The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Ew. Ew. Ew.

I've heard that "Murder In The Rest Room" is a real thriller.

"Not you, Debby. YOU CAN STAY!"

I think they should appoint Bull Moose in charge of all espionage investigations for the rest of the war.

In this world, you gotta seize the opportunities.

"There is an advantage in knowing several young men!" No double-standard here!

Panel Two -- how can Cindy even walk?

"If you can't run with the big dogs..."

PUSH SANDHURST OUT THE DOOR!

Oh no, not Bill Slagg again...

 

[Fading Fast]

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Dispatches from Russia reported last night that German defense lines continue to crack under terrific Soviet pressure, and it is hinted that a major announcement will be forthcoming on Monday to mark the 24th Anniversary of the establishment of the Red Army. The London radio reported that 41 German divisions have suffered heavy losses in the Russian campaign, with 350,000 men killed in the past two and a half months of fighting.
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So, who controls the Ukraine in '42 at this moment - just askin'?

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(You know it's the second day of spring training when Leo starts messing with the lineup.)
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I cringe thinking about the amount of money I would have lost if someone was willing to bet me that Erasmus has a fencing team - a freakin' fencing team at Erasmus, are you kidding me! Sally, really?

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View attachment 404284
(Pole vaulting? With a name like "Cornelius Anthony Warmerdam," I woulda thought he'd go out for crew.)
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Crew or fencing.

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(Even Chester Gould has never come up with anything this sick.)
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It's revolting, but quite sophisticated for "Invisible Scarlett," which usually has sophomoric plots and schemes.

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(Bill and the kids offer a valuable lesson in industrial economics. And "Sure, Fritz, Secret Operative 48, huh? Gladtameetcha, I'm J. Edgar Hoover.")
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At some point, Dan should catch hell for not killing Hitler when he had the chance.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I bet Sally tried out for that fencing team, but was beaten out once again by Kilgallen.

The Ukraine in 1942 is controlled by Germany as "Reichkommissariat Ukraine,."

 

[Harp]

Moscow will strike a hammer down on Kiev, a limited anvil hit for Ukraine,
which encompasses too much ground. A constricted perimiter; Katyn cruelty within.
The Soviet (Russian)Army likes it heavy. Armor, artillery barrage, mass infantry.
Concentration of force, mass, speed. And all those brave Ukranians along the front
being filmed by cable reporter camera crews-all those men are dead men.

 

[PrivateEye]

Lizzie, if it's not too much to ask, can you give us a bit of background on Sandhurst?

A more despicable character in a comic strip is hard to imagine. But I don't go back with TATP far enough to know his story.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sandhurst is the son of a wealthy family that found itself in reduced circumstances due to the Depression -- but managed to hold onto a mining operation in China, where Sandhurst was sent to serve as manager and overseer. He drove his native laborers mercilessly, misappropriated funds whenever and wherever he felt like it, and when Normandie Drake's mother insisted that Pat Ryan was a footloose bum unworthy of her, he just happened to be on the scene to marry her -- all the better to get his hands on her family's money. The Drakes put Sandhurst in charge of its rubber plantations, and he proceeded to get right back up to his old tricks.

And then one day in 1937, Pat was wounded in a gun battle with the smuggler Pyzon, and Terry and Connie desperately packed him onto a riverboat in hopes of getting him to safety. Guess who was waiting for that boat?

Needless to say, when Sandhurst found out who the wounded man was, they immediately became lifelong friends.

Sandhurst's thuggishness nearly got him strung up by his own workers, but Pat, because he's Pat, rescued him from the mob -- which of course made Sandhurst hate him even more. And then a band of dispossessed Mongolian farmers raided the plantation...

And once again, Pat, because he is Pat, together with Terry and Connie, again rescued him. Eventuallly.

Sandhurst rewarded Pat for his service by having him arrested on charges of alientation of affection, convinced that the whole thing was a plot to get Normandie for himself. It was at this time that Sandhurst began rolling around in a wheelchair and claiming to be a poor oppressed victim of endless conspiracies. The court threw out the case, which made him even madder, so he took Normandie and disappeared, not to reappear until our current storyline. But before the Sandhursts disappeared, it's evident that Pat and Normandie got at least a little time together, and the realization of that must have driven Sandhurst even further into whatever it is that drives him.

 

[PrivateEye]

Sandhurst is the son of a wealthy family that found itself in reduced circumstances due to the Depression -- but managed to hold onto a mining operation in China, where Sandhurst was sent to serve as manager and overseer. He drove his native laborers mercilessly, misappropriated funds whenever and wherever he felt like it, and when Normandie Drake's mother insisted that Pat Ryan was a footloose bum unworthy of her, he just happened to be on the scene to marry her -- all the better to get his hands on her family's money. The Drakes put Sandhurst in charge of its rubber plantations, and he proceeded to get right back up to his old tricks.

And then one day in 1937, Pat was wounded in a gun battle with the smuggler Pyzon, and Terry and Connie desperately packed him onto a riverboat in hopes of getting him to safety. Guess who was waiting for that boat?

