The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

It would be entirely consistent with who Pat was in 1936 that he would not have, at that time, embraced the prospect of fatherhood. Who he is in 1942 is similar, but not quite the same -- he's more mature, less impetuous, and more willing to face the consequences of his actions. But Normandie isn't the same person she was in 1936 either, and thereby hangs the tale.

As for T&TP as art, it was one of the few comic strips to be recognized as such in its own time -- it got more press than any other comic of its day, partly because Caniff himself actively sought it out, but largely because the unique realism of the strip was recognized by anyone who followed it for any length of time. Here's an article from 1942, originally published in Coronet magazine, and reprinted by Caniff's hometown newspaper, the Dayton Journal. The full-cast drawing is spectacular -- not only do you see pretty much the entire cast up to that time, but you see *who each character is,* just from their posture and expressions. See how many you can identify without looking at the key!

View attachment 415655 View attachment 415656
It's always good to see old friends again, even the ones we'll never see again.

Wonderful article; it felt kinda de javu, at least we've seem that awesome group pic before, right? I love that very neat anecdote about the Navy reaching out to him. Also cool is the origin of the character Dude Hennick.

She's a comicstrip character, but I still feel sad when I think about Raven and her stupid soccer jersey no longer being with us. You don't get the true understanding of Hu Shee from her pic.

I know you've told us he continued to write a strip for decades, but you've noted that it wasn't as successful as T&TP. I'm surprised that Caniff didn't go on to have even more success.

 

[Harp]

I have no doubt of your legal expertise, but there's also this: It's 1942 and they are in war-torn China where the rule of law and documentation is almost nonexistent.

That said, Normandie did marry Sandhurst and, thus, morally owes him her sincere and best effort at a good marriage, which includes sticking with him through tough times. But IMO, on a moral plane, he vitiated that obligation when he tried to swap her and Merrily's freedom (and probably their lives) for his.

At that point, I'd have had no problem if Normandie had quietly put a bullet in the back of Sandhurst's brain, told everyone the Japanese killed him and left with Pat.

Tit for tat and all that.

The post script panel Lizzie dug up circa 1937 serves legal and moral template,
objective statement neither discharged nor suborn vantage 1942 five years later,
evidenced Normandie mens rea after felonious assault her husband by Padraic Ryan,
defendant.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think Caniff's subsequent strip, "Steve Canyon," did all right from a circulation and financial perspective -- but it was never as artistically satisfying as "Terry," largely because it locked itself early on into a military structure. Col. Canyon was an authority figure, responsible to other authority figures, and as such he never had the freedom that Pat and Terry had before the US entered the war.

Ironically, this is the same fate that claimed the post-Caniff incarnation of "Terry" -- by the time the strip ended in 1973, Terry was a middle-aged man who'd been in uniform most of his life, and he acted like one. I didn't pay a lot of attention to either strip when I was growing up, largely because they seemed to be panel after panel of men in uniforms standing around talking. That's a vast oversimplification, of course -- both strips had more variety in their stories than that -- but the *image* they projected was rather austere compared to the freewheeling quality of Caniff's "Terry."

Pat will eventually end up in uniform, but he'll never come across as a square, not even when he shows up with wrinkles and greying hair in late-era "Terry." That, unfortunately, can't be said of Col. Canyon, or even middle-aged Col. Terry Lee.

It makes me very sad that Raven doesn't appear in that group portrait -- but Captain Judas does. C'mon, Burma, you've got a clear shot.

 

[Fading Fast]

The post script panel Lizzie dug up circa 1937 serves legal and moral template,
objective statement neither discharged nor suborn vantage 1942 five years later,
evidenced Normandie mens rea after felonious assault her husband by Padraic Ryan,
defendant.

Yes, you have the law on your side (I had to Google a few words to understand it), but I stand by my statement that in 1942 in China, she could have done it and gotten away with it and I wouldn't have had a moral pang of guilt about it.

 

[Harp]

Yes, you have the law on your side (I had to Google a few words to understand it), but I stand by my statement that in 1942 in China, she could have done it and gotten away with it and I wouldn't have had a moral pang of guilt about it.

