
Gotta go now. I’ll have more to say later.
Luke, I'm so glad I didn't read that Romita link until after I knew who died! But that's a great storytelling lesson to learn, and Gwen was a great application of it.
Jeff, I think I probably *will* be moving on to Steve Canyon. So when the time comes, I'll let you know!
And yeah, the thought of going back to Volume 1 of Terry was tempting after all that time, but I tend to press on when I can -- or I'd never get anything done. (What little I actually do get done, that is!) The Spirit I'm reading haphazardly -- whichever volume of the Archives I pick up on the cheap at a convention, that's the one I go to next!
Oh, and speaking of that character's death -- does anyone know where I can find out what Caniff actually said about it? I've been searching around for links to his radio address, but I haven't found anything except that it existed.
Google Books has a collection of interviews with Caniff here that includes statements on what he'd planned on doing with Terry if he'd stayed pp.86-87.
Thanks, Luke. I'm gonna have to revisit that link once I reach the end of his run.
Caniff's influence can be seen all over the newspaper strips of mid-century, in both writing and art. Cases that spring to mind include Bruce Gentry by Ray Bailey (who had been Caniff's assistant and later drew the Dell Steve Canyon comic books), Johnny Hazard by Frank Robbins, and Secret Agent X-9 under Mel Graff (which case is interesting because the strip was originally drawn by Alex Raymond). There were even two SF ones, Chris Welkin by Art Sansom and Russ Winterbotham (which Comic Book Plus has, but I've not read much of it as the opening sequence didn't win me over) and Beyond Mars by Jack Williamson and Lee Elias (which was recently reprinted).
In the 40s Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, Alex Toth and Irwin Hasen used a Caniff style in their work for DC, and Elias did the same at Fiction House. The Sickles/Caniff influence is also there in the work of Simon and Kirby; I think it's particularly apparently in the Green Sorceress from "Blue Bolt". Their version of "The Flying Fool" was apparently modelled after Steve Canyon.
I'm glad too: I'd hate to have trap spoilered you, after all your effort to avoid them! I've taken my post down because I was worried it had a very slight spoiler.
I am half way through Volume 4 of IDWs Terry and the Pirates collection that I received as a Christmas present. My local library has Volumes 2 and 3 so that was my introduction to the strip - great stories, I really enjoy them. Caniff was a masterful storyteller, I can see why people fell in love with the strip during its original run.
Check out the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum site for some good info on Caniff. I visited the museum a couple of years ago and they have quite a Caniff collection. The museum is on the Ohio State University campus which I believe was Caniffs alma mater.
The word that I use most often when discussing Terry & the Pirates is “adult”; not in the salacious sense as the word if often used, but mature. For example, the relationships between Pat Ryan and Normandie Drake, Normandie and Tony Sandhurst, Tony and Pat, especially after Merilly comes into the picture.
Without getting too specific, I like the way Caniff would often separate his main cast and move certain characters out of the main story for weeks or months at a time.
I think he took a great chance when given the opportunity to jump syndicates for greater control of a new strip, walking away from a proven success. I know several other top cartoonists (including Chester Gould) turned down the same offer.
George Wunder took over Terry & the Pirates when Caniff left. His run is generally knocked, but AFAIAC, his main flaw was that he wasn’t Milton Caniff. IOW, his stuff is still miles ahead of most adventure strips of the day, and certainly today. Hermes Press is in the process of collecting George Wunder’s run, with two volumes out so far and a third solicited for May 25 release (which means we may see it in November). Hermes Press has also released a collection of Steve Canyon comic books (as mentioned by Luke, above). Don’t buy any of that stuff until you’ve read all of Caniff, though.
There was a Terry & the Pirates movie serial in the ‘40s and a TV show in the ‘50s, both available on DVD. The serial was pretty good, but the guy playing Terry was far too old. Interestingly, the same actor played the older Terry on TV. The serial was set during the early days with Pat, Big Stoop, the Dragon Lady, et al, but the TV show was set later, during his flyboy days with Hotshot Charlie. I watched only about half of the episodes. It was a pretty boring show.
I find Connie’s dialogue terribly annoying; not necessarily offensive, just annoying. If you do, too, I’ll give you a hint. The last time I read Terry and the Pirates, I skipped his dialogue balloons entirely (or maybe I read a word or two to get the gist of what he’s saying) with no detriment to the story. He never really says anything important, anyway. I do the same thing with Foozy in Alley Oop.
Different strokes. Connie's a character I feel like I *should* be offended by, but I just love him so much. I've exclaimed "Hotsy Dandy" more than a few times this last month; I finally had to explain to Kathy where it was coming from.
I've been curious about the Wunder followup -- I'll probably let a little time build up before I sample them -- and never knew about the serial or TV show.
Luke, even though you took your post down (I didn't notice any spoilers -- maybe i was for something I've already read), could you repost that Romita link? I might like to revist that sometime.
And Doc, I think we're neck and neck! I just finished the March 1942 strips in Volume 4 this morning! That Tony Sandhurst is such slime!
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