SHEL DORF, 1933 - 2009

Shel Dorf presenting the Inkpot Award to Milton Caniff, San Diego, 1982 (photo by Alan Light)

News spread quickly in the past two weeks about the death of Shel Dorf on November 3rd after a long illness. There have been several obituaries on Dorf, some remembrances from friends like Mark Evanier and R.C. Harvey, and a special tribute site. The press obits all focus on Dorf's role as a founder of San Diego Comic-Con, the largest comics convention in the world. I'd like to spotlight Dorf's relationship with Milton Caniff.

Masthead of Dorf's editorial column from 'Steve Canyon Magazine'

Shel Dorf lived every fan's dream. Growing up, he read, clipped, collected and marveled at comic strips. "Why are you clipping out comic strips?" asked his concerned mother, "You don't see other people doing that." He went further by sending fan mail to cartoonists and establishing friendships with his heroes. One of those he admired most was Milton Caniff, who corresponded by mail and later invited Dorf to his studio in 1964. Caniff honored Dorf by making him a character in 'Steve Canyon' - a football player named "Thud Shelley" who appeared in two different storylines. Dorf later became an integral part of the strip's ongoing creation when Caniff hired him as his letterer in 1975. Dorf replaced the retiring Frank Engli, who had been Caniff's letterer since the early years of 'Terry & the Pirates' Caniff didn't like to letter himself. "[M]y lettering is terrible," he told interviewer (and fellow comics legend) Will Eisner in 1982. Dorf worked on the strip with Caniff and Dick Rockwell until its end in 1988.


While he was Caniff's friend and employee, Dorf never gave up being a fan. He did several interviews with Caniff about his craft, two of which appear in Milton Caniff: Conversations, an indispensable Caniff reader. Dorf was also the editor for the first three issues of 'Steve Canyon Magazine', a quarterly publication from Kitchen Sink that reprinted the 'Canyon' strip from its 1947 beginning. The magazine, begun in 1983, benefited from the participation of both Dorf and Caniff. Dorf also edited a Caniff book - 'Milton Caniff's America: Reflections of a Drawingboard Patriot', which collects much of Caniff's patriotic-oriented material, including his special Christmas Day strips in which he would break continuity to highlight, as Dorf wrote, "the sacrifices made by out military to protect freedom and the importance of keeping our guard up."'Steve Canyon', 12/25/1981, lettered by Shel Dorf, as reprinted in 'Milton Caniff's America', 1987, Eclipse Books

'Steve Canyon', three strips from 1984 lettered by Shel Dorf, as reprinted in 'Comics Review' #4, 1984, Manuscript Press

THE YEAR IN CANIFF

2009 was a great time to be a fan of Milton Caniff, the man best known for his comic strips Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. New books, DVDs and an ongoing web presence are an amazing feat for an artist who departed this plane over 20 years ago. The name, spirit and life's work of Milton Caniff are alive and well. While I think we'll never top Caniff centennial of 2007, this was still a huge year for Caniffites -

NEW RELEASES

The Complete Terry & the Pirates: Volume 6 was released early in the year, ending the reprinting of Milton Caniff's run of 'Terry' in its entirety. Aviation buffs take note - the 1945 strips focus primarily on air actions involving Terry, Hotshot Charlie and Flip Corkin. Then in 1946, the war ends for the world, but there are plenty of new intrigues for Terry Lee and Hotshot in postwar China. Just a reader's note: if you're new to these stories and want to be surprised, save the detailed text pieces that appear in the front of the book at the end.


Steve Canyon: 1955 came out from Checker BPG, and it's an exciting change. They switched from the standard trade paperback format to a new square format. The big knock against the Checker reprints thus far (1947-54) has been the reprint size of the strips - 6" x 1 5/8". Now they have a little more breathing room at 8" x 2 3/8". The 1956 volume was due out in September, but has yet to be released. I'm actually concerned about Checker as their website is down and I haven't noticed any recent releases. Anybody with a line on Checker's status, please let me know. [12/22/09 update - Checker is alive and well. Thanks to Bleeding Cool for tracking them down.]