The crux here is that Normandie is a woman of moral rectitude. She is also inexplicable
to ordinary expedient measure, which would have witnessed Padraic do the Maciavelli,
sans remorse; yet as actor, wife, mother she remains, ostensibly, and her word must be
considered valid testament to her true self if not actual sentiment, loyal to her husband.
Normandie, irregardless of past what ifs, is a responsible adult. And she accused Ryan
of assaulting her husband. I suspect he is alive and Caniff will return him to page.
Past being prologue, and this comic strip being literature, anything else is unthinkable.

Locus doesn't obviate morality inherent this particular equation; nor the times in which
these two are living. And their greatest struggle besides the war is the all too apparent
conflict they find themselves morally locked inside. There is no escape from ourselves.
Both have made choices, incurred consequences, and Sandhurst is the variable
within equation, a problem present tense for both.

And furthermore, if Sandhurst should erasure, and Normandie settle resolve conscience,
releasing Pat from felony does not ensure that their love will remain intact.

 

[Fading Fast]

The crux here is that Normandie is a woman of moral rectitude. She is also inexplicable
to ordinary expedient measure, which would have witnessed Padraic do the Maciavelli,
sans remorse; yet as actor, wife, mother she remains, ostensibly, and her word must be
considered valid testament to her true self if not actual sentiment, loyal to her husband.
Normandie, irregardless of past what ifs, is a responsible adult. And she accused Ryan
of assaulting her husband. I suspect he is alive and Caniff will return him to page.
Past being prologue, and this comic strip being literature, anything else is unthinkable.

Locus doesn't obviate morality inherent this particular equation; nor the times in which
these two are living. And their greatest struggle besides the war is the all too apparent
conflict they find themselves morally locked inside. There is no escape from ourselves.
Both have made choices, incurred consequences, and Sandhurst is the variable
within equation, a problem present tense for both.

And furthermore, if Sandhurst should erasure, and Normandie settle resolve conscience,
releasing Pat from felony does not ensure that their love will remain intact.

As a woman of such high moral character, she's got a tough square to circle as her husband just tried to trade, not only his wife's life, but his wife and, effectively, daughter's life, for his own. If Normandie wants to forgive that, to me that's where obedience to a conceptual morality/marriage contract becomes a vice.

Sandhurst would sell her out again if it would save him. But if Normandie needs to "honor her word" from when she got married and the only justice she believes in, in a worn torn country without justice, is the court system she came from - good luck and God speed. Plus, Pat would be better off looking for a smarter woman who can adjust to facts on the ground, especially with the life he leads.

To Caniff's drawing of her character, people grow and evolve as real life intercedes. Nothing would be more natural than for Normandie to realize that some of her beliefs, at least the proper execution of said beliefs, need to change owing to her life experiences.

 

[LizzieMaine]

For what it's worth, Milton Caniff is on record as stating that if he had stayed on the strip after 1946, Pat would have married Burma. He had the story all plotted out, but it never happened. That would, however, have been something to read. As it happens, Pat largely fades out of the strip after 1947, making only rare reappearances, and after Caniff leaves, Burma's fate remains entirely unexplored.

As I noted yesterday, Normandie was essentially still a kid when she met and was swept off her feet by Pat, who was older than she was by at least a few years but not all that much. A lot has happened in both of their lives since then, and I'd think if they'd met again under ordinary circumstances, they'd both be approaching the situation in a less inflamed manner. It's interesting that basically all of their time together has been shaded by adrenaline -- after the wild adventures of their first encounter, they didn't meet again until that affair where Sandhurst was abducted and tortured by Mongol raiders. And now they meet yet again in the middle of a war zone. All of this is going to make passions run higher than they might. Bring them together in a peacetime setting and I bet the conversation would take a different tone.

As far as Normandie's moral obligation to Sandhurst goes, as far as I, and the laws of 1942 are concerned, that ended the moment he raised a fist to her - they were married in New York, where state law specifies that cruelty is grounds for divorce. She stays with him because she thinks she ought to for the sake of "the marriage," but that marriage, at this point, is a moral fiction.

 

[Harp]

As a woman of such high moral character, she's got a tough square to circle as her husband just tried to trade, not only his wife's life, but his wife and, effectively, daughter's life, for his own. If Normandie wants to forgive that, to me that's where obedience to a conceptual morality/marriage contract becomes a vice.

