Terry and the Pirates (21.B)

Vol. 3: 1939-1940

By Milton Caniff

Temple Rock Rescue

Jun 9 - Nov 30, 1940

This is the fourth 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 begins 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 two following arcs:

29 - (06/08/40 - 09/01/40) "Prison Break"

30 - (09/02/40 - 11/24/40) "Ransom"

12/15/21

Sep 2-4, 1940 - Dude, Pat, and the others are free and clear of the Invader airplanes but their plane is damaged. The Dragon Lady and Raven talk while they exchange their wet clothes for dry ones aboard a boat.

Raven and the Dragon Lady must have swam to the boat, which gives Caniff an excuse to show them in their underwear.

12/16/21

Sep 5-7, 1940 - an Invader fighter plane attacks the boat that carries Raven and the Dragon Lady. Dude sees this and and attacks, even though his plane doesn’t have any guns. He rams his plane into the Invader airplane.

The third strip is breathtaking in the way it depicts the way the civilian plane attacks the military one.

12/17/21

Sep 8, 1940 - the Dragon Lady is prepared to rescue Pat and the others until she sees that Big Stoop is with them. She allows Connie and Hu Shee to board the boat. She gives the other four (Pat, Terry, Big Stoop, Dude) a row boat. Pat ties the row boat to the power boat when the Dragon Lady isn’t isn’t looking.

Dude has a couple sarcastic asides that made me smile. So far he seems like a welcome addition to the strip.

12/18/21

Sep 9-11, 1940 - the Dragon Lady directs the power boat to the shore when they hear Invader aircraft patrolling overhead. Pat, Terry, Dude, and a big Stoops head to shore but don’t reveal their proximity to the Dragon Lady and her traveling companions.

12/19/21

Sep 12-14, 1940 - Invader fishermen hear the Dragon Lady and come looking. They capture Raven, Hu Shee, and the Dragon Lady. Connie gets away. Pat’s group is close enough that they hear something but they aren’t sure what happened, just that the others have left.

I feel so silly writing the term Invader fishermen when I know perfectly well that they are Japanese. It isn’t until sometime after Dec 7, 1941 that they start to refer to the Invaders as Japanese.

12/20/21

Sep 15, 1940 - Pat sends Connie to steal a boat and go get help. Raven, Hu Shee, and the Dragon Lady are interrogated by the Invaders who kidnapped them. Raven tells them that Hu Shee and the Dragon Lady are her maids.

There’s way too much recap and exposition by dialogue in this Sunday strip for me.

12/21/21

Sep 16-18, 1940 - The Dragon Lady and Raven Sherman compare notes about Pat Ryan while they languish in captivity. Two of the Invaders get it in their heads that they want to have their way with the Dragon Lady and Hu Shee.

There’s way too much talking in these strips. It amounts to little more than a bunch of talking heads and no action.

I’ve got a notion that the plan hatched by the two Invaders is going to blow up in their faces and allow the women to escape.

12/22/21

Sep 19-21, 1940 - the invaders who were looking to take advantage of the women get beat up by their intended victims. The women decide to stay put for the present and not try to escape. Pat, Terry, and Dude locate the Invader fishermen’s base and make preparations to rescue the three women.

Part of the preparations involve Dude dressing up in yellow face.

12/23/21

Sep 22, 1940 - Dude sneaks into the fishermen’s base, steals some dynamite, and steals a kiss from Raven.

The final panel says everything you need to know about Raven’s reaction to Dude’s kiss. She loved it.

12/24/21

Sep 23-25, 1940 - Dude returns with the dynamite and tells Pat and Terry about how he kissed Raven. Raven tells the Dragon Lady about Dude’s visit the night before and then they talk about how Raven feels about what happened between her and Dude.

Raven seems a bit surprised by how she feels about what happened but the Dragon Lady is not.

12/25/21

Sep 26-28, 1940 - the fishermen prepare to take their prisoners to the mainland. Pat, Terry, and Dude prepare to set off some “fireworks“.

12/26/21

Sep 29, 1940 - Pat lights the fires and the dynamite. The explosions and the smoke cause the fisherman to think that the nearby volcano is starting to erupt. Dude goes to get the women while Pat and Terry get the boat.

This feels like the arc is almost over but there’s still two months worth of strips left in this story.

12/27/21

Sep 30-Oct 2, 1940 - Dude gets to the women just as one of the fishermen is getting ready to kill them. He deals with the fisherman and the four of them head to the dock to find a boat.

Dude was originally bald. His hair seems to be growing back in.

12/28/21

Oct 3-5, 1940 - Pat and Terry come to the rescue in the motorboat. Their success doesn’t last long because then the motorboat starts to sink.

