Book Review – Steve Canyon, Volume 8, 1961 to 1962

Rating – Two Stars

I opened this eighth volume of my boyhood icon counting on reading thrilling tales of mysterious dames in exotic locales entrapping Colonel Steve Canyon in nefarious schemes, and having their way with him; of Steve exposing malevolent secret agents, deposing corrupt tyrants, and rescuing ravishing princesses from the Soviet’s eeevil KGB. Gadzooks! It was not to be.

In volume eight, I stumbled into eight bland tales of minimal interest, of no import, and more appropriate reading (and viewing) for teenage females. I classify four of his stories as soap operas set in the USA. In one of these, the lead is his brat cousin Poteet Canyon—Steve is absent completely from this yarn. The remaining four stories are insipid “adventure” tales whose bland narratives challenge no one. One story has a hint of the exotic. Set in the Himalaya region of China, Steve’s ol’ nemesis, Madam Lynx, captures him. He escapes, in an unbelievable scenario. Lynx fades into an unknown end—to reappear in another story, I reckon.

Nonetheless, Caniff’s drawings, on the whole, reflect his consummate artistic skills in the “Terry and the Pirate” strips of yesteryear. I much enjoyed viewing some of his frames and marveled at his realistic composition and attention to fine detail.

FIN

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Book Review- Steve Canyon Volume 7: 1959 to 1960 by Milton Caniff

Rating – Two Stars

Disappointed again. Perhaps I’m getting too old nowadays to appreciate Caniff’s story-telling art. I recall clearly my thrill as a nipper waiting for the morning paper to see and read new frames of Caniff’s classic “Terry and the Pirates” comic strip—superb in every dimension. I ordered this Steve Canyon book several months ago and was in keen anticipation of reading superior action-adventure tales set in exotic locations and with lustful dames as dangerous protagonists—for example, the ominous and strikingly beautiful Chinese pirate, the Dragon Lady.

Unfortunately, this volume of Steve Canyon’s adventures falls short. Too many of the mise en scénes for Caniff’s stories are domestic and lack panache. His art is superior to almost all other comic strip artists. His perspective and detail give keen depth to the frames, but too many do not have the vivacity that I would expect from Caniff. From time to time, nonetheless, sparks of the past pervade this tome. The following are the scenarios:

1. Canyon is in Latin America to rescue a refugee girl whose brother is an American intelligence agent, from eeevil Red agents. Impossible adventures result.
2. Madam Lynx, a beautiful and skillful opponent, appears out of the past, this time as the headmistress of an exclusive girls’ school in a unnamed Central American country. Canyon discovers that the school is not what it seems. It is an academy to train “swallows”—seductive young women working for the Comintern. Lynx has her way with Canyon. Undeterred, he prevails by closing the school, having the Red no-goodnicks arrested, and rescuing a captive Air Force nurse.
3. A desperate appeal, via a clandestine radio, sends Canyon to a mystical Mideastern country. It’s from his old annoyance, hip-talking Convoy, now grown into a comely woman who, as before, is determined to marry Canyon. Convoy leads a guerrilla cadre of widows, dubbed the Black Widows, determined to rid their country of the Reds. More follows.

Scenarios 4 and 5 are domestic soap opera starring Mrs. Olsen, Canyon’s impossible love, and the eeevil and glamorous Copper Canyon, a female industrialist—both embroiled in domestic scenarios of no import.

Following those are more domestic scenarios that feature his hot-tempered ward, Poteet Canyon, bent on marrying Steve, and the troubles she generates.

Lastly, Canyon saves Tokyo from an atomic bomb detonation by a feat of derring-do nonpareil.

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BOOK REVIEW: Steve Canyon, Volume 1955 to 1956 by Milton Caniff

I opened the cover of this tome with eager anticipation—to read and view another of Caniff’s boffo comic-strip stories about the rousing adventures of the heroic Lieutenant Colonel Steven B. Canyon, USAF. Alas! I was disappointed.

I found that Caniff’s stories in this volume had plots that are incongruous to the Steve Canyon mystic, and unfortunately, some are nonsensical.

Included are several of out-of-character stories: three smarmy, soap opera narratives. One smacks of the travails of Pearl White in Perils of Pauline film serials of 1914–Steve “Do Good” Canyon rescues the damsel in distress from a fate worse than death. Another is a Y/A recital in which Canyon adopts a distant cousin—a sixteen-year old rambunctious and comely female who helps Canyon save his Air Force base from a hostile populous.

I missed the roaring adventures of Canyon in some exotic location out whiting the classic “bad guy” that usually has distorted facial or body features. I missed Steve matching wits with a glamorous dame clad in a skin-tight ensemble that reveals more than it ought, and who is intent on corrupting him into her evil designs. I longed to see Caniff’s eeevil Dragon Lady maneuver her voluptuous charms to inveigle Canyon into her piratical schemes and into her quarters on her sea-going junk sailing the South China Seas.

Canyon drafts his females out of a dream—gorgeous creatures with body proportions not seen on humans—all proffer a wasp-thin waist, high-arched eyebrows, and brassy bosoms in blouses that are cut on the bias that emphasize their near-perfect form..

I miss Caniff’s finely detailed drawings of yesteryear where most every frame was a cameo —“Terry and the Pirates” of the 30s and “Miss Lace” of the 40s, for examples. However, progressively in the Steve Canyon narratives, his drawings reflect a short cut to his art. Occasionally some of his drawings mimic his past exactness but far too many do not.

Nonetheless all the above, I’m looking forward to getting the next publication in this series.