Volume 2 of Steve Canyon on DVD The 1958-59 TV series is being painstakingly restored and converted to digital by John Ellis and his loyal minions from the original films. The show is being released in three sets. Volume 2 includes episodes 13 - 24 of the TV series, as well as guest commentary tracks from aviation experts and guest stars from the show (like Richard Anderson). They are now taking pre-orders for Volume 3, due in 2010. I can't stress enough what a labor of love this has been for Ellis and his desire to put together the most comprehensive, quality product possible. Visit him today at the Steve Canyon DVD website.

ON THE WEB

Daily reprints of Steve Canyon and weekly reprints of Male Call are hosted by Dan Thompson at RipHaywire.com.

Doug Drexler continues his reprinting of the "Eel Island" story from 'Steve Canyon' over at Drex Files.

IN THE NEWS

The National Aviation Hall of Fame inducted its class of 2009 at an Enshrinement Ceremony on July 18th in Dayton, Ohio. The Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award was presented to the Apollo astronaut crews at the NAHF President's Reception and Dinner. Twelve of the surviving Apollo astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Gene Cernanand Gene Lovell, were there to accept the award. July 20th was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The Spirit of Flight has been awarded every year since 1981. Many of the Apollo astronauts are already enshrinees of the Hall as individuals.



The Cartoon Research Library at the Ohio State University went through many changes. First, they received the contents of the International Museum of Cartoon Art (IMCA). The IMCA had been created by Mort Walker of Beetle Bailey fame and the collection had been rendered homeless after losing financial backing in 2002, with the contents stuck in storage ever since. Second, they received a $1 million donation from Jean Schulz, widow of Charles Schulz, as well the challenge of a matching gift of $2.5 million. Third, they received a $7 million gift from the elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation in memory of Billy Ireland. Ireland was a cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch and a mentor/boss to Milton Caniff. The Library is using these gifts for a major expansion. The name has also expanded to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Research Library and Museum. Not bad for a library that started when the contents from Caniff's childhood home were donated and stored in two classrooms in the journalism building!

We recently reported on the death of Shel Dorf. Dorf was letterer of the 'Steve Canyon' comic strip from 1975 until the strip's end (shortly after Caniff's death) in 1988. Dorf was key to the production of 'Canyon', as lettering came before the pictures in Caniff's strips. Caniff would write it in Palm Springs (later New York) and then dictate the strips over the phone to Dorf in San Diego, who would letter them and then mail them off to Dick Rockwell. Rockwell would do the rough pencilling and then send it off to Caniff for changes and finishes. I wrote more about Dorf and Caniff here.


Billy Ireland drawing by Milton Caniff
Shel Dorf photo by Alan Light

MILTON CANIFF'S NEW YORK

When I started this blog we visited the hometown of Milton Caniff, creator of the comic strips 'Terry & the Pirates' and 'Steve Canyon' to show you Milton Caniff's Hillsboro. From there, Caniff lived in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, before hitting the big time as a staff artist for the Associated Press in New York City. The Big Apple was part of Milton Caniff’s life from the time he got his job at the AP in 1932, at age 25, until his death in 1988. I was recently able to visit a few of the sites where Caniff lived and worked. My first stop was the Daily News Building, where Caniff shared a studio/office space with fellow artist Noel Sickles from 1934 to 1935. The newspaper no longer occupies the building, but the current owners have kept the historic globe that’s the centerpiece of the lobby (NOTE: this building served as the model for the Daily Planet of the Christopher Reeve ‘Superman’ movies).


A couple of blocks away is Tudor City, a collection of high-rise apartment building towers that is a neighborhood unto itself. Built in the 1920s, this historic complex was relatively new when Caniff moved into his first New York apartment there in 1932. His first home was Prospect Tower. He relocated to Windsor Tower the next year. In 1935, he and Sickles vacated the Daily News office and rented an apartment in Woodstock Tower as their studio. In the summer of '37, Caniff moved out of Tudor City and Manhattan altogether for the quiet life in Rockland County.