It’s unclear what caused the motorboat to take on water. Maybe that’s just what the story needed.

12/29/21

Oct 6, 1940 - Dude, the Dragon Lady, Raven Sherman, and Hu Shee make it from the island to the mainland. They abandon the boat and head for a dwelling that overlooks the sea. They prepare to make a stand there. The villainous fishermen spot the recently abandoned boat and start heading for the house.

Terry and Pat are not in this strip. The first and next to last panels in this strip are beautiful shots of boats on the sea. The panels are only marred by the inclusion of word balloons.

12/30/21

Oct 7-9, 1940 - Dude keeps watch while the women get some rest. He kills a couple of the fishermen after they open fire, from a distance, at the house. He also overhears Raven talking in her sleep about their kiss.

12/31/21

Oct 10-12, 1940 - Dude tries, unsuccessfully to get Raven to warm up to his charms. He is pulled away from Raven when the Dragon Lady points out that the fishermen probably won’t be gone for long.

It has been over a week without any sign of Terry and Pat. How much longer will that go on? Who is the Big One that is mentioned in the final panel of third strip? It can’t be Big Stoop but who else could it be?

01/02/22

Oct 13, 1940 - Dude and the Dragon Lady keep the fishermen at bay until the sun comes up. The fishermen charge the house once it is light outside and when their intended victims are low on ammunition. Dude and the others are saved by Chopstick Joe and his men who show up to lend a hand.

Talk about luck. I guess Chopstick Joe was the Big One who was mentioned in the previous strip. Still no sign of Terry and Pat.

01/03/22

Oct 14-16, 1940 - Dude tells their saviors that Raven is his sister and that the Dragon Lady and Hu Shee are her maids. Chopstick Joe insists that Dude and the others be his guests at his home in the countryside. They aren’t keen on the idea but they don’t have much of a choice.

I’m surprised that Chopstick Joe didn’t recognize the Dragon Lady, she’s supposed to be well known. Maybe he did and he’s just playing along with Dude’s story for now.

01/04/22

Oct 17-19, 1940 - Chopstick Joe tells Dude he’s going to take Raven’s maids off his hands. Dude doesn’t have any choice in the matter. Raven almost spills the beans about the Dragon Lady’s identity.

I think Chopstick Joe must know who Raven is. He at the very least doesn’t buy Dude’s story that she’s his sister.

01/05/22

Oct 20, 1940 - Chopstick Joe and Dude Hennick talk. Chopstick Joe shows his hand, he reveals that he knows who Raven is and what she’s worth.

He’s much more interested in her money than he is her maids. It doesn’t seem like he knows that one of them is the Dragon Lady.

01/06/22

Oct 21-23, 1940 - Chopstick Joe finishes his conversation with Dude by letting him know that he is taking the maids in addition to ransoming Raven. He then goes to see Raven and let’s her know the score.

I’ve got a feeling that the maids are going to prove to be more difficult than Chopstick Joe imagines.

01/07/22

Oct 24-26, 1940 - Chopstick Joe applies pressure to Raven to get her to write a letter to her bank. He thinks the Dragon Lady’s face looks familiar. He threatens to torture them if he doesn’t get his way.

I assume that at some point the Dragon Lady is going to make Chopstick Joe regret what he’s doing now. When are Pat and Terry going to return?

01/08/22

Oct 27, 1940 - Chopstick Joe starts to torture Hu Shee when Raven refuses to write a note to her bank. Raven quickly changes her mind. Hu Shee apologizes to the Dragon Lady for her weakness but her boss has a plan.

Dude makes a brief appearance in this Sunday strip but he doesn’t have any contact with Raven or the others. Still no sign of Terry and Pat although they do get mentioned.

01/10/22

Oct 28-30, 1940 - Chopstick Joe shows Dude the letter that Raven wrote to her bank, mostly to rub it in Dude’s face. He also threatens to turn Dude over to the Invaders. The Dragon Lady explains her plan to Raven.

The plot thickens. Still no sign of Terry and Pat.

01/11/22

Oct 31-Nov 2, 1940 - Raven secretly pays Dude a visit. She is there to let him know about the Dragon Lady’s plan but they also make out.

I like subtle humor in these three strips.

01/12/22

Nov 3, 1940 - Hu Shee is taken to Hong Kong to deliver the letter written by Raven. She is blindfolded and her hands are tied but she manages to drop the notes (written by the Dragon Lady) along the way. More than one of the notes is picked up and read by people in the villages they pass on their way to Hong Kong.

I like the visual storytelling but I have my doubts about Hu Shee’s ability to drop the notes without being found out by Chopstick Joe’s men.

