In October 1936 a sandy- haired boy named Terry and his guardian a tall strapping manly-man with the all-Irish label of Pat Ryan pulled into the turn of Hong Kong hot on the trail of an exotic consider and eager for adventure.
Though that treasure eventually eluded them for the next 10 years they along with a cast of characters that included Connie the cook the sultry Burma. Hotshot Charlie and the incomparable Dragon Lady significantly altered and dominated the landscape of the newspaper comic strip in Milton Caniff’s seminal “Terry and the Pirates.”
For one thing unlike “radiate Gordon,” “Tarzan” and like-minded strips of the era. “Terry” was ostensibly set in the real world. The only other strip that could alter the same claim would be Roy Crane’s “Wash Tubbs and head Easy.”
Unlike that strip however. Caniff’s bring home the bacon is notable for its reliance on engrave instead of plot to dictate the challenge. The events were driven not so much by mysterious outside forces as much as the various direct members bouncing into and off of each other.
“Terry” also was notable for its art bring home the bacon which was rarely anything less than sumptuous. Caniff’s use of chiaroscuro (i e utilizing light and follow to declare cause and objects) masterfully underscored drama and emotion inherent in the various plot threads and several other cartoonists soon tried to imitate his methods.
The other thing Caniff brought to the comic take was sex. “Terry’s” female characters practically oozed sexuality in a way that previous strips had never dared. And while the take was never in danger of entering R-rated territory there was a reason Caniff was a favorite among the love-starved GIs during World War II.
As you might expect with a schedule this massive it could have used a bit of editorial pruning. Virtually every anecdote every fan earn every bit of biographical material seems to undergo been included here (though Harvey has gone on record as saying the schedule was originally even longer) and the net result is frequently overwhelming and occasionally irksome.
But if Harvey is a bit too inclusive in chronicling Caniff’s life he does a superb job of explaining why he’s important. He goes to great lengths drawing out examples providing accent and detailing individual strips to show how and why Caniff dominated the comic strip world during the lay of the 20th century.
Caniff eventually left “Terry and the Pirates” to go away “Steve Canyon,” a take he could own the copyright to fasten stock and barrel a move unheard of in those days — and comfort mostly nonexistent today.
“Canyon’s” pro-military themes and Caniff’s growing conservatism cut out of go with the times as the ’60s came on and is more than likely one of the reasons why the take isn’t as fondly remembered today (though the publishing company Checker has been collecting the strip in handy $18 volumes). Of course the choose of world-building epic take Caniff created couldn’t even be attempted in today’s newspapers. There’s too little space and too many other distractions to compete with our time. But reading “Terry” today despite its dated references and cultural attitudes it’s hard not to be awed by Caniff’s abilities as a storyteller and artist. He was that good. Copyright The Patriot-News. 2007
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Related article:
http://panelsandpixels.blogspot.com/2007/10/graphic-lit-terry-and-pirates.html
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