A short walk from Tudor City was Caniff’s hangout of a half-century or so – the Palm. The Palm is known now as a high-end steakhouse chain, but it started in the 1920s as a speakeasy called Ganzi’s (the last name of the original co-owner). It was a hangout for cartoonists, who put their skills to work decorating the walls of the restaurant, sometimes in trade for a spaghetti dinner. The tradition continues today, with the walls of the original Palm replete with cartoons and caricatures. Caniff was a regular there for decades, though moreso when he lived in town. Even when he lived outside of the city, the Palm was a sure stop on trips into Manhattan. Interviews with Caniff for a late-career documentary, narrated by Walter Cronkite, were done at the Palm, with Caniff clearly in his comfort zone. I’m not sure if any of Caniff’s work on the walls survives, but alas the Palm is not open on Sunday, so I wasn’t able to look around inside. Also unique to the Palm is the positioning of the next nearest Palm location…it’s the Palm Too, right across the street!

Thanks to R.C. Harvey, whose Caniff biography (linked at right) was the source for all locations and dates. Thanks also to Jeff and Brian, two non-comics fans, for indulging me in a tour of Caniff sites. In the future I’ll have to convince (cajole, persuade, confuse) my wife into visiting some others.

CANIFF BY THE BAY

The paste two weeks saw a spate of interesting Milton Caniff and Caniff-related items for auction on Ebay. First up is the most interesting of all, an oil painting Caniff did as a wedding present for his assistant, Willie Tuck. According to the seller, who tells me he is Tuck's nephew, it was completed in 1964 and measures 10"x12". Tuck later gave it to the seller's grandmother (presumably her sister) and then later it became the grandson's. An amazing piece of history that was just hanging on the wall.




This 1923 yearbook is a treasure trove of early Caniff artwork. "Could this be some of his earliest published work?" asks the Item Description. It's definitely among his earliest work. Stivers High School sophomore Caniff was a busy student, as part of the newspaper and yearbook staffs, as well as Hi-Y (a YMCA affiliated youth group) and something called the Jeffersonian. Along with his art for the school newspaper, which included a comic strip, he had an after school job helping out in the art department of the Dayton Daily News. Caniff's yearbook work would continue into college when he worked on the Makio at Ohio State. The high school, originally called Stivers Manual Training, is still in existence as the Stivers School for the Arts.




I have some doubts about this next one. The seller claims that this item "is original pen, ink and hand colored by Shel Dorf". I don't doubt that Dorf hand-colored or even inked it. But it is a duplicate of a Caniff 'Miss Lace' strip that was later used as promotional art. Caniff made prints that he could personalize Dorf, Caniff's letterer on 'Steve Canyon' from 1975 to '88, was an artist in his own right, but he didn't draw like Caniff. I'm guessing the 'Tom Fagan' this was given to is the same Fagan who passed away in 2008. As recalled by Mark Evanier, Tom Fagan was a comics fan whose public efforts to promote comics led to him being featured in several comic books as himself. All in all, a nice piece considering Dorf's role in Caniff's career, but not enough to garner the $175 starting bid.


This last one is part of a group of fraudulent Ebay listings. This is just one of over 40 caricatures posted by the same seller. He claims these were caricatures drawn by Milton Caniff for the Brown Derby restaurant. They look nothing like Caniff art, unless it was from an heretofore forgotten shitty caricature period in which he decided not to draw like himself. They don't even look like they are all by the same artist. Some have a signature (though blurry) and some don't. The seller has been nice in answering my questions, and he seems sincere, though not credible. He told me that these drawings were part of a promotion when the Brown Derby started taking the American Express card. He further told me that he set up the commission with Caniff and spoke to him several times. There's no record of any work done for American Express in the archives at the Cartoon Research Library, in neither Caniff's records nor his agent's. I asked the seller for a sharper picture or a picture of Milton Caniff's signature on one of the pictures. He declined, which is a definite 'BUYER BEWARE' red flag.

MR. COFFEE NERVES

"Too much caffeine, Tom?" That's the line I remember from the Robert Young Sanka commercials in the '80s. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I never understood the appeal of a decaffeinated coffee like Sanka. Coffee has long been a part of American life, particularly as a way to start the morning. Anybody can make it at home with their Mr. Coffee. At restaurants for breakfast, it's assumed you'll want a cup. Most employers provide it for free. Was it that coffee was so woven into our societal fabric that the alternative was a coffee-like drink?

