The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

I hope this isn't what Caniff is planning to end on, because I can think of quite a few loose ends I'd rather see tie d up before he leaves.

I would think Pat, the DL, and Burma would be near the top of the list followed by April, Captain Blaze, and (my top of the list) Hu Shee (but I get that she wasn't really a big character in the full sweep of the strip).

 

[Harp]

^ Vicarious surmise of strip storyline with intersecting lines easily absorb reader focus
with Terry; although I occasionally mentally step back for refreshed page renewal.
Towards strip forfeiture Caniff probably found himself lost and perhaps a bit bewildered
by his comic creation, with innate assay unduly critical of himself. Such criticism is probably
unfair yet not entirely so; since he assumed the role of Prometheus bringing truth's fire to
an unaware public, and it stands reason that its torch singed his own hand. Caniff inflicted
what Frost dubbed poetry's mortal wound upon the American public witnessed the reaction
Raven's death provoked with indignant outcry. No matter aside moment because Raven
still lies alone beneath rock tapestry strewn the cold windswept desolate China where she perished.
The others, swept to the wind, are gone but remain memories very much alive.

 

[LizzieMaine]

As long as I live I'll never forget that Judas threw Raven off that truck, AND Mickey Owen dropped that damn ball -- ON THE SAME DAY.

Gawdawmighty.

 

[Harp]

Dude Henick shot Judas in the left abdominal Celiac artery with a .30-06 150 grain slug
fired from a 1903 Springfield Starlight, delivering a mortal wound with death only minutes away.
And our girl Burma trained a German 9mm Luger on him for the coup de grace finish.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("I hope t'ey got plenny a' rope," declares Sally. "Good, t'ick rope. S'pecially f' Goerin'." "T' Ginsboigs tol' me t'ey gotta letteh yestehday," notes Alice. "From t'eh son, y'know. Milton, t' lawryeh, t'at was oveh t'eh woikin' f' t'at commission." "I r'membeh him," nods Sally. "Back befoeh t' wawr. When we fois' moved inta t'buildin', y'know, right afteh we got married, he was goin' t' collitch, Milt was. NYU. He'd be aroun', an' him an' Joe would get t' kidd'n'aroun'. You know, was Goodman or Shawr t' betteh clarinet playeh, stuff like 'at. 'N I liked 'im 'cause him an' me seen eye t' eye awn a lotta t'ings, y'know, awlat stuff wen' on when I was woikin' at Woolwoit's. He got outta collitch, an' by t'en, t'wawr was pickin' up, an'ee din' wait t'be drafted. Signed right up befoeh Poil Hawrbeh. I guess t' Awrmy needs a lotta lawyehs." "His folks is real proud of 'im," sighs Alice. "But t'eh worried 'bout 'im. He ain' been writin' much since t'em trials stawrted, I guess t'ey won' let 'im say much. But I guess he said he might be home soon." "Sometimes," sighs Sally, "I wondeh if t' wawr is eveh really gonna be oveh...")

("You was NOT!" scoffs Lottie Schreibstein. "I was TOO!" protests Willie. "Me, 'n Pap, an' Ma, an' Aunt Sally! We was right'eh jus' as big as -- as big as --" "Big as WHAT!" snorts Lottie. "Yawr MOUT'!" snaps Willie. "Show me ya ticket, ya so smawrt," sniffs Lottie. "I ain' got it," confesses Willie. "It's in my school pants!" "Y' don' weah ya school pants," sneers Lottie, "to a BAWLL GAME." "Well *I* do!" retorts Willie. "'Cause WE sat inna GRAN'STAN'! Not t' bleachehs! T' GRAN'STAN! T'ey don' letcha sit inna granstan' wit'outcha got awn ya school pants!!" "You LIE," denies Lottie. "Lieh, lieh, pants on fieh, nose as lawng as a telephone wieh!" "I was TOO T'eh!" roars Willie, just as Krause exits Schreibstein's with a box of cigars and a copy of the Eagle under his arm. "PAP!" Willie pleads. "DIN' we go t' t' bawlgame yestehday!?" "Yeh," nods Krause, in a tone intended to conclude the argument. "AN' -- AN' --" stammers Willie. "We'eh gonna go t' t' game nex' T'oisday! T' PLAYAWFF! Ain' we, Pap! You c'n get tickets, 'cause you KNOW somebody! Huh, Pap? DON'CHA!" "Uhhhhhh....." exhales Krause...)

