Comments on: Comics: A Beginner’s Guide: Adventure Strips

By: Martin Skidmore

Martin Skidmore — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:38:30 +0000

I like the filler in Caniff, but that would probably be different if I were reading it day to day. There are sequences where Steve Canyon is omitted for a couple of months while he plays with some other characters, and regular week-long stalls before the reveal of this story’s female lead, or lengthy teasers for the return of some character. These are fine in book collections, which is the only way most of us ever get to read it now.

By: james

james — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:07:34 +0000

I always did like Johnny Hazard better than the Milt Caniff stuff — there’s something was always HAPPENING in Hazard, whereas in Caniff it always feels like down-time, filler strips BETWEEN important story points — sometimes for months or years at a time.

and yes, the Steve Canyon reprints are TINY.

By: Martin Skidmore

Martin Skidmore — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:36:55 +0000

I don’t know if those others will get covered. I nearly put Alley Oop in my first entry, but obviously I am only including brief highlights: that would definitely have been the next strip I included. It means I leave a lot of very worthwhile out. I probably should have included Tarzan, though I was thinking of ‘adventure’ as a specific genre (i.e. not including SF, for example) when I selected strips – then my intro made it seem as if I just opposed it to humour strips. I don’t know where I’d put Little Orphan Annie, which is a terrific strip. It’s kind of in between.

By: Dan M.

Dan M. — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:21:52 +0000

Oh, oh — what about The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician? And what about Westerns, or is that a different discussion? I’m not too familiar with them, but I’ve seen some beautiful examples of Cisco Kid and Wesley Ruggles. I guess that’s getting relatively obscure for this discussion, though.

And nothing ever really captured that “globe-trotting adventurer” feel that especially Crane’s strips and the ’30s Terry had. So much fun…

By: Dan M.

Dan M. — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:14:34 +0000

I guess this entry is about “contemporary” or “realistic” adventure strips. Otherwise, why not include Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Prince Valiant, or a personal fave, Alley Oop? But given that categorizing, you definitely nailed the classics in the genre — can’t think of another real contender, ottomh. Unless you’d include Little Orphan Annie in the category.

Come to think of it, this could be a ‘spoiler’ for your next entry — feel free to censor!