The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

Watch your step there. Before Miss DeFee became an ecadyasist, she was a professional bouncer.

 

[Harp]

Sorry Terry, but you missed your opportunity with both Hu Shee and Burma to really change. Pat is not going to find it interesting that you grew half an inch.

Our boy really put the move on Dragon Gal and that took guts considering she likes to slice off male tongues,
so I consider Terry a cunninglinguist; until Caniff got the editorial elbow, and if there's now a no lead in the pencil
protagonist we can safely assume the kid could hold his own at the plate and play the field whence he had opportunity.
Also, the way characters occasionally script split-or like Burms send mixed morse code, ya gotta feel for the kid.
I definitely thought that hay loft scenario offered hope but the moment was transitory and later when he spilled
the beans to Burms she rebuffed him. Hu Shee confusion I fault Caniff.

Watch your step there. Before Miss DeFee became an ecadyasist, she was a professional bouncer.

I once served as a military bodyguard for a USO troupe of Playboy Playmates and put me Irish charm to work
on a sweet colleen whom I thought receptive to me charm; another gal centerfold subsequently set me straight
telling me the lady of my dreams was a "lipstick lesbian."

 

[Fading Fast]

Our boy really put the move on Dragon Gal and that took guts considering she likes to slice off male tongues,
so I consider Terry a cunninglinguist; until Caniff got the editorial elbow, and if there's now a no lead in the pencil
protagonist we can safely assume the kid could hold his own at the plate and play the field whence he had opportunity.
Also, the way characters occasionally script split-or like Burms send mixed morse code, ya gotta feel for the kid.
I definitely thought that hay loft scenario offered hope but the moment was transitory and later when he spilled
the beans to Burms she rebuffed him. Hu Shee confusion I fault Caniff. ...

I agree that, effectively, it's hard to separate what happened from what would have happened without editorial stricture, but had Caniff wanted to "signal" to us that Terry had - and the rocket's red glare - he could of as he did with Dude and Raven.

I think Caniff wanted to keep him virginal, because as you note, the hayloft was the moment. Or perhaps he was under really tight control since Terry is just a teenager and the title character.

In the end, I believe we have to accept the characters as presented - Dude and Raven were sexually active, Terry wasn't - whether or not that was Caniff's desire. Hence, Terry returns to Pat still fresh and dewy.

Now, let's find Hu Shee and Burma and get the gang back together. I really wonder if there isn't a period movie that could be made about the Japanese invasion of China using Caniff's characters and story as the foundation, but knowing the movie will have to stand on its own without any "Terry and the Pirates" fanbase. The story and characters Caniff created could still resonate if presented in the right modern way.

Heck, there are how many streaming services making period movies? Taking a shot on "Terry and the Pirates," (I wouldn't even title it that, maybe just bring it up in the kicker or story description) as a period WWII movie could be interesting as the story and characters are already well written - and that's a big part of any successful film.

 

[Harp]

I'll second this with a nota bene reserve regarding political correctness. Cannot happen today.
Terry's character would need to be a girl, and a lesbian transsexual with pediatric sexual abuse background,
physically handicapped, and a liberal sympathetic to the Japanese suffering beneath the yoke of yankee imperialist
United States of America.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Of the three young men whose fortunes we follow in the comics pages, the only one I'm convinced is "a man of the world" at the present time is, gawdhelpus, Harold Teen. Skeezix may or may not have been intimate with Nina at this point, especially since their own haystack moment, but I'm not entirely convinced of it. Skeez has shown himself in general to be too much of a straight arrow to take any chances, much like Terry. But Harold was a naive small-town kid on his own in New York, with Senga across the hall, and well...

As for Burma, the one man of the funnies I'd most like to see her run into is J. Hartford Oakdale. She'd have a field day.

A Terry prestige miniseries would be wonderful, but it would have to fight the temptation to camp it up. The spectre of Indiana Jones would hang heavy over any modern director approaching the material, and they'd have to try very hard to keep the emphasis on the interplay of the characters and not so much on the action and the spectacle.

