Steve Canyon

Steve Canyon was a long-running American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff, published from January 7, 1947, after Caniff had retired from a popular previous strip Terry and the Pirates, through June 4 1988, shortly after Caniff's death. Caniff won the Reuben Award for the strip in 1971.

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The title character, circa 1950, by Milton Caniff.

History

By 1946, Caniff had developed a worldwide reputation for his writing and art on Terry and the Pirates, the rights to which were owned by the Chicago Tribune newspaper syndicate. Seeking creative control of his own work, Caniff approached the Chicago Sun-Times with an idea for a strip he would own outright. Caniff's last episode for Terry and the Pirates appeared in December 1946, and Steve Canyon appeared a short time later, Jan. 13, 1947, in 168 newspapers throughout the country. Like many comic-strip creators, who employ uncredited assistants or ghost artists, Caniff in 1952 hired comic book artist Dick Rockwell as his assistant on the strip. A nephew of famed illustrator Norman Rockwell, Dick Rockwell penciled and inked secondary characters and backgrounds, while Caniff wrote, drew the main characters, and did finishing touches. Rockwell continued on Canyon until Caniff's death on May 3, 1988.

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Title logo

The last syndicated Steve Canyon strip was a tribute to Caniff in two panels, one drawn by legendary cartoonist Bill Mauldin, the other containing the signatures of 78 fellow cartoonists. On June 23, 1997, an authorized Steve Canyon 50th anniversary comic strip was published by the Air Force Times, a civilian newspaper that covers the United States Air Force. Steve Canyon and the U.S. Air Force were created the same year, and the strip appeared as part of a 96-page insert, The First Fifty Years: U.S. Air Force 1947-1997. Drawn in the style of a Sunday strip, the story and art for the 50th anniversary commemoration strip were done by Air Force Master Sergeant Russ Maheras, with coloring by Carl Gafford.

Cast

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Princess Snowflower

Visually based on Gary Cooper, Steve Canyon was an easygoing adventurer with a soft heart. Originally a veteran running his own air-transport business, the character returned to the U.S. Air Force during the Korean war and remained in the military for the remainder of the strip's run.

Initially his buddies were former veterans, and romantic interest was provided by Copper Calhoon, a kind of capitalist version of the popular Dragon Lady character Caniff had created for Terry and the Pirates.

Eventually, however, Canyon developed a sometime-sidekick in crotchety millionaire adventurer "Happy" Easter, and a permanent love interest in Summer Olson, Calhoon's private secretary. The young, Terry-like Reed Kimberley also became a major character.

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Single mom Summer Olson and adventurer Steve Canyon married in early 1970.

Caniff was famous for colorful villains and intriguing female characters, such as the lovely exiled ruler, Princess Snowflower. He was also intensely patriotic and with Canyon's return to the military the story began to revolve around Cold War intrigue and the responsibilities of American citizens. However, Caniff was able to maintain the picaresque quality of his stories, which ranged throughout the world.

Other media

The strip was adapted into a filmed, half-hour television series on the NBC network in 1958-1959 (with reruns on ABC in 1960). Dean Fredericks played Canyon as a troubleshooter for the Air Force who travelled from base to base until mid-season, when he became stationed at the strip's fictitious Big Thunder Air Force Base in California. None of the supporting characters from the strip were used.

A statue to Steve Canyon was erected in Idaho Springs, Colorado, and a nearby mountain canyon was renamed "Steve Canyon". Happy Easter was reportedly modeled after an eccentric who lived in nearby Central City. Another statue, of Steve Canyon's ward Poteet Canyon, stands in the town of Poteet, Texas.

Collections

Kitchen Sink Press published Steve Canyon Magazine for 21 issues, until replacing it with trade paperback collections using the same numbering:

• Steve Canyon v.22 In Formosa's Dire Straits (1989, ISBN 0-87816-044-2, reprints Feb 8, 1955 to August 8, 1955)
• Steve Canyon v.23 The Scarlet Princess (1989, reprints August 9, 1955 to April 11, 1956)
• Steve Canyon v.24 Taps for 'Shanty' Town (1989, reprints April 12, 1956 to November 28, 1956)
• Steve Canyon v.25 Damma Exile (1991, ISBN 0-87816-061-2, reprints Nov 29, 1956 to Sept 24, 1957)
• Steve Canyon v.26 War Games (1992, ISBN 0-87816-066-3, reprints Sept 25, 1957 to April 7, 1958)

In 2006, Checker Book Publishing began releasing a year-by-year collection of Steve Canyon:

• Steve Canyon: 1947 (ISBN 0-9710249-9-5)
• Steve Canyon: 1948 (ISBN 0-9741664-1-3)
• Steve Canyon: 1949 (ISBN 0-9710249-1-X, February 9, 1949 and February 18, 1950)
• Steve Canyon: 1950 (ISBN 1-933160-51-9, reprints January 29 to October 7, 1950)
• Steve Canyon: 1951 (ISBN 1-933160-10-1, reprints October 8, 1950 to Nov 14, 1951)
• Steve Canyon: 1952 (ISBN 1-933160-55-1, reprints April 9, 1952 to May 14, 1953)
• Steve Canyon: 1953 (ISBN 1-933160-57-8, reprints May 15, 1953 to August 5, 1954)

References

• Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Steve Canyon
• Fairfield County Weekly (February 13, 2003): "Rogues' Gallery: Courtroom Artist Richard Waring Rockwell Sketches Rogues from Gotti to Ganim", by Joe Miksch
• POV Online (April 21, 2006): "Dick Rockwell, R.I.P.", by Mark Evanier

External link

• Humorous Maximus: Steve Canyon (comic strips online)