View attachment 404350

Needless to say, when Sandhurst found out who the wounded man was, they immediately became lifelong friends.

View attachment 404352

Sandhurst's thuggishness nearly got him strung up by his own workers, but Pat, because he's Pat, rescued him from the mob -- which of course made Sandhurst hate him even more. And then a band of dispossessed Mongolian farmers raided the plantation...

View attachment 404353
And once again, Pat, because he is Pat, together with Terry and Connie, again rescued him. Eventuallly.

View attachment 404354
Sandhurst rewarded Pat for his service by having him arrested on charges of alientation of affection, convinced that the whole thing was a plot to get Normandie for himself. It was at this time that Sandhurst began rolling around in a wheelchair and claiming to be a poor oppressed victim of endless conspiracies. The court threw out the case, which made him even madder, so he took Normandie and disappeared, not to reappear until our current storyline. But before the Sandhursts disappeared, it's evident that Pat and Normandie got at least a little time together, and the realization of that must have driven Sandhurst even further into whatever it is that drives him.

Well thank you Lizzie, that is far more detailed than I could have asked for - but very much appreciated.

Now I feel justified in despising him as much as I do.

Now if the oft-mentioned Dragon Lady or HuShee ever reappear, I may have to reach out to you again...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Pat's expression in that last strip as he looks forward to what awaits Mr. Sandhurst says more than words ever could.

If you go back in this thread to the early summer of 1940, you'll see Hu Shee's arrival, in an adventure featuring Pat, Terry, Connie, Dude Hennick, and the late and lamented Raven Sherman -- in which the liberation of the DL from prison is the goal to be accomplished.

 

[Harp]

Sandhurst is the son of a wealthy family....


View attachment 404354
Sandhurst rewarded Pat for his service by having him arrested on charges of alientation of affection, convinced that the whole thing was a plot to get Normandie for himself. The court threw out the case, which made him even madder, so he took Normandie and disappeared, not to reappear until our current storyline. But before the Sandhursts disappeared, it's evident that Pat and Normandie got at least a little time together, and the realization of that must have driven Sandhurst even further into whatever it is that drives him.

Pat and Normandie engaged in what is legally classed as 'Criminal Conversation,'
which resulted in pregnancy. Sandhurst is a louse, Caniff drawing liberally from Eliot,
Bronte, Dickens. Love Caniff's wide range free wheeling plagarist style. The time is soon
for some semblance of realism. Sandhurst exceeds Ebeneezer Scrooge's cruel avarice,
a few ghosts should visit him, sooner the better. But, unlike Marley's buddy he doesn't
come back.

 

[Fading Fast]

Did somebody mention Hu Shee?

 

[Harp]

HuShee-and-Burma. And Dragon Gal. Definitely need more adultery in the strip.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Our introduction to Miss Hu, June 22, 1940 --

And the Dragon Lady in action, schooling the late Miss Sherman, September 3, 1940.

 

[Fading Fast]

Our introduction to Miss Hu, June 22, 1940 -- View attachment 404422

And the Dragon Lady in action, schooling the late Miss Sherman, September 3, 1940.

View attachment 404423

Caniff is awesome; there is a whole lot of good stuff in those two strips.

 

[Harp]

Oriental condescension against Occidental naivete, especially American.
But the Middle Kingdom itself did not origin astronomy to challenge Copernicus or Galilleo,
Hippocrathenes of Greece and later John Harrison, an Englishman found longitude and latitude.
Neither formula nor theorem birthed in China. Hellenic mathematicians developed trigonometry;
Newton discovered calculus. And the American Civil War birthed sanguineous modern warfare
over philosophy. Flight took wing in North Carolina. And steam locomotive in Britain.
Contemporary China pilfers Western technology.

Buddhist inductive thought isn't deductive reason. Chinese celestial navigation sailed shallow
sea near coastline, never the deep. The Mandarins curtailed nascent middle class steel manufacture
in the twelfth century, mandating a lesser economic advance.

Bray Dragon babe. You're looking out at history with poor eyesight.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The DL's speech to Raven carries added weight when you consider how Miss Sherman died.

 

[Harp]

The DL's speech to Raven carries added weight when you consider how Miss Sherman died.

Dragon Lady's oratory is self serving. And false. The war puts her between Chaing and Mao,
but her objective is personal profit. She holds an inside strait awaiting a third adversary, Uncle Sam;
while the Imperial Japanese Army is an occupation force whose defeat is a foregone conclusion.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(The latest developments in the Pacific Theatre, while too early to suggest a significant turning point in the progress of the war, can certainly be construed as advantageous to WOO HOO! DIXIE WALKER SIGNED!!!!!!!)