 

[Harp]

Hopefully, Burma, Hu Shee and the gang reunite in Hong Kong. Caniff could draw this pencil outline
whereas the girls make their way inside the colony separately, and with Terry and Dude, Pat and Dragon Gal all
team against the Rising Sun.

 

[Harp]

As for Burma, the one man of the funnies I'd most like to see her run into is J. Hartford Oakdale. She'd have a field day.

A Terry prestige miniseries would be wonderful, but it would have to fight the temptation to camp it up. The spectre of Indiana Jones would hang heavy over any modern director approaching the material, and they'd have to try very hard to keep the emphasis on the interplay of the characters and not so much on the action and the spectacle.

Who the hell is J. Hartford Oakdale? Who is Hecuba and what is Hecuba to Burma?
_________

If the director slides off and away to Illinois Smith it just might work. Ya never know.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oakdale is the resident sleazy con-man in "The Bungle Family," known for his woolly stories of military glory. He was last seen marrying young (well, 36-year-old, but who's counting) Peggy Bungle under dubious circumstances and then fleeing on some ill-defined "mission overseas," which is his usual excuse for disappearing when the heat's on. He's a slick-haired, waxed-moustached, spats-wearing fop who really needs to get sent on a "mission overseas" to China. Burma would tear him to pieces and pick her teeth with the bones.

 

[Harp]

I'm still anxious for Burms. Judas was still alive when last two seen, Burms lecturing the ba***rd
when she should have squeezed the trigger or kneecapped the creep.
Caniff could divert the strip for a day or two and fill in all the particulars for us fan folk biting at the bit.

 

[Harp]

Burma would tear him to pieces and pick her teeth with the bones.

A further thought. Burma seems far more alley cat pawn that tigress Queen Bee-she's no Dragon Gal,
but a cat with more bark than bite when up against a male such as Kiel, the German engineer colonel, or Judas.
Don't know where her supposed bad ass reputation comes from since she gives all appearance of being victim
not victor, less pirate than prostitute. Harsh, I know but still....

 

[Fading Fast]

Of the three young men whose fortunes we follow in the comics pages, the only one I'm convinced is "a man of the world" at the present time is, gawdhelpus, Harold Teen. Skeezix may or may not have been intimate with Nina at this point, especially since their own haystack moment, but I'm not entirely convinced of it. Skeez has shown himself in general to be too much of a straight arrow to take any chances, much like Terry. But Harold was a naive small-town kid on his own in New York, with Senga across the hall, and well...

As for Burma, the one man of the funnies I'd most like to see her run into is J. Hartford Oakdale. She'd have a field day.

A Terry prestige miniseries would be wonderful, but it would have to fight the temptation to camp it up. The spectre of Indiana Jones would hang heavy over any modern director approaching the material, and they'd have to try very hard to keep the emphasis on the interplay of the characters and not so much on the action and the spectacle.

I would love to see "T&TP" done by the team that did "Babylon Berlin" or "The Man in the High Castle," so to your point, Lizzie, the opposite of camp. I think the focus of the story would be the geopolitics of the invasion with the characters from TT&P reflecting those realities. One, it's probably a lot easier to sell to decision makers and the public as a story about WWII than some "old comicstrip" story and, two, it would actually be neat to not see the invasion's geopolitics palliated for political reasons. It needs to be written and sold as a WWII story with "TT&P" the underlying construct, but not the selling point. For the writers, basically, you already have characters and plots, you just need to reframe it and bring it up to date.

Frighteningly, I think you're right about Harold, but hey, Senga would probably have done the same to Skeezix, only pure Terry would have not succumbed to her "charms."

As you said later, Burma would chew up and spit Hartford out, but it would be neat to see and, who knows, Hartford could prove to be more nimble than we think as he does keep slipping in and out of " The Bungles" all but untouched.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It would be especially interesting to see how the DL fits into the real-life politics in China at the time. Caniff doesn't specifically indicate whether the DL is aligned with the KMT or the CCP in her fight against the Invader. It's likely not a question he was allowed to address at the time, and it's interesting to parse the DL's actions for clues as to her alignment. Imagine a movie scenario where the DL and Hu Shee are on opposite sides of this question, and are forced to work together for the sake of survival.

