Steve Canyon Vol. 1: 1947-1948
by Milton Caniff
Easter’s Oil
Jul 8 - Sep 26, 1947
This is the third of sixteen stories that the Steve Canyon Companion considers to be the first era of Caniff’s run on the strip. This era began in Jan 1947 and ran through early Oct 1950.
06/11/25
Jul 8-9, 1947 - Steve heads to the bank to try and deposit the check that Red gave him only to discover that the authorities have placed a hold on the funds of the Black Champagne Oil Company. He heads next to the Horizons Unlimited airplane and finds out that the authorities are about to impound the air transport.
Jul 10-12, 1947 - Steve and his crew are grounded on account of the investigation into Black Champagne Oil Company. He tries calling Feeta but the phone line has been disconnected. He gets a telegram from Feeta informing him about what happened to the office. Happy Easter goes to see a lawyer.
I’m not sure what Happy is doing but it probably has something to do with his oil well.
06/13/25
Jul 13, 1947 - Steve delivers the bad news to the Horizons Unlimited crew but then Happy Easter pulls up with a Rodeo and Wild West show and hires Steve to take him somewhere.
What now?
06/14/25
Jul 14-16, 1947 - Happy hires Steve and the Horizons Unlimited Crew to fly him to New York City.
06/15/25
Jul 17-19, 1947 - Steve, Happy, and the Horizons Unlimited crew arrive in New York City. Feeta is there to greet them. Happy gets excited when he sees Feeta and kisses her. He realizes from her reaction to his kiss that he might have made a mistake.
06/16/25
Jul 20, 1947 - Happy apprehends a pickpocket who just took some of his money.
06/17/25
Jul 21-23, 1947 - Happy Easter becomes a cause celebre in the Big Apple. Everybody wants to know about him as he prepares to travel overseas.
06/18/25
Jul 24-26, 1947 - Happy’s travel visas for foreign countries get approved. Steve explains to Feeta why she needs to stay behind and mind the office. Horizons Unlimited takes off overseas as someone named Madame Lynx is put on the case.
06/19/25
Jul 27, 1947 - Happy’s trip overseas with the captain and crew of Horizons Unlimited arouses the interests of a foreign government which puts Madame Lynx on the job to figure out what is really up with this trip.
06/20/25
Jul 28-30, 1947 - Madame Lynx makes plans. Happy asks a lot of questions while the air transport is in flight.
Madame Lynx reminds me a little of the Dragon Lady, at least in terms of appearance and the way she is scheming.
06/21/25
Jul 31-Aug 2, 1947 - Happy can’t help but notice that Steve and his crew are kind of quiet. They are pensive because it is Air Force Day. Madame Lynx continues to prepare for the arrival of Steve Canyon, Happy Easter, and the Horizons Unlimited crew.
Steve makes reference to Colin Kelly and Meyer Levin in the first of these strips. Both men were pilots of B-17 bombers who were killed in action during World War 2. They served together (on the same B-17 on Dec 10, 1941) on the mission during which Colin Kelly was killed. Levin survived that mission but was killed on Jan 7, 1943 saving the lives of his crew.
06/22/25
Aug 3, 1947 - Madame Lynx sets her trap. Happy and Steve overhear her telling a sob story. Happy buys it hook, line, and sinker but Steve is more cautious.
Madame Lynx claims to be the wife of an American named Jones who was killed during the war.
06/23/25
Aug 4-6, 1947 - Happy and Steve give Madame Lynx a ride to her hotel. Happy wants to have dinner with her but she declines the invitation.
06/24/25
Aug 7-9, 1947 - Happy and Steve meet with Mrs. Jones at the restaurant for dinner.
06/25/25
Aug 10, 1947 - Happy tests Mrs. Jones but she doesn’t exactly pass the test.
Madame Lynx signs the note she sends to Happy with her "full name", Lynette Jones.
06/26/25
Aug 11-13, 1947 - Happy discovers that his oil bottle is missing. Steve writes to the US Air Force asking about a missing pilot named Jones. Happy's bottle gets analyzed.
06/27/25
Aug 14-16, 1947 - Happy gets his oil bottle back. Madame Lynx doesn’t make any progress in figuring out what is so special about the oil in Happy’s bottle. Steve gets a response back from the USAF about the pilot named Jones.