Competing with Sanka was Postum, a coffee substitute made from wheat, and the first product of cereal magnate C.W. Post. As one ad read - "Children brought up on Postum are free from the evil effects of caffeine - the habit-forming drug - in coffee and tea." In the 1930s, the Johnstone and Cushing ad agency created an ad campaign for Postum built around a villainous character named "Mr. Coffee Nerves" in a comic strip format. Each ad involved someone acting like a jerk, egged on by Mr. Coffee Nerves. Those around the jerk suggested the jerky behavior was due to caffeine. Once they switch to Postum, everyone likes them again and their problem is resolved.
In 1936, the agency turned to cartoonists Noel Sickles and Milton Caniff to do their weekly ads, which appeared in the Sunday comics section. The impetus for the deal is not clear(i.e., how were they approached, did one get it and ask the other's help, or was it a package deal). They shared a studio in New York, with their drawing tables facing each other. Caniff had just started his second year of 'Terry & the Pirates'. Sickles was midway through his brief but legendary run on 'Scorchy Smith'. The ads were signed under a joint pseudonym - Paul Arthur - a combination of Sickles' and Caniff's middle names.

As studio mates, the influence they had on each other cannot be understated. Even though each helped the other out from time to time, the 'Mr. Coffee Nerves' strips were thought to be a rare collaboration. The remembrances of who did what on the ads diverge. Comics historian Ron Goulart wrote that Sickles "drew everything except the villain" and that Caniff drew the ghostly Coffee Nerves "and handled the inking."¹ Fellow historian and collector Rick Marschall corroborates Goulart's account, citing his videotaped interview with Caniff in which the artist revealed "all was Sickles in the 'Coffee Nerves' ads except Caniff's comic villain himself."² Since both accounts are from the same book, it's possible that Goulart's source is Marschall's interview.
R.C. Harvey's Caniff biography has a different account. Harvey cites his interview with Sickles in which the artist related that "Milt and I didn't collaborate on them at all. Rather, he and I did them on alternate weeks."³ So, who really did what? With both men being interviewed around 40 years after doing the job, it's no wonder the recollections diverge. With their art styles so similar at the time, Harvey feels it's not possible to tell who did what. Personally, I'm curious as to who has the originals. The Cartoon Research Library database lists a file with clippings, but not the original drawings. Did Johnstone and Cushing keep them? If so, they disbanded in 1962 and it's unclear what happened to their files.

Volume two of 'The Complete Color Terry & the Pirates by Milton Caniff' reprinted all of the 'Mr. Coffee Nerves' strips. The three examples below are from that book. Sadly, this book was the last of a planned 16-volume set. It wouldn't be until the Library of American Comics six-volume set of the last decade that we would see all of Caniff's Sunday 'Terry' strips in color. Paul Arthur surfaced briefly in 1977, trying unsuccessfully to sell a Bruce Lee comic strip written by Caniff with art by Sickles.<sup>4


1</sup>Marschall, Rick, ed., 'The Complete Color Terry & the Pirates by Milton Caniff, Volume II - 1935-1936', 1990, Remco Worldservice Books, Abington, MA, p.9
²Ibid. p.20
³Harvey, R.C., 'Meanwhile...:A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry & the Pirates and Steve Canyon', 2007, Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, p.276
⁴Mullaney, Dean, ed., 'Scorchy Smith & the Art of Noel Sickles', 2008, IDW Publishing, San Diego, p.131

CANIFF OHS EXHIBIT - A Year Later

...And here my blogging began


About a year ago I started this blog after I visited Hillsboro, Ohio, the Ohio Historical Society and the Cartoon Research Library. OHS and OSU both had exhibits on Hillsboro-born cartoonist Milton Caniff. Last week I went back to Columbus. OHS still has their Caniff exhibit running and the Cartoon Research Library is home to Caniff's personal collection of letters, papers and artwork.