 

[Harp]

Gal D probably will play her cards shrewdly against Koumintang and Mao, one against the other
but for the duration of the Sino-Japanese War she will be forced to sit shirtfront stud poker, playing
cards against percentage dealt by dealer fate. Occasionally she will win but the odds are against
a lone fox or wolf so eventually she will be forced to chose sides in the far larger world.
The Koumintang is Dragon Lady's sole pragmatic option. Mao is a butcher only the likes of Stalin
approaches for sheer slaughter, he will not countenance her talents nor she his cultural holocaust.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Adolf Hitler in a formal statement last night accused the United States of "firing the first shot" in "attacking Germany" in the shooting war in the North Atlantic, and declared that "Herr Roosevelt has been placed before the tribunal" for world judgement. The declaration by Hitler was read to foreign press representatives who were summoned to a special meeting in the Berlin assembly room of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. The statement was datelined "From the Fuehrer's Field Headquarters," indicating that the words came from Hitler himself. In the statement, Hitler declared that the recent submarine attack on the USS Greer occurred only after "it had attacked the submarine for some hours with depth charges," and also asserted that the attack on the USS Kearny occurred only after that ship dropped depth charges on another German submarine. The statement did not specifically address the sinking of the USS Reuben James, but earlier yesterday, German authorized quarters remarked that "anybody walking along the railroad tracks at night should not be surprised if they get run over by an express train."

Hope is still held out for 70 missing crewmen from the Reuben James, but Naval authorities stated today that there has been no further word concerning possible survivors. Meanwhile, in Danville, Virginia, the mother of of a seaman assigned to that destroyer yesterday released a letter she had received from her son last week in which the sailor, Seaman Leonidas C. Dickinson, stated that the vessel had "gotten two subs, maybe more. " The sailor also promised that he would have "much to tell" his mother when he saw her next. The recipient of the letter, Mrs. E. C. Moore of Danville, indicated that other comments in the letter suggested that her son was in Iceland when he last wrote.

German armies continue to pound at all approached to Moscow, with Soviet reports acknowledging that defenses have been pierced by an armored Nazi spearhead near Tula, southern bastion of the Moscow defense zone. The reports from the Soviet radio monitored in London described fierce fighting along all fronts, and further stated that five German planes were shot down over the capital yesterday.

The first air raid alarm in London in more than three months sounded last night. A single German plane dropped a single bomb on the London outskirts, while a number of bombs were dropped in rural sectors of England. Anti-aircraft batteries were reported to have downed eight Nazi planes.

District Attorney William O'Dwyer will be elected Mayor on Tuesday by a plurality of more than a quarter of a million votes, predicted National Democratic Chairman Edward J. Flynn last night as the Brooklyn prosecutor drove his campaign toward a whirlwind roundup. The candidate's grueling schedule yesterday found him delivering ten speeches at as many campaign functions spread over Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. Mr. Flynn predicted that his own home borough of the Bronx will "do its share toward this fine vote of confidence for this outstanding candidate."

Mayor LaGuardia brought his quest for a third term to a close last night with a vigorous defense of his administration, and declared that voters on Tuesday will have a clear choice between "just government" and a "return to the tin-box era of pre-1934." The Mayor further denounced the O'Dwyer campaign for "resorting to the foulest type of mudslinging" and "underhanded appeals to racial and religious bigotry." The Mayor spoke to thousands of admirers representing the Republican, American Labor, Fusion, and United City parties at Madison Square Garden, and was joined on the platform by Manhattan District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey.

Thru the rain and mud of the most dismal Saturday of the football season, Army and Notre Dame slogged to a scoreless tie before 76,000 waterlogged spectators at Yankee Stadium.

(A pretty fair analysis of non-rhoticity as the root of classic Brooklynese, with the "curl-coil merger" an example of non-rhoticity at its most extreme, and while they don't say so here, you can also see both an Irish ("Oi", "foine") and a Yiddish ("hett," "sonk") influence in the dialect as spoken. However, the pronunciation "berl" is more common in 1941 to Queens than to Brooklyn proper. The Brooklyn pronunciation is more of a clear merger of "oi" and "er," and would sound more like "birle." Joe and Sally, however, have only one response: "Noitz!")