01/13/22

Nov 4-6, 1940 - Hu Shee arrives at the bank in Hong Kong. She calls the Explorer’s Club and asks for Terry or Pat. They come to the bank. She explains the situation to them and the bank manager, who thinks she is making it all up.

There’s a whole lot of forward momentum here.

01/14/22

Nov 7-9, 1940 - The bank manager tries to have Pat and Hu Shee arrested. Pat deals with the bank manager and the security guard and then takes the manager’s place. He plans to ride back to Chopstick Joe’s place as a representative from the bank. He sends Terry to get Connie and a car to follow them back. Raven and the Dragon Lady trade barbs while they wait for Hu Shee to return, hopefully with reinforcements.

Things continue to fly forward.

01/16/22

Nov 10, 1940 - Connie shows up with a car. Connie and Terry follow the car that Pat and Hu Shee are in. Terry recaps all the news to Connie. Someone who is not an ally or follower of the Dragon Lady gets their hands on one of the notes that Hu Shee dropped.

The story slows down once again. It isn’t clear if the ones who find Hu Shee’s note that do not work for or with the Dragon Lady are allies of Chopstick Joe or not.

01/18/22

Nov 11-13, 1940 - Pat meets with Chopstick Joe. Pat pretends to faint when Chopstick Joe tells him that they will chop off one of Raven’s fingers if he doesn’t get the money. Chopstick Joe lets Pat see Raven just to prove he means business but Pat acts surprised when he sees her and insists that she isn’t Raven.

I’m not sure what Pat is up to but I’m pretty sure that there is some method to his madness.

01/19/22

Nov 14-16, 1940 - Pat continues to insist that Raven is lying about her identity. The Invaders arrive on the scene and get into a gunfight with Chopstick Joe’s men. Terry and Connie are close enough to hear the gun battle.

It’s been raining for a little while now. I would think that would have make it harder to follow the tire treads of Chopstick Joe’s men. Presumably there’s a reason why it started raining but what is it?

01/20/22

Nov 17, 1940 - Pat stalls until there is a knock at the door. All three women plus Dude are downstairs with Pat and Chopstick Joe when Pat answers the door. He expects it will be Terry, Connie, and an army of Chinese peasants. It is not. It is a unit from the Invader army.

How now Pat Ryan?

01/21/22

Nov 18-20, 1940 - Terry and Connie fire off some shots which distract the Invaders. Dude jumps the leader of the Invader troops. More shooting occurs indoors. Dude tries to talk Chopstick Joe into joining forces against the Invaders but the gangster isn’t interested.

01/22/22

Nov 21-23, 1940 - Chopstick Joe loses his glasses and sprays the room with bullets before Dude can subdue him. The Invaders toss a grenade through an open window. Pat kicks it back out before it explodes. Terry, Connie, and the Chinese militia who have come to rescue the Dragon Lady open fire on the Invaders.

The action ramps up as the arc winds down.

01/23/22

Nov 24, 1940 - the Invaders focus their attack on the newly arrived Chinese militia. Terry is hit by a bullet. Hu Shee rushes out of the house, grabs Terry and gets him to relative safety in a car.

I really like the wordless panels of Hu Shee leaping into action. At first I thought it was the Dragon Lady. It makes more sense that Hu Shee would feel a need to redeem herself.

01/24/22

Nov 25-27, 1940 - the Dragon Lady knocks out Pat Ryan with the butt of a pistol to prevent him from rushing outside to help Hu Shee and Terry. Hu Shee drives Terry away from the fight in one of Chopstick Joe’s cars. She has to execute some evasive maneuvers when they spot an Invader tank heading straight for them.

Hu Shee reveals to Terry that she drove a stunt car when she lived in the United States. She is clearly a woman of many talents.

01/25/22

Nov 28-30, 1940 - Hu Shee evades the vehicle pursuing them by leaping their car over the gap in an opening drawbridge. They keep driving but Terry eventually passes out, probably due to his injury, and then the car runs out of fuel.

This is the end of the arc but it doesn’t feel like much of an end. The situation has changed but Pat, Dude, Raven, and the Dragon Lady are presumably still fighting the Invaders. I guess the next arc is going to be all about Terry and Hu Shee. Where are they? They aren’t in a Hong Kong. Are they closer to or further away from the city? There seems to be a lot that is unresolved. It isn’t the first time that Terry and Pat have been separated.

I didn't notice it but it was pointed out in the companion book that the markings on the Invader fighter planes, earlier in this arc, are identical to those of the Japanese.

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For more notes about this volume see also

• Terry and the Pirates Vol. 3 (1939-1940)