Vol. 3: 1939-1940
By Milton Caniff
The Guerrilla Band
Apr 24 - Nov 5, 1939
This is the first story (of nine) in what Carl Horak, author of the Terry and the Pirates Companion, considers to be the third era of Caniff’s run on the strip. This era began in late Apr 1939 and ran through late Jan 1942 and is called Between Spear Points in the companion book.
The Wikipedia article on Terry and the Pirates breaks the entire series down into 60 arcs. It breaks this arc down into the three following arcs:
24 - (04/24/39 - 07/02/39) The Dance
25 - (07/03/39 - 09/09/39) With the Guerrillas
26 - (09/10/39 - 11/04/39) Wife Dealing and Gun Running
06/04/21
Jul 3-5, 1939 - the Dragon Lady is confident that she will escape with the hostages even though the river is filled with logs.
06/05/21
Jul 6-8, 1939 - the Dragon Lady evades the British authorities. Pat and Connie find out the next day about what happened to Terry, April, and Deeth.
Caniff treats his readers to another attempt at humor using Connie. This one is no more effective or engaging than previous ones.
06/06/21
Jul 9, 1939 - Pat makes a few phone calls and some plans for what to do about the Dragon Lady and her hostages.
I’m not entirely sure what Pat has planned but it sounds like he is interested in crossing into territory controlled by the Invaders (Japanese).
06/07/21
Jul 10-12, 1939 - Pat crosses into territory controlled by the Invaders with Connie and Big Stoop. He claims to be a munitions expert. The Dragon Lady prepares to get rid of her hostages now that she is free and clear of the British authorities.
April still admires the Dragon Lady even as her idol is getting ready to give her the boot.
06/08/21
Jul 13-15, 1939 - Terry, April, and Deeth are left behind by the Dragon Lady. The trio of teens are soon approached by a detachment of troops from the invading army. The Invaders know that the Dragon Lady is in the area and suspect that the teens know which way she went. April points them in the wrong direction proving that she still admires the Dragon Lady.
06/09/21
Jul 16, 1939 - April, Terry, and Deeth catch up to the Dragon Lady and warn her about the troops that are looking for her. She sets a trap for the Invaders at a river crossing.
There’s a place name that has come up a few times in the past week or so, Sansoon Hills. I’ve tried looking it up but I can’t find anything other than references to this comic strip.
06/10/21
Jul 17-19, 1939 - Terry, April, and Deeth watch as the Invaders walk into the trap set by the Dragon Lady.
The third panel in the second of these strips is extra wide and shows the Dragon Lady and her men cutting down the Invaders after the bridge collapses.
06/11/21
Jul 20-22, 1939 - April sees more troops of the Invaders army heading toward the Dragon Lady. She wants to warn her. Terry tries to talk April out of it for fear that she will get caught in the crossfire.
The first panel is extra wide and extra confusing. The Dragon Lady’s army is battling the Invaders but it isn’t clear who has the upper hand.
06/12/21
Jul 23, 1939 - the Invaders strike at the Dragon Lady and her troops. Terry helps her steal an armored car from the Invaders.
Terry teams up with the Dragon Lady once again. I tire of referring to the Japanese as the Invaders but that is what They are called in this strip, for now.
06/13/21
Jul 24-26, 1939 - Terry and the Dragon Lady evade the Invaders and slow down just long enough to pick up April and Deeth. They continue to put distance between themselves and the Invaders until the armored car goes flying when something explodes beneath it.
It isn’t clear what happens but I assume that the road was mined.
06/14/21
Jul 27-29, 1939 - the Dragon Lady leads the three teens to her hidden village. Pat, Connie, and Big Stoop continue to search for the missing teens.
What happened to the remains of the armored car? It is there in the first of these strips and gone by the second one. That’s not the easiest thing to cleanup.
06/15/21
Jul 30, 1939 - the Dragon Lady puts Terry, Deeth, April to work in her village. Pat, Connie, and Big Stoop use their credentials to get close to the Invaders.
Terry whistles a tune in one panel, but I have no idea what it is because I can’t read music.
06/16/21
Jul 31-Aug 2, 1939 - Connie and Big Stoop get away with some sabotage of the railroad that the Invaders are building. April continues to learn the hard way that the Dragon Lady has bigger concerns than treating the three teens gently.
April gets the spotlight.
06/17/21
Aug 3-5, 1939 - Terry and Deeth sneak some food to April not realizing that the Dragon Lady saw them do it. The Dragon Lady also shows April some kindness but does so anonymously. The Dragon Lady warns the trio of teens about what the Invaders might do to them if they try to escape from her village while she is gone.
The Dragon Lady isn’t quite as hard hearted as she often seems.
06/18/21
Aug 6, 1939 - the Dragon leads a raiding party on the Invaders’ railroad project. She captures Pat Ryan who forcibly kisses her in front of her men.