Sandhurst would sell her out again if it would save him. But if Normandie needs to "honor her word" from when she got married and the only justice she believes in, in a worn torn country without justice, is the court system she came from - good luck and God speed. Plus, Pat would be better off looking for a smarter woman who can adjust to facts on the ground, especially with the life he leads.

To Caniff's drawing of her character, people grow and evolve as real life intercedes. Nothing would be more natural than for Normandie to realize that some of her beliefs, at least the proper execution of said beliefs, need to change owing to her life experiences.

My personal inference is Normandie has begun to see reason. She cannot rationally
ignore the fact that she has married a louse. But, Merrile aside for a moment, Pat
is at least for now stuck in Limbo-a purgatorial that may chastise his guilt while
perhaps cleansing his love for Normandie. Ardor most passionate nevertheless
chastens to conscience.

 

[Harp]

I think Caniff's subsequent strip, "Steve Canyon," did all right from a circulation and financial perspective -- but it was never as artistically satisfying as "Terry," largely because it locked itself early on into a military structure. Col. Canyon was an authority figure, responsible to other authority figures, and as such he never had the freedom that Pat and Terry had before the US entered the war.

Ironically, this is the same fate that claimed the post-Caniff incarnation of "Terry" -- by the time the strip ended in 1973, Terry was a middle-aged man who'd been in uniform most of his life, and he acted like one. I didn't pay a lot of attention to either strip when I was growing up, largely because they seemed to be panel after panel of men in uniforms standing around talking. That's a vast oversimplification, of course -- both strips had more variety in their stories than that -- but the *image* they projected was rather austere compared to the freewheeling quality of Caniff's "Terry."

Pat will eventually end up in uniform, but he'll never come across as a square, not even when he shows up with wrinkles and greying hair in late-era "Terry." That, unfortunately, can't be said of Col. Canyon, or even middle-aged Col. Terry Lee.

It makes me very sad that Raven doesn't appear in that group portrait -- but Captain Judas does. C'mon, Burma, you've got a clear shot.

Love, adore this thread. Absolutely.

 

[Harp]

For what it's worth, Milton Caniff is on record as stating that if he had stayed on the strip after 1946, Pat would have married Burma. He had the story all plotted out, but it never happened. That would, however, have been something to read. As it happens, Pat largely fades out of the strip after 1947, making only rare reappearances, and after Caniff leaves, Burma's fate remains entirely unexplored.

As I noted yesterday, Normandie was essentially still a kid when she met and was swept off her feet by Pat, who was older than she was by at least a few years but not all that much. A lot has happened in both of their lives since then, and I'd think if they'd met again under ordinary circumstances, they'd both be approaching the situation in a less inflamed manner. It's interesting that basically all of their time together has been shaded by adrenaline -- after the wild adventures of their first encounter, they didn't meet again until that affair where Sandhurst was abducted and tortured by Mongol raiders. And now they meet yet again in the middle of a war zone. All of this is going to make passions run higher than they might. Bring them together in a peacetime setting and I bet the conversation would take a different tone.

As far as Normandie's moral obligation to Sandhurst goes, as far as I, and the laws of 1942 are concerned, that ended the moment he raised a fist to her - they were married in New York, where state law specifies that cruelty is grounds for divorce. She stays with him because she thinks she ought to for the sake of "the marriage," but that marriage, at this point, is a moral fiction.

I recall my mother telling the clan how I would approach her with the Sunday
comics section asking her "read me this" and I still remember Dondi and Terry.
My introduction to literature.

Normandie, undeniably admirable, and equally inexplicable even strange.
Or, uncharitably: weird. Padraic best advised to move on. How she ever could
agree to marry Sandhurst in the first instance, whatever. Hopefully she'll wise
to life pronto. But Pat should move on.

Where is April Kane? And is she allright?

 

[LizzieMaine]

April was believed headed for the Phillippines when she fled Hong Kong to escape from Sammy T. Tapper, which, with the unfolding of recent events, does not bode well at all for her fate. Terry certainly believed that was her destination, so he headed that way as well. What this mean for their respective futures remains to be seen -- Terry, obviously, isn't going to die because we know he'll go on to serve in uniform, and besides, "And The Pirates" would be a dumb title.

