Meanwhile...: A Biography of Milton Caniff

by Robert C. Harvey

Milton Caniff was one of the most influential American cartoonists of the 20th century. He rose to prominence during World War II when he took the characters in his Terry and the Pirates strip into the war. The trenchant pragmatic patriotism of the strip warmed hearts and steeled nerves on the home front as well as the battlefront (one of his strips was read into the Congressional Record). He went on to create Steve Canyon, which was syndicated from 1947 to Caniff's death in 1988.

Meanwhile...
traces Caniff's life from the cradle to the grave, examining the artistic innovations and work routines of a nationally distributed cartoonist whose career was central to the development of the art form, and marking the milestones in the development of the comic strip that Caniff established. Caniff reshaped the medium and set standards by which all storytelling strips were subsequently judged. He created many colorful characters, including the stalwart Pat Ryan from Terry and the Pirates, Burma the shady lady, and, most memorable of all, the Dragon Lady, a beautiful but mysteriously menacing pirate queen who turned Chinese patriot during the War. While Meanwhile... provides a biography of Caniff and analyzes his storytelling techniques, it also serves as a history of the medium and reveals the inner workings of the syndicate business (at which Caniff was as expert as he was at cartooning).

The book charts Caniff's rise to fame and fortune, then recounts the decline of his strip Steve Canyon's popularity (whose protagonist served as an unofficial spokesman for the U.S. Air Force from the Korean War until the end of the strip in 1988) when the same brand of patriotism that had inspired admiration during World War II provoked protest during Vietnam, a bittersweet conclusion to a career spent producing a daily feature for 55 years, a record that would stand for a generation. A 2008 Eisner Award Nominee: Best Comics-Related Book; a 2008 Harvey Award Nominee: Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation.

Genres: Comics, Biography, Nonfiction, Art

952 pages, Hardcover

First published July 30, 2007

About the author

Robert C. Harvey (born 1937), popularly known as R. C. Harvey, is an author, critic and cartoonist. He has written a number of books on the history of the medium, with special focus on the history of the comic strip, and he has also worked as a freelance cartoonist.
Harvey describes himself as having created cartoons since the age of seven. He was educated at the University of Colorado, where he submitted cartoons to the campus magazine, The Flatiron. Upon graduation, Harvey attempted to earn a living as a freelance cartoonist in New York, but eventually he changed his career path and enlisted in the US Navy. After a three-year tour, Harvey was discharged and found employ as an English teacher.
Dissatisfied with his pay and disillusioned with the work, Harvey left teaching and returned to freelance cartooning, specializing in cartoons of "sexy girls". Unable to make a living solely through cartooning, Harvey took a position with an educational conference company. In 1973, Harvey began writing on the medium, initially for The Menomonee Falls Gazette.

"Comics ... are sometimes four-legged and sometimes two-legged and sometimes fly and sometimes don't ... to employ a metaphor as mixed as the medium itself, defining comics entails cutting a Gordian-knotted enigma wrapped in a mystery ..."

- R. C. Harvey, 2001

Reviews

[Dan Seitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less a biography than a hagiography, Harvey could stand to be more objective and critical of his subject, especially when it comes to racial attitudes and gender stereotypes. Still, an exhaustively detailed history of comic strips told through the lens of one of its pioneers, of interest to comics fans.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the book is nearly 1000 pages long, it seems weird to say I would've given it five stars except for the lack of material, but it's true. Harvey too often interjects biographical comments as asides...such as a comments about Caniff's health fears owing to a heart attack "five years ago." Why couldn't that have been mentioned in the parts of the text that dealt with that time period. Also, he too often employs the "this will have great implications in Caniff's life down the road" card, nearly forcing me to keep a list of incidents to remember, so that I can match them up with their implications. Still, a really amazing book about an enormous talent and wonderful man.

[J.P.]

Looking forward to this one---a nice, fat biography that's lavishly illustrated. Has anybody read it? Recommendations/feedback?

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Public library copy.