(With games going on at both Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds simultaneously, that's over a hundred thousand soggy spectators clotting the uptown subway lines before and after. Imagine the excitement.)

(Ebbets Field began playing the Anthem from an amplified phonograph record late in 1939. Prior to that it had only been played at ballparks on special occasions such as Opening Day and the World Series. As for the draft, the fact that Tommy doesn't refer to Lavagetto as an indispensable loss in the event he's called seems a pretty clear indication that the Arky Vaughan deal is just about cinched. And thanks for not calling Hugh Mulcahy by his unfortunate nickname, "Losing Pitcher," so given because that's how his name always shows up in the box score. He's a far better pitcher than his record shows.)

One of the city's oldest traditional schoolboy football rivalries flares up again on Tuesday when Erasmus Hall meets Manual Training at Ebbets Field. It's the 34th edition of the Election Day clash between the two schools.

The Detroit Tigers may join the night-baseball parade in 1942. Owner Walter O. Briggs is said to be considering several bids for the installation of lighting equipment at Briggs Stadium for next season.

(It's a good thing Miss Wilkinson probably doesn't read TREND. There's more misogyny in the first paragraph here than in all of Parliament combined. And what's with all the obscure British personalities lately? Aren't there any interesting Americans left? I mean, Lois DeFee's in town!)

Irish-born Jack Leckie writes in to the Old Timers page to remember the glorious 1880s in Williamsburg, when the gals wore long dresses and bustles, the gents wore derbies and Prince Albert coats, and the real dudes heading to the dances at Eckford Hall wore patent-leather shoes and a rose in their coat lapels.

("Old Crow?" Tsk, Mr. Ryder. The Crow are a Plains tribe from the Yellowstone valley, and have nothing to do with pueblo country. Mr. Harman needs to do better research.)

(Actually, there's no physical reason why Scarlet's dress should ride up like that to show the top of her stocking except that Mr. Stamm wanted it to. Maybe she needs to slap him, too.)

(All small Scottish girls enjoy pouring water on visitors. It's in the blood.)

(Poor Bill. Ever hear of wheel-balancing? And again with the novelty beard, Dan? Didn't that kit from the joke store come with any other disguises?)

(It's that other 35 percent you gotta worry about.)

("I need a Camel!" Tarzan said abruptly. "Or a Lucky, or a Chesterfield. Anything. Well, not an Old Gold, I can't stand those.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Mr. Seligman enjoys trolling his family from the grave. Look at the old boy, he knew exactly what he was doing.

Better get used to it!

"Hey Ma, guess what I learned in the funnies today!"

Theory: "Oliver Warbucks" is just a front that Punjab came up with. Punj himself is the actual tycoon-genius-hero, and he just went out and hired this dumb bald white guy to play the role so he could pull the strings from behind the scenes. WELL, IT MAKES SENSE!

"Ooogie Boogie Woogie!" Must be a BMI song.

So we leave Dude Hennick to his private grief, while Terry learns the disadvantages of flying coach.

Lilacs' patch-pocket leisure coat is all the rage in the fall of 1941, as is going around with pants two inches too short.

I've seen this plot before. Many times I've seen this plot before.

Every neighborhood had a brat like little Peter here. He'll get his. Possibly as soon as, oh, next Sunday?

Boy, the comic section is going all out to be educational today.

 

[Fading Fast]

... The recipient of the letter, Mrs. E. C. Moore of Danville, indicated that other comments in the letter suggested that her son was in Iceland when he last wrote....

Loose lips sink ships.

....One of the city's oldest traditional schoolboy football rivalries flares up again on Tuesday when Erasmus Hall meets Manual Training at Ebbets Field. It's the 34th edition of the Election Day clash between the two schools....

Is Sally going?

... (Actually, there's no physical reason why Scarlet's dress should ride up like that to show the top of her stocking except that Mr. Stamm wanted it to. Maybe she needs to slap him, too.)..

Prurience sells; he's just trying to keep up with "Terry and the Pirates," and "Harold Teen" and "Mary Worth."