At the Ohio Historical Society, I talked with Connie Bodner about the Caniff exhibit. Bodner is the Director of Education and Interpretive Services. One of the things that struck me about the OHS exhibit is the lack of artwork, which seems odd for a famous artist. Bodner explained that the museum was more geared toward 3-D objects while the Cartoon Research Library excels at displaying art. Whatever Caniff art they had is now at the Library and the 3-D objects the Library had were transferred to the museum. The OHS exhibit, 'Spotlight on Milton Caniff', is really about the man. Included are furniture, toys and other objects from his childhood, as well props and apparatus used in drawing. Bodner told me that when school groups come through they focus on Caniff as a famous Ohioan. The children relate to the childhood objects (apparently Caniff's mother saved everything) and learn about a little boy who loved to draw and was able to make a career out of it.

Complimenting the Caniff exhibit are new exhibits on Currier & Ives prints and Norman Rockwell's magazine covers. I'll admit that I knew zippity-zoop about Currier & Ives, other than their namecheck in "Sleigh Ride". I knew they made prints, but I didn't know they weren't the artists. I learned that Nathaniel Currier was a lithographer who, in the 1830s, started making making artistic renderings of current events into prints for newspapers and public consumption. Hiring accountant James Ives, the two began a successful partnership of selling decorative art prints to the masses. These hand-colored prints look remarkable for their age. Witness the vibrancy of the print shown here, which is over 150 years old. It's interesting to me that the successful use of photography in newspapers didn't come of age until the 1930s. Papers were still using a staff of artists to depict the news and newsmakers of the day. This is how Milton Caniff got his break. Aside from cartooning, he was also doing spot news illustrations for the Columbus Dispatch and then the Associated Press.

The Norman Rockwell exhibit, Rockwell's America, was a thrill for me because I was nuts about his art back when I was in high school. You might infer, then, that I was one of the popular kids, but you'd be wrong. I read his autobiography, asked for books of his art of Christmas and did my junior history fair project on his work. My Rockwell fervor has abated since then, but was reinvigorated by this exhibit. The Rockwell illustration work that is best known are the 322 covers he painted for the Saturday Evening Post, a weekly magazine founded by Benjamin Franklin. The exhibit uses these iconic images to tell the story of the technological and social changes in America from World War I to JFK (Rockwell's tenure on the Post). Some of the covers are recreated in statuary (see the cover the picture came from here. There are even some live performers, like Rosie the Riveter (below).
There's no original art in the exhibit, but rather the atmosphere of being inside Rockwell's paintings and his vision of American life. The most impressive part to me was the gathering in one room of the 322 Post covers, hung chronologically.


'Spotlight on Milton Caniff', 'Currier & Ives: Illustrating America' and 'Rockwell's America' all run through March 1st. To plan your visit, check out the Ohio Historical Center's website. And if art isn't your thing, they still have the two-headed calf...

MILTON CANIFF UPDATES

Comic strip legend Milton Caniff’s longtime friend, one-time studio partner and artistic brother, Noel Sickles, is celebrated in a new book from IDW – Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles. It's a hefty tome, with the first half or so being a biography of Sickles and the latter part reprinting his run on the comic strip "Scorchy Smith". Since I’m only on page 4, I don’t have a review yet, but here are some reviews by some other dudes:

The Oregonian
Today’s Inspiration
Temple of the Seven Golden Camels


IDW also continues there reverently produced volumes of The Complete Terry & the Pirates. Volume 4 is due out at the end of the month, covering the years 1941-42. In Harvey’s biography of Caniff, ‘Meanwhile...’, we learn of Caniff’s dilemma in December 1941. Caniff had already produced strips several weeks in advance and couldn't change his storyline to reflect the war until the next year. A stickler for accuracy and realism, Caniff was pained by the bind he was in. It will be interesting to me to see how he slowly integrated the most important development of his time into the strip. The war years, to this Caniffite, showcase the apex of his talent.


Volume 5 is also on the schedule, though I assume the release date of October will be pushed now into next year. This isn’t a criticism, in fact I think all of the volumes have been late. I think it’s good not to have them come out too close together (the twice-a-year schedule for the 'Peanuts' reprints has been ideal. Though if you prefer the slipcase sets like I do, it’s a once a year deal.




Also on the Caniff horizon, the next volume of Checker Publishing’s Steve Canyon reprint series is due in January. This volume reprints a year’s worth of Canyon strips from 1955-56. While I’m not a fan of the monochromatic cover color schemes and the smaller strip reprint size, the strips and stories still thrill me. Also, in a couple of volumes we’ll be into uncollected territory. The last reprinting effort, in ‘Steve Canyon Magazine’, stopped in 1992 with strips from 1958.