The response to Steve’s inquiry arrived very quickly.
06/28/25
Aug 17, 1947 - Steve and Happy return to their room. Mrs. Jones is waiting for them in their room. She tells them that she fears for her life.
06/29/25
Aug 18-20, 1947 - Happy and Mrs. Jones escape out the window and catch a cab. Steve stays behind to deal with the phony ex-gestapo men. Mrs. Jones gives the taxi driver instructions in French.
06/30/25
Aug 21-23, 1947 - Mrs. Jones takes Happy to the wrong place but he has yet to figure out that something is wrong. Steve gets back to the Horizons Unlimited air transport, after fighting off a couple baddies, only to discover that Happy and Mrs. Jones aren’t there.
07/01/25
Aug 24, 1947 - Happy is kidnapped and interrogated by men who threaten to harm Mrs. Jones if Happy doesn’t tell them what they want to know.
07/02/25
Aug 25-27, 1947 - Steve continues to look for Happy while the kidnappers continue to interrogate him.
07/03/25
Aug 28-30, 1947 - Steve figures out that Happy must have been taken someplace by airplane and (with some help from Breck) what kind of airplane it was.
07/04/25
Aug 31, 1947 - Happy is faced with a dilemma when the kidnappers threaten to torture Mrs. Jones. Steve continues to look for Happy.
07/05/25
Sep 1-3, 1947 - Happy comes clean and tells the kidnappers the truth but they still don’t believe him. Steve continues to look for Happy.
It feels like Caniff is stalling for time. Why else would he drag this story out. I know that he is getting ready to change things up a bit. Maybe that’s why he’s doing it.
07/06/25
Sep 4-6, 1947 - Steve and the Horizons Unlimited crew fly around and find the spot where it looks like the kidnappers might have taken Happy. They land the air transport and get ready to investigate. The kidnappers see them coming and disguise themselves.
07/07/25
Sep 7, 1947 - Steve meets with the disguised kidnappers. He demands that they release Happy Easter. One of the kidnappers sneaks up behind Steve. He is ready to stab the American with a dagger when someone shoots the would be assailant.
I assume that the person firing the gun is Madame Lynx.
07/08/25
Sep 8-10, 1947 - Madame Lynx and Steve make a run for it after she saved him by shooting the man that was about to stab him. She leads him to Happy Easter but in doing so leads them into what seems to be a dead end.
Madame Lynx (once again) reminds me very much of the Dragon Lady in these strips.
07/09/25
Sep 11-13, 1947 - Breck and the rest of the Horizons Unlimited crew get the distinct impression that Steve and Happy are in trouble. They radio Air Transport Command for help. Steve tries to signal to his crew.
07/10/25
Sep 14, 1947 - Steve and Madame Lynx talk about things while Happy recovers from the truth serum. Three American pilots hear about the predicament that Steve and the others are in and decide to fly in to lend a hand.
This part with the three American pilots seems to be coming in from out of left field. Maybe this will lead (in part) into the next arc.
07/11/25
Sep 15-17, 1947 - Madame Lynx remembers that there’s a back door out of the tower. She leads Steve and Happy out that way.
Very convenient. How is it that no one tried to break in through the back door?
07/12/25
Sep 18-20, 1947 - Madame Lynx turns the gun on Steve and accuses him of being the oil expert that she previously thought Happy was. Happy knocks her out. The three remain hidden as the bad guys take off in their airplane.
This arc is almost over. What next?
07/13/25
Sep 21, 1947 - the bad guys get away in their airplane but they get shot down when they cross the border but the markings on the wings make it look like it is a Japanese airplane. Some fighter planes shoot down the bad guys.
The suggestion here is that at some point Happy repainted the markings on the bad guys' airplane. It takes a huge stretch of the imagination on my part to accept that this all is within the realm of possibilities.
07/14/25
Sep 22-24, 1947 - Steve and his crew prepare to leave. The bad guys are all presumably dead. Steve’s plan is to turn Madame Lynx over to the police.
07/15/25
Sep 25-26, 1947 - Madame Lynx tries to bargain with Steve but he isn’t interested in what she has to offer.
That’s it for this arc of Steve Canyon. It wasn’t much better than the previous one.
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