As opposed to many of our comicstrips, so far, "Invisible Scarlett" is proving to be pure kiddy stuff. Trying to teach a kid to have an internal moral compass is a good thing, but does this approach ever work on kids? Or is Stamm playing a deeper game and trying to tell parents to teach their kids morals as Invisible Scarlett is trying to do with this kid?

...
(Poor Bill. Ever hear of wheel-balancing? And again with the novelty beard, Dan? Didn't that kit from the joke store come with any other disguises?)...

Didn't Veeda wonder why the plane stunk of spirit gum?

And in the Daily News...... Mr. Seligman enjoys trolling his family from the grave. Look at the old boy, he knew exactly what he was doing....

I agree, but the girls are also getting screwed as that estate is being calculatingly burned down on them. They should get a forensic accounting of that estate; in 1941 dollars, a big chunk of money disappeared.

...
Theory: "Oliver Warbucks" is just a front that Punjab came up with. Punj himself is the actual tycoon-genius-hero, and he just went out and hired this dumb bald white guy to play the role so he could pull the strings from behind the scenes. WELL, IT MAKES SENSE!....

One of your best theories ever, Lizzie.

Think about this awfulness - Bill Slagg is going to be the hero that saves all four of them.

 

[Harp]

I agree, but the girls are also getting screwed as that estate is being calculatingly burned down on them. They should get a forensic accounting of that estate; in 1941 dollars, a big chunk of money disappear...

Haven't followed this kitten yarn but seems the deceased gentleman passed intestate with liens against firm
and estate which must first resolved to the court's satisfaction, then the estate executor will act according to proper
form, which may include dower privilege if spousal issue exists. Seems as though the harem girls are veiled beneficiaries.
Piercing the veil here seems improbable. And especially if this is filed in the Empire State where legal exactitude
and puritanical strictness have a sibling relation; more so avuncular within state law so as to be incestuous.

 

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Secretary of State Cordell Hull has warned Finland to quit the war now if it desires to retain the friendship of the United States. The Secretary revealed today that the Soviet Union has offered to negotiate peace with Finland, an offer formally transmitted to the Finnish Government by means of the U. S. State Department, and he told a press conference this morning that he had personally conveyed that offer to Finnish Minister Hjalmar J. Procope on August 18th. Mr. Hull indicated that no Finnish minister or government authority has shown any willingness to negotiate the settlement of hostilities between Russia and Finland, and he declared that a firm statement has been delivered to Helsinki warning that Finland must "give satisfactory evidence that it intends to discontinue promptly military operations against Soviet territory, and to withdraw Finnish troops" if it desires to retain the "traditional friendship" between Finland and the United States. Finland, along with Rumania and Hungary are assisting Germany in its invasion of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Government has recently urged Britain to declare war against those three nations.

Brooklyn is critical territory today as District Attorney William O'Dwyer wages an 11th hour uphill drive to cut down Mayor LaGuardia's indicated lead in three of the city's five boroughs. Democratic supporters of Mr. O'Dwyer's mayoral candidacy concentrated their efforts in four major Assembly Districts spanning Flatbush, Holy Cross, Bensonhurst, and Flatlands. Four years ago, the Mayor carried all but four of the borough's 23 districts, and a poll conducted last week by the Daily News placed twelve of the 23 districts in Mr. O'Dwyer's column. The Democratic campaign will today emphasize those neighborhoods where the Mayor retains a lead in pre-election surveys leading up to tomorrow's vote.

President Roosevelt today reemphasized his endorsement of the Mayor, and denied reports that he had repudiated his position in favor of Mr. LaGuardia's reelection. The President stated at a press conference this morning that word had reached him of "reports circulating in New York City" that he had withdrawn his endorsement, reports which he firmly denied. "There is not one word or vestige of truth in such reports," the President stated.

A call for the complete repeal of the Neutrality Act was heard today as testimony on amendment of that act to allow the arming of U. S. merchant ships entered its seventh day in the Senate. Senator Chan Gurney (D-South Dakota) declared that Germany is now an actual enemy of the United States, rather than a potential enemy, and, calling isolationism the single greatest impediment to National Defense, Sen. Gurney blamed the Neutrality Act itself for helping to start the war. Senator Gurney is one of three Republicans, who, with the support of 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell L. Willkie, has taken a position in favor of complete elimination, rather than mere amendment, of the Neutrality Act.