("They coulda used my good side." -- Leo)

("And this week we're running a buy-one-get-one special!")

(Can't we get Reiser back in the lineup somehow? I mean, he only broke ONE ankle...)

(Once the publicists get hold of you, they never let you go...)

(It isn't sight you should worry about, I can smell him from here...)

(They've got an oyster out back working overtime.)

(I wonder if the police have been to see Mr. Stamm yet?)

("Oh, and pick up the check for lunch. That's part of the deal.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I imagine Laddie of Spring Mount is getting pretty hungry right now.

"I tol'ya, Pop," insists Danny Leary. "I couldn' FIND some'a t' stuff!" "Oh," sighs Uncle Frank. "Well, p'raaaaaps we can -- ah -- move sooma th' crates aroond while tharr countin'm...."

Paging Doctor Zee. Or maybe this is a case for -- ah -- Sam The Presser....

You get a discount that way, and it saves you money in the long run, they say.

Odds that Tracy will be t i e d up and left in that vat as it slowly fills...

Well, wait'll you see what they can do with a toilet plunger!

Expand your horizons.

Bim is more of an eagle-face.

"Oh, that place? The Haunted M urder House of Death?"

You may live to regret this.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Worker...

Covering the news that really matters...

 

[Fading Fast]

"We'eh gonna go t' t' game nex' T'oisday! T' PLAYAWFF! Ain' we, Pap! You c'n get tickets, 'cause you KNOW somebody! Huh, Pap? DON'CHA!" "Uhhhhhh....." exhales Krause...

Life really is exhausting; it's always "the next thing."

*********************************************************

"They coulda used my good side." -- Leo

Advertising is so manipulative even when you know it: I know exactly what A&S is doing here, yet darn it, I still feel a bit better about its stupid store.

*********************************************************

I wonder if the police have been to see Mr. Stamm yet?

His editor, wife, a sibling, or somebody in his life should be stepping up here. It's about as loud a cry for help as one can make.

********************************************************

They've got an oyster out back working overtime.

"Oh, and pick up the check for lunch. That's part of the deal."

Lot of jewelry sc*mming storylines in the comic strips lately. Must have been a lot going on in general. Does that still go on today?

********************************************************

I imagine Laddie of Spring Mount is getting pretty hungry right now.

"No kidding, where exactly are they getting his one pound of meat a day from?" Big Joe of Big Joe's

Separately, usually we talk about comic strip stories being "ripped from the headlines," but in the case of the convict who tried to escape while on a "one day leave," Warner Bros. had already made a movie version of that twice, once in 1940 as "Castle on the Hudson," and even earlier in 1932 as "20,000 years in Sing Sing."

********************************************************

"I tol'ya, Pop," insists Danny Leary. "I couldn' FIND some'a t' stuff!" "Oh," sighs Uncle Frank. "Well, p'raaaaaps we can -- ah -- move sooma th' crates aroond while tharr countin'm...."

My money is on Mickey and Solly to outwit these jokers.

********************************************************

Covering the news that really matters...

In that day, a good sports section could sell newspapers.

 

[Harp]

WAC Captain Kathleen Durant was cashiered out with a fin; severance for trial having
occurred earlier, her colonel husband and the other male defendants will receive far harsher
punishment in the Kronberg jewels theft. Criminal conspiracy is deadly serious offense under
law but a woman gets cut slack while the rope is noosed then fastened gibbet for males.
The sloppy squalor evidenced Kronberg frankly surprised---if my old outfit came across such
loot, we'd never have been caught.

 

[Farace]

(I wonder if the police have been to see Mr. Stamm yet?)

In the back of my head, I’m half wondering if the strip will go suddenly dark soon and be replaced. As long as they don’t stick Dondi in there.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We have a few years, yet, before we go thru THAT.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Yemach shemum," murmurs Mr. Ginsburg, gazing at the paper spread across his lap as the train rumbles toward Brooklyn. "V'zichrum." "I can't heeh ya," reminds Leonora, pointing at her bad ear, and leaning toward her seatmate. "A saying there is," Mr. Ginsburg sighs, gesturing to the headline. "For only such men." He looks over at Leonora, who is listening but not hearing. "But you, mine lameleh," he sighs. "And those who will come after, you, you must not forget. All the nations must not forget where blind hate can lead." Leonora squints at the newspaper, reading the headline, but not fully understanding. She leans against her companion's shoulder, as the train rattles on toward home....)