But April -- well, people didn't think Caniff would dare to kill off Raven, but he did. Given what is happening in the Phillipines right now, that might be an easier fate than some of the possible alternatives. The thought of April, the strip's ultimate innocent, in a Japanese prison camp is a genuinely disturbing one.,

 

[Harp]

Caniff plays characters like pawns on a chessboard. Still chess not checkers
but with his prognostic grasp of the larger events unfolding readership deserve
credit for perseverance. April is far too young for cavalier romping around;
so the board game suddenly changes from adroit chess to crackerbarrel checkers
spooling disbelief. Raven's death, while admittedly tragic, nonetheless
came with the territory. Burma's a knockaround gal, come what may. Any comic
strip even literary, is set type against far more lethal rythyms clearly set atop
the printed page. Headline grabbers are daily fixture and loose ends now
that there is a war on should be tied Milt.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Mr. Pelley is not just another homegrown Fascist in a fancy shirt. Mr. Pelley is a leading figure in the anti-Semitic religio-political cult of "British Israelism," which teaches that Anglo-Saxons of British descent are in physical fact the "ten lost tribes of Israel," and that the biblical tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim are the literal blood ancestors of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants of the United States and Great Britain. Among the other notable followers of this cult in 1942 are the prominent radio commentator Boake Carter and Henry Ford's public spokesman and right-hand-man William J. Cameron. The "British Israelite" movement is the direct ancestor of the neo-Nazi "Christian Identity" movement of today.)

The chairman of the Senate committee investigating the war program stated today that several other American companies aside from Standard Oil of New Jersey have entered into cartel agreements with the German chemical combine I. G. Farbenindustrie. Senator Harry S. Truman (D-Mo.) did not name those firms, but did assert that U. S. production of rubber, aluminum, and magnesium has been directly retarded by these business agreements. Yesterday, the committee heard testimony from Assistant Secretary of State Adolph Berle that Standard of New Jersey defied State Department edicts and persisted in selling aviation gasoline to two Axis-owned airlines in Brazil until the State Department took active steps to blacklist the company's Brazilian subsidiary. Berle's remarks flatly contradicted earlier testimony by Standard president W. S. Farish, who claimed that those sales were conducted in compliance with State Department policies.

Former Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh reports today to his new job with the Ford Motor Company. Mr. Lindbergh will be employed at the company's Willow Run facility, now turned over to production of bomber planes, and will report directly to company president Henry Ford, but it has not yet been disclosed exactly what Lindbergh's duties will be.

The manufacturers of the top-secret Norden Bombsight will receive the coveted Navy "E" pennant denoting excellence in war production at a ceremony next Friday night in Manhattan. Officials of Carl L. Norden Inc., including Mr. Norden himself, will be present for the ceremony in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria. During its eighteen years of existence, the company's only customer has been the U. S. Navy.

("Yeah," snorts Joe. "A name t' waw contes'." "Hah," scoffs Sally. "Teah off t' toppa Hirahita t'win'.")

("Gob Feller." Somebody's having way too much fun.)

("And don't ask me to bring home any more donuts, because I won't!")

("Each is a Solomon in his court." Especially the actual Solomon, who I bet has Cliff up on a pile of overdue parking tickets.)

Sandra Michael, radio writer, will receive a 1942 George Foster Peabody award next week for "Against The Storm," radio's most intelligent soap opera. Other winners include CBS dramatist Norman Corwin for his Bill Of Rights play "We Hold These Truths...", news commentator Cecil Brown of CBS for his candid reports on events in Egypt, Malaya, and Australia, and conductor Alfred Wallerstein of WOR for his work in symphonic broadcasting. A special award will also be given to NBC's University Of Chicago Roundtable broadcast for its superb presentations on current topics. The award ceremony will be held at the Waldorf-Astoria on Friday, April 10th.

("But wait, you say you require regular treatments from some sort of device to maintain your strength? 4-F!!!!")

("What slush!" "What crust!" "Slush!" "Crust!" "SLUSH!" "CRUST!")

(Well won't this be fun.)

(This is turning into a pretty adept commentary on the joys of car ownership.)

(A LITTLE LOUDER PLEASE WE CAN'T HEAR YOU.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I'd forgotten about the Buzzell case, but the News never forgets.

See ya in October!

Anyone we know?

One thing I enjoy about Gus's storytelling is that when he goes all out, he goes ALL OUT.

And in six months, you'll have two carrots and a baby tomato.

Wonder if anybody left any dynamite lying around?

No thug ever survives a pratfall!

