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
07/04/21
Sep 10, 1939 - Pat sends Deeth out to negotiate safe passage for himself and April back to Hong Kong. Klang doesn’t provide terms that Deeth can agree to so he declines and heads back to the hidden village.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Klang or one of his men shoots Deeth in the back as he returns to the village.
07/05/21
Sep 11-13, 1939 - Deeth brings the bad news back to Pat and the Dragon Lady. Pat suggests that the wives and children of the Dragon Lady’s soldiers could sneak out, before they all get overrun by Klang’s forces, only to learn that they would rather stay and suffer the same fate as the men. Terry is worried about what will happen to April if Klang is victorious.
Caniff’s depictions of April’s face seem inconsistent. Sometimes she looks like she is wearing more makeup than others. I would think she wouldn’t have the resources to “pretty herself up” considering the current circumstances.
07/06/21
Sep 14-16, 1939 - Pat comes up with a plan to bring the bombardment of the village to an end and lure Klang into a trap.
07/07/21
Sep 17, 1939 - Some of Klang’s men enter the village. It seems like all the people in the village are dead but then the trap is sprung and Klang’s forces are killed or captured.
07/08/21
Sep 18-20, 1939 - Klang discovers he’s been fooled and orders the bombardments to recommence. The Dragon Lady is ready to leave Klang’s captured troops to die in the bombardment but Pat can’t stand by and watch that happen.
Pat is playing good cop to the Dragon Lady’s bad cop.
07/10/21
Sep 21-23, 1939 - Klang is forced to pause the attack when his artillery pieces overheat. The Dragon Lady and Pat argue while they are not under attack about how Klang’s captured men should be treated.
Pat keeps referring to the Dragon Lady as beautiful, to her face, but the compliment doesn’t affect her judgment. If anything she seems more determined than ever to have her way.
07/12/21
Sep 24, 1939 - Pat and the Dragon Lady continue to argue over the fate of the prisoners. She decides to execute them but her men refuse to accept her order.
I like the effect Caniff uses in the next to last panel. It makes it clear how angry the Dragon Lady is without using any words.
07/13/21
Sep 25-27, 1939 - Pat tries to convince the Dragon Lady that she is really just soft on the inside, like all women. He thinks that the sooner she admits that to herself the better off she will be. The Dragon Lady is not ready to bow to his way of seeing things.
There’s some sense in what Pat has to say but he layers it in with sexist bullshit and historical inaccuracies. The Dragon Lady is perfectly justified in wanting to shut him up.
07/14/21
Sep 28-30, 1939 - the Dragon Lady shoots at Pat but misses him at close range. Pat lectures her and then pulls her in for a kiss. Klang puts a new plan into motion to capture or kill the Dragon Lady and her troops.
More sexism from Pat. I don’t disagree that there is more going on beneath the surface of the Dragon Lady but why does Pat have to link it to the fact that she’s a woman and not her personality.
She’s a proud leader who has trouble separating the personal from the professional. She fears that if she is seen to be weak then her troops won’t respect her.
I love the end of the second strip, especially the extreme close up of the gun dropping from her hand as they kiss.
07/15/21
Oct 1, 1939 - Klang’s plan works and his troops get past the sentry guarding one of the routes to the village.
It isn’t looking good for Terry and his friends. I wonder if Deeth is going to wind up sacrificing himself to save the others. He seems determined to make a big contribution.
07/16/21
Oct 2-4, 1939 - Klang and his troops quickly surround and attack the Dragon Lady’s hidden village.
The attack happens at night there are lots of figures in shadows in these three strips.
I’ve only just noticed it recently but it seems that Caniff now has all the Chinese and all of the Invaders speaking in unaccented English. The only exception is Connie who continues to speak in gibberish. Flipping back through this volume it seems that has been the case since at least the beginning to of 1939.
