Steve Canyon Reprints

[Red Oak Kid]

I'd like to find some Steve Canyon reprints, but they seem to be in short supply.

I see that a company named Checker Comics put out some TPbs but they seem to be out of print. Were they any good?

The Kitchen Sink reprints also seem in short supply.

What are the easiest to find or cheapest reprints available?

[Rob Allen]

You're in luck. Dean Mullaney posted this on the comic-strip-classics group the other day:



To confirm, we're starting CANYON in January 2012 in a matching set to our TERRY books, two complete years per volume. All Sundays in color (95% of them from Caniff's syndicate proofs), and the dailies in the uncropped, taller, version -- again from Caniff's proofs. The source material is as good as it gets. We'll most likely publish twice a year.

I'll post a few of the color Sunday proofs on my website next week. (www.libraryofamericancomics.com)

[benday-dot]

I'd like to find some Steve Canyon reprints, but they seem to be in short supply.

I see that a company named Checker Comics put out some TPbs but they seem to be out of print. Were they any good?

The Kitchen Sink reprints also seem in short supply.

What are the easiest to find or cheapest reprints available?

I was lucky to find a bunch of the Kitchen Sink magazines at my LCS for about $5.00 each. I don't have a complete set, but I do have the first 4 of 5 years of the strip's run. The Kitchen Sink books do not have the greatest reproduction. Compared to IDW's massively wonderful and definitive Terry and the Pirates 6 volume set, Dennis Kitchen's Steve Canyon magazine style periodical comes across a little claustrophobic and murky. Still, I'm a big fan of Steve Canyon and appreciate the chance to read the strip in whatever fashion I can.

I have not seen the Checkers trades; however, the company usually puts out decent publications.

The rights issue around Steve Canyon is mysterious and unknown to me. This is the golden age of strip reprints, and certainly lesser lights that Steve Canyon are receiving their place in the sun these days. Hermes Press is about to release a collection of the comic book version of Steve Canyon as put out by Dell I believe. I think these featured original material, but I'm not sure how much involvement Caniff had with them. GCD says he only drew the heads in some cases.

I would like to think Steve Canyon will soon see justice done in getting the masterful treatment with which other strips have been blessed.

[Rob Allen]

I would like to think Steve Canyon will soon see justice done in getting the masterful treatment with which other strips have been blessed.

See the post before yours.

[benday-dot]

See the post before yours.

Ha! Thanks Rob... I was still typing before you posted.

[Ramage]

Looking forward to this.

[The Confessor]

I'd like to find some Steve Canyon reprints, but they seem to be in short supply.


Hey ROK, I have the first Steve Canyon TPB from Checker Comics (titled simply 1947 and reprinting all the strips from that year). I used to have the 1948 volume too but I recently gave it away to a friend. You're welcome to have the 1947 volume though if you want because as much as the artwork is lovely, the stories are a bit one dimensional and the dialogue is excruciating in places IMHO. Your mileage may vary though.

Surfice it to say, I'm unlikely to read it again, so if you want it, just PM me with your postal address and I'll pop it in the mail for you. It's in pretty good condition, with just a little corner wear.

[emb021]

Good to know that IDW is going to do Steve Canyon.

I have all the KSP magazines and later books. I heard bad things about Checkers stuff, and was waiting to see if they got to the years after KSP ended.

The earlier part of the series is similar the last year or so of Terry & Pirates, with Steve struggling with his small airline, before giving up and rejoining the Air Force.

The Hermes comic book archive looks interesting, but I have to say am a little surprised they are calling it v1. was there enough other Canyon comic book stuff for a volume 2??

[Red Oak Kid]

Hey ROK, I have the first Steve Canyon TPB from Checker Comics (titled simply 1947 and reprinting all the strips from that year). I used to have the 1948 volume too but I recently gave it away to a friend. You're welcome to have the 1947 volume though if you want because as much as the artwork is lovely, the stories are a bit one dimensional and the dialogue is excruciating in places IMHO. Your mileage may vary though.

Surfice it to say, I'm unlikely to read it again, so if you want it, just PM me with your postal address and I'll pop it in the mail for you. It's in pretty good condition, with just a little corner wear.

Thanks to the Confessor, I have the Checkers edition he sent me.

First, I have never read Terry and the Pirates. Secondly, I had never seen the early Canyon. I am very much enjoying these early strips. And I am totally digging the dialogue. It's really hip and Adult, imo. Did Caniff write this stuff?

Obviously there is a template of Steve meets Femme Fatale and is befuddled while his secretary Feeta Feeta pines for the big dumb lug. I know it's trite, but when I read this stuff, I try to see it thru the eyes of the original readers who hadn't seen a million tv shows with this plot.

The Checkers book is fine by me. Very nice paper. Some strips are from original art and some are from newspapers but that's OK since I am interested in the stories mainly.

Thanks Confessor, I hope I can return the favor.

[The Confessor]

Thanks to the Confessor, I have the Checkers edition he sent me.

First, I have never read Terry and the Pirates. Secondly, I had never seen the early Canyon. I am very much enjoying these early strips. And I am totally digging the dialogue. It's really hip and Adult, imo. Did Caniff write this stuff?


Wow! Talk about different strokes and all that. I described the dialogue in that 1947 volume as "excruciatingly stiff" in my brief summing up of the series in last years Classic Comics Xmas (see here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=12336519&postcount=22)). Still, Caniff's artwork is really lovely but ultimately, that wasn't enough to make it too likely that I would ever want to revisit the strip. Hence why I've ultimately given the book away to you.




Thanks Confessor, I hope I can return the favor.


No problem ROK, glad you are enjoying the book. It's certainly found a much more appreciative home than it had with me. :smile:

[benday-dot]

On a semi-related note. Today I picked up the new complete Male Call collection of strips by Caniff. It's a slim volume for the price (144 pgs for $39.99, although I only paid 29.99 in a sale), but the production values are excellent. There is a a great introduction (the only part I've actually done more than skim through yet) by R.C. Harvey, a notable authority on Caniff, who, we sometimes need reminding, could once lay claim to the title of most popular strip creator in America. Caniff was a real celebrity in his day.

The volume also includes, I think for the first time ever, the early Burma strips of Male Call that served as the forerunner to the Miss Lace material. This was a short lived spin-off of the popular character from Terry and the Pirates. Also included are a heap of pin-up art and other supplementary material.

I agree with ROK about Caniff's ability to capture the argot of the 40's serviceman or even every reader of the day. It's all way before my time, but I just love the sassy and salty cadence employed in the dialogue of these WW2 era strips. I can imagine the anticipatory delight Male Call brought to the troops in a tough situation overseas.