(And be sure to clip and save this map as you listen to the President's speech:

)

Premier Josef Stalin today pledged that Soviet armies will drive German forces completely out of Russian territory on a "not far distant day," and in doing so, making one of the most significant political announcements of the war, also declared that the Soviet Union does not "aim at the destruction of the German state or nation," declaring that the goal of the war must be to "free Germany," and that any effort to destroy that nation would be "idiotic." In an Order of the Day issued in his role of Supreme Commander marking the 24th anniversary of the formation of the Red Army, Stalin asserted that the Red Army now has the initiative firmly in its hands, and is "safe from defeat." But at the same time, he warned that Germany has not been defeated yet, and he spurred both the army and Russian industry to redouble efforts "to ensure victory over the tired enemy."

Tank-riding Igorrote tribesman on Batan, screaming like their head-hunter ancestors, have wiped out an entire Japanese regiment of 1200 to 1500 men. A commuinque from General Douglas MacArthur praised the ferocity of the Igorrote fighters, declaring that "for sheer breath-taking, heart-stopping desperation, I have never seen the equal."

Confusion still exists today on the part of Long Island Railroad employees and commuters as to when a 10 percent fare increase will take effect. At Mineola, a ticket agent refused to sell a commuter ticket for the month of March, stating that "I'd only have to charge the new rate, and then I might have to give you a refund." At Pennsylvania Station, the old rate was being charged this morning, but by afternoon, ticket agents were charging the new rate. A conductor, asked why a passenger was charged 41 cents for a trip that only cost 35 cents the day before, snapped "don't ask me questions I don't know the answer to." Telephoning the railroad's REpublic 9-4200 information line produced a series of conflicting and contradictory answers.

(Note the triangle-in-a-circle Civilian Defense symbol in the Century Theatres ad. That denotes the presence of an air raid shelter on the premises. Hope that means the goldfish at the Patio will be safe.)

(Good thing someone's on this.)

(The girdle shortage affects everyone.)

The news editor and acting manager editor of the New York Daily News collapsed and died last night in the newspaper's editorial room while making up an early edition of this morning's paper. 53-year-old Edgar W. Bean had been employed by the News for twenty years, fifteen of those as news editor, and the past two as acting managing editor. Bean was taken to the Hospital of Special Surgery at 321 E. 42nd Street, where doctors determined that he had died of a stroke.

("Muy pronto!" You can tell Mr. Holmes is enjoying his Havana idyll.)

(Turn around, Leo, so we can see where the 190 pounds has settled.)

("Nein! Nicht noch einmal!")

("Last time we ever take YOU for a ride!")

("It's the talllllk of the towwwwwwn...")

(Point of Order: Dan, undercover as "Jones" could not have been carrying any "Secret Operative" badge or other identification proving his true identity. So why are these Army dopes taking him at face value and not putting him in the stockade toot-sweet until the FBI can arrive? HUH?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Butch digs in his heels.

"Keep Romance Alive."

"Wait, was he baldheaded? And did he look like he'd been stabbed in the back with a scimitar?"

SHUT THE FURNACE DOOR

It's somehow heartwarming that even in her life of quiet desperation, Tilda still has the sense of whimsy necessary to wear those socks.

Just like Papa used to make.

"That plane's too small. We'll need to leave behind, oh, I'd guess, about 205 pounds."

Did you remember to turn the water off?

A fortune? Did we miss something?

Yeah, but wait'll you stumble into the house at 2 AM with chocolate syrup on your breath.

 

[PrivateEye]

Our introduction to Miss Hu, June 22, 1940 -- View attachment 404422

And the Dragon Lady in action, schooling the late Miss Sherman, September 3, 1940.

View attachment 404423

So I went back to page 78 of this thread to find this strip, then spent my morning reading TATP, day by day.

So now I'm caught up...but way behind at work...

 

[Fading Fast]

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(Good thing someone's on this.)
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I guess Flavius figures the Eagle would be looking for a new campaign after its successful one to get NYC a full-time mayor.

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("It's the talllllk of the towwwwwwn...")
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"Your glorious smile and gleaming crown of white make even this shoddy place look like the main dinning room at the Ritz." General dating advice: women, if a man ever talks like this to you, run.

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(Point of Order: Dan, undercover as "Jones" could not have been carrying any "Secret Operative" badge or other identification proving his true identity. So why are these Army dopes taking him at face value and not putting him in the stockade toot-sweet until the FBI can arrive? HUH?)

In any logical world, your point is spot on, but in Dan Dunn world we know this "Secret Operative" has had his picture splashed on the cover of newspapers, plus he introduces himself to everyone, including the milk man, as "secret operative Dan Dunn." It's as if Errol Flynn just landed - they'd know him by sight.

And in the Daily News...

Butch digs in his heels.
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They keep wanting to take jobs away from him.

And in the Daily News...
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Just like Papa used to make.
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Wonderful illustration. Today, it's iconic of the era.

And in the Daily News...
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A fortune? Did we miss something?
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I had the same thought.

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Yeah, but wait'll you stumble into the house at 2 AM with chocolate syrup on your breath.

They really did skip right past the honeymoon phase. That's not a good sign at all.