07/17/21
Oct 5-7, 1939 - Klang starts to torture Pat and the Dragon Lady. Deeth makes a run for it, on his own initiative. The only one who notices him leave is one of Klang’s men that was captured by the Dragon Lady’s troops and seems to feel he owes something to Pat.
It looks like Deeth is off to do something heroic. I think he will bring back reinforcements but will it cost him his life?
07/18/21
Oct 8, 1939 - Klang announces his plans for Pat, the Dragon Lady, Terry, and April. Deeth makes his way back to the camp of the Invaders and locates Connie and Big Stoop.
Deeth seems to be counting on the Invaders not approving of Klang’s decision to torture Pat and Terry.
The fifth panel is an extreme closeup of Klang leering at April. It makes my skin crawl but I think it is very effective.
0/19/21
Oct 9-11, 1939 - Connie comes up with a plan, which he executes with help from Big Stoop and Deeth, to get them out of the Invaders camp. Connie and Big Stoop create a distraction while Deeth steals a car.
Deeth’s plan to get help from the leader of the Invaders troops didn’t work out.
07/20/21
Oct 12-14, 1939 - Klang prepares to execute the Dragon Lady’s troops. Connie comes up with a plan once they get close to the village.
07/21/21
Oct 15, 1939 - Connie, Big Stoop, and Deeth rain on Klang’s parade and keep him from executing the Dragon Lady’s army.
The final panel is three panels wide and of epic proportions.
07/22/21
Oct 16-18, 1939 - Connie sets Pat, the Dragon Lady, and Terry free. The Dragon Lady starts to mobilize her troops. Klang shoots Deeth. Pat takes off after Klang leaving Terry to look after Deeth.
The first strip opens with a smaller version of the final panel from the Sunday strip. It is two panels wide.
Pat says that Klang shot Deeth with Dum Dum bullets but I’m not sure how he would know that with out examining the wound.
07/23/21
Oct 19-21, 1939 - Pat saves April from Klang, who was ready to kill her. The Dragon Lady is reunited with Big Stoop. It was she who ordered his tongue cut out years before.
There is lots of drama in these three strips.
07/24/21
Oct 22, 1939 - Connie knocks the gun out of the Dragon Lady’s hand before she can shoot Big Stoop. She jumps in one of the cars and takes off. She is unknowingly on a collision course with the Invaders.
Almost half of this strip is recap from the past week.
07/25/21
Oct 23-25, 1939 - Terry wants to stick around and wait for April and Pat to return but Connie insists that they need to leave before the Invaders arrive. Big Stoop enforces Connie’s course of action by picking up Terry and Crispin and starts running. Pat catches up to Klang.
There is no sign of April in these three strips. Terry seems to think she is with Pat but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
07/26/21
Oct 26-28, 1939 - Pat goes toe to toe with Klang.
Pat does almost all the talking in these three strips as he slaps the warlord around.
07/27/21
Oct 29, 1939 - Terry, Connie, Big Stoop, and Deeth hightail it away from the site of the battle in one of the stolen cars. Pat continues to duke it out with Klang while April watches from behind a large rock.
There is considerably less talking during the fighting in this Sunday strip.
07/28/21
Oct 30-Nov 1, 1939 - Pat gets distracted by April. Klang takes advantage of the moment but then April makes up for what she did.
Looks like that’s it for Klang but there’s no sign of his body just yet.
07/29/21
Nov 2-4, 1939 - Pat and April talk, and flirt, as he recovers from the fight with Klang.
Where is this all going? She’s way too young for him. The dialogue does nothing for me and the images aren’t special either. I know this arc is almost over and I’m bored.
07/30/21
Nov 5, 1939 - Pat and April take a break and bathe separately in a stream.
I don’t know what to make of this Sunday strip. I think it was an attempt at humor. It just left me shaking my head. It’s a weird spot to end an arc. Is the next arc going to be all April and Pat?
On the whole I really liked this arc. It compares very favorably to the previous ones.
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