Vol. 1: 1934-1936
By Milton Caniff
Arc 9: A Jewel of a Woman
Apr 24 - Aug 22, 1936
This is the fifth and final dailies-only arc.
01/19/20
Apr 24-25, 1936 - Burma tells the boys how she wound up on the boat, what she brought with her, and what it’s worth, $250K.
01/20/20
Apr 27-29, 1936 - Pat figures out what Burma’s role in Captain Judas’ operation was. It was her job to fence the stolen jewelry.
01/21/20
Apr 30-May 2, 1936 - Pat and Burma argue about what to do with the stolen jewelry. When she refuses to go along with his plan he grabs the suitcase with one hand and her with the other. She’s starting to fight back when they get interrupted by a couple of strangers.
01/22/20
May 4-6, 1936 - The strangers are Stanley Wingate and Sangi, his servant. Burma and the boys are on a volcanic island. The only way off, since they ran out of fuel, is a barge which is still a few weeks away. Wingate takes them back to his home and introduces them to Wendy, his wife. She assumes that Pat and Burma are married but Pat is quick to disabuse them of that notion.
01/23/20
May 7-9, 1936 - Pat is concerned that the Wingates will find out about Burma’s stolen loot. Wendy is worried that her husband is attracted to Burma. Burma acts suspiciously when Wendy suggests she should unpack her suitcase.
01/24/20
May 11-13, 1936 - Terry explains what a copra plantation is to Connie. The Wingates start to wonder why Burma doesn’t leave her room.
01/25/20
May 14-16, 1936 - Stanley Wingate tells Pat about the chat he and Wendy had about Burma. Pat talks to Burma and convinces her to leave the jewelry laden suitcase in the bedroom and socialize with Wendy. Burma and Wendy hear a report on the radio about Captain Judas. The report mentions the stolen, missing jewels that are currently in Burma’s possession.
01/26/20
May 18-20, 1936 - Pat tells Terry and Connie about Burma’s reaction to the report they just heard on the radio. He goes a step further and tells them to beware of beautiful women but Terry laughs it off considering Pat’s record.
Burma decides to turn on the charm. Wendy is pleased that Burma seems to be feeling better but Pat is suspicious of Burma’s new attitude.
01/27/20
May 21-23, 1936 - Burma continues to be perky and sociable during dinner with Pat and the Wingates. After dinner she goes for a walk with Stanley. She tells him that the stolen jewels are in the suitcase. She also tells him that it was Pat, Terry, and Connie who came up with the idea to take the jewels and that have forced her to lug them around. Lies, lies, lies!
Love the last panel from the first of these strips. Pat and Wendy watch Burma and Stanley leaving the house. Each is buried in their own thoughts but I am sure that they are thinking along similar lines.
01/28/20
May 25-27, 1936 - Burma works her magic on Stanley Wingate. Wendy asks him about his chat with Burma but he blows her off and goes to bed. Burma gets up the next morning feeling extra confident in her abilities.
Great stuff. I especially like the last panel of the second of these strips. It is wordless but says so much. Kind of like the last panel from the May 21 strip.
01/29/20
May 28-30, 1936 - Terry and Pat notice that Burma and Stanley have gotten very chummy and speculate about what she is up to. Burma goes for another stroll with Stanley Wingate. She slips and falls but he catches her. Wendy sees what happens between her husband and Burma through a pair of binoculars.
I had to restrain myself from turning the page. I really want to see what happens next. Some of the panels do not have backgrounds which tends to focus the action very much on what Burma and Stanley are up to.
01/30/20
Jun 1-3, 1936 - Pat finds Wendy crying and asks her what’s wrong. Burma is what’s wrong and Wendy has seen more than enough to know the score. She feels as though she doesn’t stand a chance against Burma.
01/31/20
Jun 4-6, 1936 - Pat asks Burma to stop being so chummy with Stanley Wingate. She laughs in his face as she says no. Pat comes up with a plan for how Wendy can win her husband back
Connie has been completely absent from the strip, for a the past few weeks worth of strips, and Terry has only shown up sparingly. I think I like the Pat and Burma show better than Terry and the Pirates.
02/01/20
Jun 8-10, 1936 - Pat talks Wendy into changing her look. The plan is to pull her husband away from Burma and back to his wife.
02/02/20
Jun 11-13, 1936 - Wendy gets some help from Mola, one of the servants, and changes her look. Stanley and Burma are stunned when they see her. She looks much more like a brunette Burma than she does her old self.
02/03/20
Jun 15-17, 1936 - Stanley is very taken with his wife’s new look. Burma tries sniping at Wendy but Stanley’s wife hits back in the sane manner. Pat gets in a snipe or two himself at Burma.
This was very fun. Burma is knocked back on her heels and does not care for it at all. She makes that abundantly clear.
02/04/20
Jun 18-20, 1936 - Burma accuses Pat of helping Wendy change her look because he wants her for himself. Wendy’s had about enough of Burma and slaps her. Burma is ready to fight fire with fire but Pat restrains her. The interpersonal drama comes to an end when Mola arrives on the scene with the bad news that lots of the locals are sick and it sounds serious.
02/05/20
Jun 22-24, 1936 - Pat Ryan and Stanley Wingate leap into action to try and prevent the spread of what they think might be the plague. Wendy is concerned about the situation but Burma is only thinking about number one, herself.
02/06/20
Jun 25-27, 1936 - Pat and Stanley finalize their plan for dealing with the plague. Pat gets Terry and Connie to help out. Burma is left to her own devices and doesn’t appreciate being forgotten.
Terry and Connie appear in the strip for the first time in 3 weeks for Terry and 5 and a half weeks for Connie. I’m not sure how medically sound Pat and Stanley’s plan is for dealing with the dreaded plague.