You still have bicycle tires FOR NOW.

It runs in the family.

"Only one thing for it. We'll have to have Shadow over...wait, put down that knife!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Andby request, here's a glance back to 1936, and Pat's reaction to receiving letters from Normandie after she was taken away by her aunt.

He doesn't even open them, because he knows what's in them, and he doesn't want to face it. On to the next adventure!

 

[ChiTownScion]

My uncle's (dad's brother) pet name for his wife was Honung, Swedish for "Honey." Goofy actually more resembles my dad at that late teen/ early 20's stage, but he's close enough.

My uncle - I always thought- more resembled Leon, a character in Bob Cordray's strip of the 1960's "Smidgens." Leon was usually saddled on a local fire hydrant three sheets to the wind. My uncle in question was a deeply religious teetotaler (at least when I knew him) but the thick glasses and large red nose were assuredly his.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

Former Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh reports today to his new job with the Ford Motor Company. Mr. Lindbergh will be employed at the company's Willow Run facility, now turned over to production of bomber planes, and will report directly to company president Henry Ford, but it has not yet been disclosed exactly what Lindbergh's duties will be.
...

Lindbergh and Henry Ford should get along fine swapping antisemitic rants after work over beers. Won't that be fun for them.

...

("But wait, you say you require regular treatments from some sort of device to maintain your strength? 4-F!!!!")
...

Considering that they didn't have any protective gear and were probably running those x-ray boxes all day, sadly, you have to think the number of incidences of cancer were high, later in life, for those operators.

...

(Well won't this be fun.)
...

My money's on Leona.

...

(This is turning into a pretty adept commentary on the joys of car ownership.)
...

And a commentary that's still relevant today.

And in the Daily News...

I'd forgotten about the Buzzell case, but the News never forgets.
...

I'd forgotten about her too, but once the News jarred my memory, I did remember that the young Miss Buzzell, umm, "got around" quite a bit.

The torpedoed ship, radio operator and monkey is a good story.

...

One thing I enjoy about Gus's storytelling is that when he goes all out, he goes ALL OUT.
...

Between this storyline and the current one in "The Bungle Family," 1942 comicstrip land is bringing plenty of outright weirdness.

...

Wonder if anybody left any dynamite lying around?
...

"All four panels today including a beautiful arched-back shot. Now I'll just sit and wait for Hollywood to call. Woof, woof, woof, woof, we're under attack!" "Relax, Sandy, it's just a few leaves falling outside the window." "Oh, never mind."

 

[Harp]

Andby request, here's a glance back to 1936, and Pat's reaction to receiving letters from Normandie after she was taken away by her aunt.

View attachment 415917

He doesn't even open them, because he knows what's in them, and he doesn't want to face it. On to the next adventure!

Object. The first thing I learned in law school was to know the facts of the case.
And, while in school I did a turn behind the counter of a convenience store;
during which time a Chicago cop came in for the free coffee kept for the blue
and recounted a local traffic homicide. Pedestrian later died at hospital.
I assumed typical drunk driver scenario. Cop corrected that pronto, shaking
his head-driver was stone-cold sober. The pedestrian drunk as a snake.
Taught me a valuable lesson, do not assume, get the facts.

Pat has been run out of Dodge by his gal. Thinks along that line so her belated
correspondence waits for more immediate concern. Neither right nor wrong,
but again, choices incur circumstance and time waits neither gender.
Also, from their subsequent meet-up converse, Pat-who probably read those
late after-the-fact-Jacks was never informed of his paternity; further argument
strengthened by Normandie's evasive non disclosure. She has not told him
that he is the guy. And not to be a smart ass but standing atop her soap box
looking down at Pat with pious platitudes for her louse of a husband hasn't
clarified matters much.

I firmly believe that had Padraic known he was father to a child he would
have shifted locus pocus to the Big Apple. He is a man of character so
unlike that creep she wed.

 

[Harp]

^CTS: I confess, mea culpa, to having seen the late honorable Mr Justice Douglas
as foolish aged satyr whose jurisprudence fell wayside against a curmudgeon's
seeming sexuality and reluctance to quit stage with a modicum grace.

I read enough of him to have known better.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Incidentally, am I the only one who thinks 1936 Terry is a bit of a smartass? "If you had any income." Hey kid, you're, what, thirteen now? Wanna be fourteen?