This strip opens with one of the worst cases of recap by dialogue that I have seen recently in this strip. Much of this strip takes place at night so the color palette of the backgrounds are mostly murky.
Pat Ryan says “Here’s a message to take back to the Kane Lassie… tell the kids that Ryan will be there to rescue them even if he has to break your neck doing it” just before he kisses the Dragon Lady. I think this must be a quote from a movie but I can’t figure out what it is from.
06/19/21
Aug 7-9, 1939 - two of the Dragon Lady’s soldiers talk about what just transpired as their unit heads back to the hidden village. The Invaders conduct an investigation to determine why Pat Ryan was left unscathed while most of the Invaders troops were killed.
I assumed after reading the Sunday strip that the Dragon Lady was going to take Pat Ryan with her back to the hidden village. My assumption was incorrect.
The Dragon Lady seems rather happy with the turn of events despite the way Pat Ryan forced himself on her.
06/20/21
Aug 10-12, 1939 - the Dragon Lady returns to the hidden village. Terry, April, and Deeth can’t help but notice that she looks smug about something. Terry and Deeth are clueless as to what has the Dragon Lady in such a good mood. April guesses that it is because she’s just been kissed by someone. A few minutes later Terry notices one of the Dragon Lady’s men wearing Pat Ryan’s hat.
Klang shows up at the Invaders camp. He pushes his way past Connie but doesn’t recognize him. Klang was last seen in the Mar 29, 1938 strip (in The Bandits) when he was humiliated by Terry and the Dragon Lady took over his army.
06/21/21
Aug 13, 1939 - Connie tells Pat about Klang. Klang meets with the leader of the Invaders who suggests that Klang should help him to eliminate the Dragon Lady. April helps the Dragon Lady pretty herself up while telling her about Terry’s suspicions.
Things are inching forward. One Sunday strip with three moments.
06/22/21
Aug 14-16, 1939 - April tells Terry and Deeth about what she learned from the Dragon Lady. Pat sends Big Stoop to spy on Klang.
06/23/21
Aug 17-19, 1939 - Big Stoop tells Pat and Connie what he learned about Klang’s plans. The Dragon Lady’s troops intercept a message sent by the Invaders. She plans to surprise the Invaders but doesn’t realize that the Invaders expected the message to be intercepted and are planning a trap of their own.
April takes note of the fact that the Dragon Lady dresses nicely and puts on makeup while preparing to depart with the raiding party.
06/24/21
Aug 20, 1939 - Pat decides he has to warn the Dragon Lady about the trap that the Invaders have set for her. Terry decides on a similar plan. April gives him a kiss for good luck. The kiss goes to Terry’s head and doesn’t exactly have the desired effect.
This entire strip takes place at night so the colors are a bit murky in places.
I’m noticing that it has been quite sometime since the Dragon Lady spoke with an accent. I wonder how long it has been?
06/25/21
Aug 21-23, 1939 - Terry is spotted by the Dragon Lady’s troops, whom he is trying to follow. Pat is captured by Klang’s troops (?) while spying on them.
Terry is treated much more kindly than Pat after he is discovered.
06/26/21
Aug 24-26, 1939 - Pat is tied up and gagged. He is placed with the dummy troops with which Klang hopes to lure the Dragon Lady and her troops in, to their deaths. Terry and the Dragon Lady see the enemy encampment but Terry notices that there’s something unnatural about the setup.
06/27/21
Aug 27, 1939 - Pat’s legs aren’t tied up. He tries to use them to ruin Klang’s trap. Klang’s men inadvertently drive the Dragon Lady’s troops into the trap.
Klang seems to have the upper hand but I can’t imagine him holding on to that position for very long.
06/28/21
Aug 28-30, 1939 - Terry rushes in to untie Pat while the Dragon Lady and her troops start to retreat. Terry gets hit by a bullet shot by one of Klang’s troops.
There’s a lot going on here. This is very exciting.
06/29/21
Aug 31-Sep 2, 1939 - the Dragon Lady’s troops clash with those of Klang.
The second of these three strips is one big panel. I believe that’s the first time Caniff has ever done that in this strip.
06/30/21
Sep 3, 1939 - the Dragon Lady retreats with Terry and her troops. Pat stays behind to cover them with a machine gun. He dives into the river as he blows it and some of Klang’s men up with a grenade.
This one was a little hard to follow but I think I got the gist of it. It just seemed very chaotic. It was also very exciting.
07/02/21
Sep 4-6, 1939 - Klang makes plans to follow the Dragon Lady back to her hidden village and destroy her once and for all. The Dragon Lady heads home with her troops plus Pat and Terry. She suggests that Pat could leave with his friends but he decides to stick around and help her fight Klang.
The dripping water from the second panel of the second strip caught my eye.
07/03/21
Sep 7-9, 1939 - April does her best to nurse Terry back to health. Deeth’s heart is broken when he hears how April speaks to their wounded friend. Klang launches his attack on the Dragon Lady’s hidden village.
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