Vol. 1: 1934-1936
By Milton Caniff
Arc 5: Thugs and Lovers
Jun 10 - Dec 19, 1935
This is the third of the dailies only arcs.
04/20/19
Jun 10-15, 1935 - Pat tries to cash the check they received from Mr. Drake for $10K. Pat goes to see the bank manager. Terry and Connie get arrested.
Something is up. I think that confidence men are trying to steal their money but that isn’t explicitly clear at this point.
04/22/19
Jun 17-22, 1935 - Pat, Terry, and Connie have no luck trying to prove their innocence to the British authorities in Singapore. A couple of English prisoners try to steal from the three but Pat lets his fists do the talking when they come a knocking.
04/26/19
Jun 24-29, 1935 - Terry, Pat, and Connie while away the time until Chauncey Drake’s agent shows up. At that time they get the not so pleasant surprise that his agent is none other that Miss Normandie Drake.
More attempts at humor which feel very dated.
04/27/19
Jul 1-6, 1935 - Normandie does her best to get Pat interested in her but he just isn’t. She gives in when the police inspector asks her about the charges she wants to press and admits that the check is a legitimate one. Pat adds insult to injury by ripping up the $10,000 check in front of her. Terry and Connie stay out of the back forth between Pat and Normandie but they offer plenty of commentary throughout this week’s worth of strips.
Probably my favorite week of Terry and the Pirates to date. I loved the back and forth between Pat and Normandie. Terry references the 4th of July in the strip that ran on that day.
05/04/19
Jul 8-13, 1935 - Normandie apologizes to Pat but he storms out without accepting her attempt to patch things up between them. She leaves next but not before apologizing to Terry and Connie and giving them a $100 bill. Terry and Connie use the money to check into a hotel but there is still no sign of Pat.
05/05/19
Jul 15-20, 1935 - Terry and Connie sit around in the hotel waiting for Pat until they get a summons from the police who want them to look at a body that they think might be Pat
05/07/19
Jul 22-27, 1935 - Connie goes to check the body while Terry waits in the other room. Pat stumbles in to the police station, looking pretty beat up, while Terry is still waiting for Connie to return. Pat identifies the body as Gene Harbine, an old school mate of his. He tells them about how he ran into him after he stomped out the other day and how they hung out together and were later attacked by a gang of local thugs.
05/09/19
Jul 29 - Aug 3, 1935 - the police provide Terry and Pat with a little more information about the company that employed Harbine. Terry and the police inspector talk to Mister Jacobi of the Draco Mining Company.
Jacobi tells them about a rival mining company that he suspects of killing Harbine. He also introduces them to the niece of Draco Mining Company’s owner, Normandie Drake.
05/11/19
Aug 5-10, 1935 - Terry chats with Normandie. She still has her heart set on Pat. Terry gives her some advice about how to improve her relationship with Pat.
Terry reports back to Pat but doesn’t tell him about Normandie. It isn’t long before they are leaving Singapore and heading for Draco’s mine.
05/13/19
Aug 12-17, 1935 - Terry and Pat travel up river until they reach Saki, a village on the way to the Draco Mining operation. They talk to the captain and get some more details about Krunch, the leader of the rival mining operation. Pat shows that he hasn’t forgot Normandie. Terry still hasn’t told him about his encounter either her.
Connie makes just one appearance during this week.
05/14/19
Aug 19-24, 1935 - Terry, Pat, and Connie try to get a room at the only hotel in Saki only to discover that Normandie Drake took the last available room. Pat hoes through the roof when he hears that she’s in town.
She gives Pat the cold shoulder when they meet but it is all an act. Terry is the one encouraging her to treat Pat this way in the hopes that it will make him want her more.
05/16/19
Aug 26-31, 1935 - Terry gives Pat a hard time about shaving and trying to make himself more presentable. Terry suggests that Normandie is the reason why. Normandie almost gets abducted but Pat steps in and beats up her would he kidnapper.
05/18/19
Sep 2-7, 1935 - the kidnapper disappears, Normandie decides to to go for a walk with Connie and gets accosted by some of Krunch’s men, Pat has to rescue her once again
Thus is the best arc so far, mostly because of the verbal sparring between Pat and Normandie. There isn’t quite as much racial humor but Connie also seems to be playing a smaller role than he did in earlier arcs. It’s as if the primary role for Connie is as comic relief.
05/21/19
Sep 9-14, 1935 - Pat fights with one of Krunch’s men and then faces down the owner of the rival mine himself.
Times sure have changed. The way Pat refers to Connie is a slur today but back then I guess that term wasn’t looked at in the same way, at least by white folks.