("He's gonna do WHAT?" blurts Sally. "He's goin' oveh Ebbets Feel t'night," sighs Alice, "an'ee's gonna stand awn line tilla ticket windehs open. He bought one'a t'em sleepin' bags awffa Solly Pincus, an'ee's got some sanwiches an' a thoimas a' cawfee, an'ee's gonna stay t'eh awl night." "Gawdawmighty," exhales Sally. "He prawmised Willie," shrugs Alice. "An' if t'ez one t'ing 'bout Siddy, he says sump'n, he makes a prawmise -- t'en he does it." "He betteh zip up t'at sleepin' bag good'n tight," warns Sally. "T'at line's gonna go awlaway downta Empieh Boulevawrd, an' it's gonna be fulla crooks an' bums. T'ey'll roll 'im fawr 'is billfold sueh'ras ya sitt'neh. Look, I got a betteh ideeh. Have 'im tawk t' Uncle Frank. He lives right oveh t'eh, he knows ev'rybody inna neighbehood..." "An' evry'body inna neighbehood," mutters Alice, "knows him." "What?" "Nut'n....")

("Maybe y' could do an act like t'is gal," offers Sammy. "Ann Corio!??" guffaws Rosa. "Um, what kin'a act would'AT be?" "Uhhh," stammers Sammy. "Hillbilly stuff?" "Ah," ahs Rosa. "No," dismisses Shirley. "I don't think you're the hillbilly type...")

("And it leads back to your mother's house in East Rutherford...")

("Y'all sure do take y' baseball serious 'round here," observes Mike O'Donnell, observing the newspaper readers on the subway as the car rattles toward Prospect Park Station. "Eh," ehs Solly. "You ain' seen nut'n yet." "YOU," chuckles Mr. O'Donnell, "ain't spent much time in Kansas City!")

(This off the rack regalia never works out.)

(Hm? A vampire story? Just in time for Halloween!)

("I SAID I'M AN OKLAHOMA OILMAN! OKLAHOMA! WHERE THE WIND COMES SWEEPING DOWN THE PLAIN!")

("Put down that eraser and listen to me!")

(AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG IS KNOWN FOR HIS PLEASANT ODOR)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

600 rookie cops with something to prove? That'll be fun.

"Why bring that up?"

"And no long distance calls!"

The "dang" was a lead quarter. Shame on you, kid.

Where do you even get a shirt like that?

"And make sure it's the good kind. That cheap stuff gets stuck in my moustache."

"EAGLE faced, blast you!"

OK, so I guessed it right. BUT I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

There's nothing more frustrating than someone who won't play along.

"Count that money with care," directs Mr. Rickey. "We have a great many car payments to make..."

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Worker...

Come now, Mr. Mardo. Remember your audience.

 

[Fading Fast]

"And those who will come after, you, you must not forget. All the nations must not forget where blind hate can lead."

Presented without comment.

********************************************************

Have 'im tawk t' Uncle Frank. He lives right oveh t'eh, he knows ev'rybody inna neighbehood..." "An' evry'body inna neighbehood," mutters Alice, "knows him." "What?" "Nut'n...."

Alice knows exactly who Frank is.

BTW, not quite the union solidarity in Hollywood one hopes for.

And finally, Sarnoff fired off some moonshot predictions, but got at least a few right.

*********************************************************

"Ah," ahs Rosa. "No," dismisses Shirley. "I don't think you're the hillbilly type..."

I forget, is Rosa good looking? And in a way good enough for TV of this era? ["Hey!" — JF.]

*********************************************************

Hm? A vampire story? Just in time for Halloween!

Whatever happened, Herb is a "person of interest."

********************************************************

I'd wager that Mrs. Kathleen Nash Durant (great name, BTW) hasn't done hard labor before in her life.

********************************************************

Come now, Mr. Mardo. Remember your audience.

Lizzie, what do you think of Durocher's choice for a starter?

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Aw, she t'inks she's a reg'leh Rita Haywoit! But'cha know t'at place inna middla ya eyebrows? She shaves wheh t'ey come t'gett'eh! I seen'eh do it!" -- Bink Scanlan.

As for Leo, he's taking a real chance with a kid like Branca. I'd throw Hig in there, and trust in experience.