(Point of Order: Bill appears to be plastering there himself, rather than helping to plaster. WHICH IS IT, BILL?)

Accused Nazi spy Herman Lang testified today in Brooklyn Federal Court that he was "hounded" for information concerning production figures at the Carl I. Norden works in Ridgewood by undercover FBI agent William Sebold, whom Lang assumed to be a Gestapo operative. Lang flatly denied charges that he ever reconstructed the top secret Norden Bombsight from memory for the Nazis, or that he ever told Sebold that he had done so, but he acknowledged that Sebold may have drawn that conclusion from remarks Lang had made "to placate" the man he believed to be a Gestapo agent. Lang stated that he also made remarks to Sebold during that interviewed claiming to have met Hitler, Goering, and other high Nazi officials simply to impress his interrogator, and insisted that he does not in fact know, and did in fact not meet, any of these persons.

(Of course you meet a higher class of punk on Long Island. I mean, really.)

(Keep 'em flying, Genny!)

(You may recall that Judge Taylor is known for his occasional flights of poetry delivered from the bench. For that reason, and that reason alone, he deserved to be reelected.)

("Besides, how often can you listen to that story about the second lieutenant, the corporal, and the garbage barrel?)

("WHAAAAAAAT?" bellows Joe. "MEDWICK AN' CAMILLI FA MCCO'MICK AN' VANDEH MEEEH? OHHHHHHH, NOT ON YA TINTYPE!" "Not even," adds Sally, "if t'ey t'row inna Dooka Win'seh!")

There is no reason why Erasmus Hall shouldn't trounce Manual Training in the 34th annual Election Day meeting between the two grid squads, with the Buff and Blue this year unbeaten, untied, and plenty hot. But Erasmus has gone into this game before convinced of a sure win, only to emerge itself trounced, so one must acknowledge that anything can happen.

("It's all set," says Sally. "Ma's gonna take care 'a Leonora, an' I got a ticket lowa deck onna t'oity yahd line. Wherezat raccoon coat?" "Oh," says Joe, "I gotta get t'at back f'm Solly today. He borra'dit. Fa' Hallaween. Haddis pa'hty downa plant. Solly wen' as Russia, y'know, like a beah. Chased Heinie Schultz aroun'a vats. You shudda seenit. Solly hadonna big moustache too, you know, like'at Joe Stallion, but I t'ink t'at confused people. Ev'rybody said 'hey, Jerry Colonna! How's Yehudi?' I ASK YA.")

Al Helfer, Red Barber's portly sidekick on the Dodger baseball broadcasts, has a new off-season job as the genial master of ceremonies for one of the most exciting new radio shows of the year. Brother Al is presiding over "Spotlight Bands," under the auspices of a certain soft-drink concern, introducing the nation's top dance bands six nights a week over the WOR-Mutual hookup. He says working a swing show is fine by him. "Red goes for that heavy longhair stuff," says Brother Al. "But not me!"

(You're tampering with forces beyond your control.)

("I've specialized in bean-counting contests for twenty years." Nice work if you can get it.)

Starring Alan Ladd as Tom, Rosalind Russell as Connie, and Veronica Lake as Angel Varden, with Ned Sparks as Gabe Flack.

(Wait, who's this guy Harrigan? A NEW SIDEKICK FOR DAN? GALLOPIN' GOLDFISH!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Well, at least LOSER O'Dwyer will cinch the Short People's Vote.

If you skip your audition with Major Bowes, are you really all that interested in show business?

"My FUSION of Fine Flavors." Well Played, H&H, but what about the American Labor Party?

Yeah, Warbucks, even the Asp knows you're a dink.

"Oh, and there's a good chance he might have a submachine gun under his coat. Just thought you ought to know."

Everybody's falling out of moving vehicles these days.

Oh, you're so close, Andy. So close. "Turkey face?" No, no. "How about 'Duck Face'?" No, no, now you're getting colder...

Yeah, nobody likes a wise guy.

You've got to admire Emmy's chutzpah for wearing a boa before 6 PM.

Gee, that Veronica works fast.