Hervé St-Louis has an interesting comparison of cartoonists Alex Toth and Hugo Pratt and how they were influenced by Milton Caniff. It’s over at the Comic Book Bin. I would have liked to have seen more art examples in the article. St-Louis uses a blow-up of the cover of a recent Canyon reprint collection, for example, which doesn't show Caniff's gift for panel layout, which is the point of the article. While I think there is a dearth of Caniff art on the web, there are ready examples of complete Caniff strips, such as the daily reprints of 'Canyon at Humorous Maximus.


As we roll through September, it looks like the release of the entire 'Steve Canyon' TV series on DVD may not happen as hoped for 2008. I'm really excited by this project, so I encourage you to check out the Steve Canyon on DVD website. There's a new post there today promising a big announcement soon. It's assured that John Ellis and the Milton Caniff Estate have been working hard on this labor of love. There's a 'Special Edition' out there with four episodes, the purchase of which helps fund the restoration of the rest of the series. You can buy it from there home site, but they also have wider distribution points, such as Bud Plant and Amazon.

[EDIT: How wrong can a guy be?!? Check out the Steve Canyon DVD website for exciting news about releases of the TV series on DVD in 2008!!}

MILTON CANIFF NEWS

* John Ellis has announced the latest release of the Steve Canyon on DVD project. Volume Two is available now for pre-order (box art above is for Volume One, which is currently available on the same site).


* The National Aviation Hall of Fame has announced the 2009 honorees. Every year they award the Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award. The award is given every year to a group or entity that has contributed to aviation heritage. This year's honorees are the Apollo astronauts.



* The Cartoon Research Library at Ohio State University is home to the Milton Caniff Collection of papers and original art. Last year, the International Museum of Cartoon Art went bankrupt and had to close. What to do with 200,000 pieces of original art? They've been acquired by the Cartoon Research Library, which this month has announced a name change to the Cartoon Library and Museum. While their current gallery space (pictured above) is not very big, hopefully they will be able to find larger permanent display space in the near future. Learn more about the Library when I interview it's chief, Lucy Shelton Caswell, later this month.


* The LA Times' Geoff Boucher has a new profile of Hugh Hefner. Part of the profile covers Hefner's love and failed ambition for cartooning, which is the reason Playboy has always been a showcase for magazine cartoonists and now, along with the New Yorker, the last haven for them. Boucher writes -

I asked him what illustrators he admired the most. "Milton Caniff first and foremost. I actually got got Caniff for Playboy. During World War II, Caniff did a comic strip called Male Call with a very sexy lady named Miss Lace; it was in ‘Stars & Stripes' and ‘Yank’, and it was for the service guys. I knew that some of them had been rejected for being too sexy. So when I started Playboy in summer of 1953, I wrote to Caniff and asked if I could reprint some of the strips, and I asked whether he would supply me with the ones that had been censored and not printed. Those appear in the second issue of Playboy. So my idol, for no particular reason, said yes to a kid that had this impossible dream and was puttering together the first issue of Playboy with literally just $8,000 and no hope."

Hefner reprinted five of the 'Male Call' strips, as well as the art for strips never printed. Caniff sent a letter of thanks to Hef, which was printed in the March issue -

In R.C. Harvey's Caniff biography, which has a generous reprinting of 'Male Call' strips, Harvey told of how the 'Male Call' strips were scrutinized by a Col. Forsberg, the head of Camp Newspaper Services, who sometimes had to say "No" to strip -
"Many of Forsberg's victims saw print in one forum or another in the years after the War. In June 1953, a young man named Hugh Hefner wrote to Caniff for permission to reproduce some of the 'Male Call' strips in an early issue of a magazine he was planning to call 'Stag Party':"We think a lot of ex-G.I.s have a warm spot in their hearts for Miss L (we admit to one ourselves) and would enjoy seeing her again." Hefner also asked if there were any rejected strips available. By then, Caniff had lost track of the original art, but he mailed some photostatic prints that had been used in connection with an exhibit." (click to enlarge)