02/07/20
Jun 29-Jul 1, 1936 - everyone (except Burma) pitches in to help get the locals inoculated against the plague. Pat slugs one of the locals who balks at getting a shot. Pat gives him the shot after the man is down for the count.
I guess they took care of inoculating themselves first although nothing was said about that. They do take some precautions to protect themselves from the spread of the disease.
02/08/20
Jul 2-4, 1936 - Pat, Stanley, and the others (except Burma) continue to work at getting everyone inoculated. Wendy seems like she has caught the plague. Terry puts her in bed and then runs to get Burma who refuses to open the door or help in any capacity.
If I believed in the science behind this story then I might find it a little more gripping. It isn’t bad, it just isn’t as much fun as the interpersonal drama of a couple weeks before.
02/09/20
Jul 6-8, 1936 - Terry convinces Burma to help him get Wendy Wingate into bed. He leaves as Burma listens to Wendy ramble on deliriously about her.
02/10/20
Jul 9-11, 1936 - Pat determines that they need to burn the locals homes down to prevent the spread of the plague. They don’t tell the locals before doing it and they get angry at Stanley Wingate. They decide to get revenge on Wingate by burning his house.
I’m interested to see how this gets spun but up to this point it seems like the locals have been treated as ignorant, simple folk who don’t know any better. The attitude of Caniff seems to be that white man is there and he will save them.
02/11/20
Jul 13-15, 1936 - the locals start to put their plan into motion. Burma and Wendy are still in the house that’s about to get torched but the locals don’t seem to care. Terry sees what’s happening and goes running towards the house.
I find myself eager to see what happens next, despite what strikes me as one-note depictions of the locals.
02/12/20
Jul 16-18, 1936 - Terry runs into the Wingate’s home and tells Burma about what the locals are about to do. It isn’t long before they smell the smoke. Burma says it is too dangerous to try and move Wendy but she has a plan. It seems to involve the suitcase full of jewelry.
Something bothers me about the way the way that the locals are referred to as natives which is why I keep refer to them as locals.
It is a little curious how Pat and Stanley seem ineffective in this group of strips. I suppose it potentially gives Burma a moment to shine.
02/13/20
Jul 20-22, 1936 - Burma tries negotiating with the locals in an effort to get them to put out the fire. They refuse to play ball until she throws them some of the jewels. The strip ends with her throwing them all of the jewels. She is fed up with her precious cargo which as she sees it has brought her nothing but misery.
I was a little surprised to see Burma give up her loot but I guess it makes sense.
02/14/20
Jul 23-25, 1936 - the locals are so happy with Burma that they put out the fire and cease their rebellion. Burma and Pat apologize you one another.
Not much happening here. The locals (or natives as Caniff prefers to call them) seem very one note.
02/15/20
Jul 27-29, 1936 - Terry and Pat talk about Burma and how Pat feels about her. Burma apologizes to Stanley for trying to use him for her own purposes. Stanley’s boss arrives by boat which makes Burma nervous.
Three strips which have their own little arc. It’s not too surprising that Stanley doesn’t say anything about his own role in what he had going with Burma. She was leading him on but he willingly took the bait.
02/16/20
Jul 30-Aug 1, 1936 - Stanley’s boss agrees to take Terry, Pat, Connie, and Burma back to the mainland, of China. Burma is nervous about what awaits her once they get there.
02/17/20
Aug 3-5, 1936 - Wendy starts to get better. She asks for Burma because she doesn’t understand what Burma’s angle was in saving her. Burma and Pat talk about heading back to the mainland. She's nervous about getting arrested but he reassures her that he’s not about to turn her in regardless of whether there’s a reward on her head not.
Burma is behaving for now but how long will it last?
02/18/20
Aug 6-8, 1936 - everyone (Terry, Pat, Connie, Burma, Wendy, Stanley) boards the steamer which heads back to the mainland. Burma and Terry meet Mr. Gwenn, a British Hong Kong policeman, aboard the steamer. He is looking for the woman accomplice of a pirate who was recently captured.
02/19/20
Aug 10-12, 1936 - Pat tells Burma not to worry about Mr. Gwenn and to play it cool. Pat, Burma, Stanley, and a Wendy are on deck together the next day when they run into Mr. Gwenn. He heard about how jewelry was used to keep the locals from burning the buildings.
02/20/20
Aug 13-15, 1936 - the cruiser arrives at the mainland. Mr. Gwenn tells Burma, before the ship has docked, that he knows who she is and asks her if she is going to come quietly. She says she will and then turns and dives into the water. He considers taking a shot at her but there are too many boats in the area and he fears he might hit someone else my mistake.
The water is described as being yellow. It must be filthy but to Burma anything must be better than prison.
02/21/20
Aug 17-19, 1936 - the ship docks. Mr. Gwenn says goodbye. He does not hold Terry, Pat, Connie, or the Wingates responsible for harboring a criminal. The Wingates say their goodbyes to Terry, Pat, and Connie. Wendy insists on getting a kiss goodbye from Pat.
Mr. Gwenn’s goodbye speech was a bit long winded. Pat has to be goaded into kissing Wendy.
02/22/20
Aug 20-22, 1936 - Stanley and Wendy continue to talk about Terry and the others, mostly Pat and Burma, after boarding a ship for England.
Terry, Pat, and Connie get on with their lives now that the Wingates and Burma are out of the picture. Terry catches Pat daydreaming about Burma.
This has been one of the better arcs so far. I loved Burma’s role in it. I wasn't crazy about the turn the story took when it was discovered that the plague was spreading. It is amazing how far this strip has come in just under 2 years. I am speaking both of the visuals and of the sorts of stories Caniff is telling.
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