 

[Harp]

My family is Chicago Southside Irish, which spells White Sox; whereas yours truly has always
leaned towards the Northside Cubs. A family black sheep but a published writer; something
of an accomplishment among the shanty sod. But I digress.
My maternal grandmother absolutely hated Leo Durocher's guts. She once detonated a thermonuclear explosion over his name mentioned during a Sox game that should have been recorded for the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.

Ann Corio at the Brooklyn Academy of Music reminds me of a gal pal English Literature
professor who wanted me to accompany her to opera diva Renee Fleming's U of Chicago
sit down discussion one Sunday evening. My decline due a Chicago Bears game conflict
wasn't understood. I explained that post game analysis leading to later conservative political talk radio typically involved ordering pizza, chicken, or ribs from a local Irish pub, and basically being locked down for the night. She didn't know about nor comprehended radio football post game analysis.
Her next day email was so cold it had icycles hanging off it. Apparently I wasn't the ''cultured
professional'' she'd mistakenly presumed....

Myrna Loy is fondly remembered for her beauty, grace, elegance, and class. She should sue Mr Woll, the AFL, and that trade rag Photo Engravers. I would represent her pro bono. And invite her to dinner where she would be in candlelight....

Someone mentioned Dondi. When I was a child, I'd ask my mom to read that strip to me.
Fond memories comics bequearh of long ago.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Leo is following the same strategy he did in 1941 -- he had Higbe ready to go, but instead he started Old Grampaw Curt Davis in Game One, AND BLEW IT. I guess Sally didn't yell loud enough at him then.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Frank Leary," introduces Solly Pincus, "meet Mike O'Donnell fr'm Kansas City." "How y'do," nods Mr. O'Donnell. "Um," ums Uncle Frank, extending his hand. "Pleased t'meet'chee." "Heard a lot about'ya," continues the new associate of the firm, accepting the grip. "Oh," quivers Uncle Frank. "Hmm," hmms Mike, looking Frank up and down. "Have we met before?" "Oh NO, nonononono," stammers Uncle Frank. "Saaaartainy -- ah -- not, nooo indeed." "Hmm," hmms Mike. "Nahh," interjects Solly. "Frank's neveh been t' Kansas City." "Oh, absolutely," agrees Uncle Frank, his head disappearing into a blur of nod. "Niiivar been thar in me loife." "Guess I couldn'a met ya then," concedes Mr. O'Donnell. "Oh, y'know how it is," chuckles Solly, giving his new colleague a conspiratorial wink. "Awlese Irish boys look alike...")

("He's out t'eh awright," sighs Alice. "He's gonna be t' hunnet'n sixteen't on line whenna windehs open. I took s'moeh san'wiches out t'wim afteh woik las' night. T'ez people got lit'l tents pitched, t' whole t'ing." "S'posta get chilly t'night," observes Sally. "Izzee got a hat?" "Yeh," exhales Alice. "He's got t'at dopey ol' Awrmy hat he had at summeh camp. I tried t'give'im a real hat, but he t'inks somebody'd steal it." "What about money?" questions Sally. "He's got awn one'a t'em money belts," declares Alice. "An'ee's got two shoits, a sweateh, an'a jacket awn oveh'rit. Anybody tries t' roll 'im, t'ey'll really hafta woik f'rit." Alice pauses, and notices a small book on her friend's lap. "Whassatcha read'n?" Sally holds up the volume. "Common Sense In Chess," Alice reads. "Um." "T'at kid," Sally growls, "is gonna drive me t' drink." "Common sense," snickers Alice. "Don' Play Chess Witcha Kid!")

("I'll STAWRVE t' deat'!" wails Bink. "Pr'aps," frowns Ma. "Boot at least we c'n fitchee in ye coffin!")

("Hey bud, pass 'is alawng t' row!")

(I'm suprised he didn't THROW THE RADIO OUT THE WINDOW!!!!!!)

(Every marketing meeting is like this.)


(The living dead? Sorry, that's the thirteenth floor.)

(Look, couldn't they just knock over a gas station?)

(Bloodstains are gonna look awful on that suit.)

(Just be careful you don't run into Jane Arden!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Ew.

Something tells me they'll sell a LOT of these today.

Gossip gossip gossip.

"But we've got to keep her, we have to worry about our reputation!"

Bim keeps a special account just for bailing Andy out of jail.

"But I've already promised it to twenty-seven other people!"

How can she stand like that without tipping over?


"The way she holds her nose in the air..."

Tracy has no idea how to hold a gu n, but he always seems to hit his target.

Well, at least there there's many mansions...