05/23/19
Sep 16-21, 1935 - Krunch sends three of his men after Terry, Pat, Connie, and Normandie. The quartet heads for the Draco Mine on a small railway that is used to transport supplies from Saki to the mine. They are stopped by Krunch’s men who are there for Normandie. Terry and Connie manage to scare them off with a length of fire hose which Pat convinces the bad guys is a python.
I think that sometimes the gags don’t work for me because I am reading several days of the strip at a time. In the Sep 19 strip Terry and Connie are next to the train. The next day they are up in a tree with the length of fire hose, even though it seems like hardly any time has passed. I might not have noticed the jump if it weren’t for the fact that I read them back to back.
05/26/19
Sep 23-28, 1935 - Terry, Pat, Connie, and Normandie arrive at the Draco Mining operation. They keep a watchful eye out for any sign of Krunch and his men. The first sign of trouble is when they discover that there is arsenic in the canned meat that Connie serves them.
It’s a little unclear how Pat figures out that there was something wrong with the meat but his hunch turned out to be correct.
05/27/19
Sep 30 - Oct 5, 1935 - Pat and Normandie disappear. Terry and Connie suspect that they were abducted by Krunch’s men. Terry comes up with a plan.
Lots more Connie in this one but once again his primary role seems to be comic relief. That probably wouldn’t bother me if the humor was smarter and not racially tinged.
06/03/19
Oct 7-12, 1935 - Terry and Connie put on disguises and infiltrate Krunch’s camp. Connie’s disguise is just a change of clothes. Terry’s disguise is a bit more involved and is what I would describe as yellow-face.
06/04/19
Oct 14-19, 1935 - Terry and Connie seem suspicious to Krunch and his men. Terry is pretending to be deaf and dumb. Krunch tests his disguise by slapping him across the face but Terry doesn’t make a sound.
06/05/19
Oct 21-26, 1935 - Krunch tries to get Normandie to turn over her shares in the Draco mine to him. She refuses to sign. Krunch threatens to torture Pat unless she signs. Terry, still disguised, witnesses it all.
Still not loving Terry in yellow-face disguise. I don’t care for the way Caniff deals with Asian cultures.
06/21/19
Oct 28-Nov 2, 1935 - Krunch is ready to torture Pat in order to get Normandie to sign over her portion of the mine to him. She wants to sign rather than see Pat harmed. Terry blows his disguise in an unsuccessful attempt to save Pat.
07/01/19
Nov 4-9, 1935 - Krunch threatens Pat with the Iron Lady, which convinces Normandie to sign over the mine. Krunch’s men freak out when the Iron Lady starts making noise. He shoots them. Terry cuts Pat free. Pat deals with Krunch. It looks like the day is saved but what was up with the Iron Lady?
07/02/19
Nov 11-16, 1935 - Connie was inside the Iron Lady, which he fixed up before he got in so he wouldn’t get injured. Terry, Pat, Connie, and Normandie make a run for it. Some of Krunch’s men try to stop them but they escape in a speedboat. Normandie gets shot as they speed away from Krunch’s camp.
07/10/19
Nov 18-23, 1935 - the gang rushes to a military hospital down the river, after a brief stop in Saki, with some help from a British Naval vessel. It’s touch and go for a bit. Terry and Connie ponder Pat’s relationship with and feelings for Normandie, who eventually starts to recover.
07/12/19
Nov 25-30, 1935 - Normandie recovers and her Uncle Chauncey and Aunt Augusta come to visit her in the hospital. Her aunt has all sorts of questions and isn’t a pushover.
07/18/19
Dec 2-7, 1935 - Aunt Augusta dismisses Terry, Pat, and Connie immediately after meeting them. Pat returns to Normandie’s hospital room later that night and says they should get married. Aunt Augusta shows up unexpectedly.
07/26/19
Dec 9-14, 1935 - Pat and Normandie tell Aunt Augusta about their plan to get married. They are surprised to learn that she approves of them getting married. Pat leaves. Aunt Augusta drugs Normandie and then has men take her back to the ship, which sails before Pat returns to look for Normandie.
07/27/19
Dec 16-19, 1935 - Pat talks to Chauncey Drake who shows him the letter that his wife left him. Aunt Augusta and Normandie are headed back to the United States of America. Chauncey then explains why his wife fled with Normandie.
Thus ends this arc of Terry and the Pirates. I thought it had some high points and some low ones. The argument between Pat and Normandie early in the arc was great, probably my favorite moment up to this point. Terry dressing up in yellow face was a low point.
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