CANIFF NEWS - MAY 2012

The April issue of Air Force Magazine featured a nice six page article on Milton Caniff.  The article was written by John T. Correll, former editor-in-chief to the publication.  They are generous in this digital age, as you can download the article here.

The recent continuity of the comic strip "Gasoline Alley" has characters Walt Wallet and Slim visiting the Comics Retirement Home.  There they are met by such comic strip luminaries as Hop Harrigan, Barney Google, Maggie & Jiggs and Annie.  "Alley" cartoonist Jim Scancarelli clearly has a love for these old strips and characters and it's nice to see them remembered.  The storyline began here and runs in the dailies.

It's of note to Caniffites as that's Hot Shot Charlie from "Terry" on the far left of the strip above.  Interestingly, Hot Shot appeared last year in "Dick Tracy", which I wrote about in the April 2012 news. 

A biography of "Li'l Abner" cartoonist Al Capp was released in March.  Comics historian and Caniff biographer R.C. Harvey wrote an insightful review for The Comics Journal.  That can be found here.

The April issue of Sci-Fi Magazine, the official magazine of the SyFy Channel, had a nice one page article on two Caniff-related TV shows.  There was a short-lived "Terry & the Pirates" series in 1953 (about 18 episodes) and the more familiar Steve Canyon series from 1958-59.  The article is by Jeff Berkwits, a freelance writer who specializes in science fiction.

The Library of American Comics has received two nominations for Eisner Awards.  The Eisners are the Oscars of the comics world and are presented annually at Comic-Con International in San Diego.  The nominations were both in the category of Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips:

■Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, vol. 2, edited by Dean Mullaney (IDW/Library of American Comics)

■Percy Crosby’s Skippy, vol. 1, edited by Jared Gardner and Dean Mullaney (IDW/Library of American Comics)

Good luck to Dean and company this July 19th at the Eisner Awards!