Product Description

Pat Ryan goes on trial for his life, Terry Lee needs all his resourcefulness to escape the twin menaces of Klang the Warlord and the master schemer, Hunter Yurk, while for the first and only time, Burma and the Dragon Lady share an adventure. IDW Publishing proudly presents The Library of American Comics reprinting of the greatest adventure strip of all time, Terry and the Pirates. This volume features more than 725 comic strips, including full-color Sundays that highlight the breathtaking work of Milton Caniff, The Rembrandt of the Comics. The second in a six-volume series edited by Dean Mullaney.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68314 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-29
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Booklist
This series to which this book belongs rounds up the arguably greatest adventure comic strip of them all. Terry and the Pirates follows the exploits of young Terry Lee and his soldier-of-fortune companion, Pat Ryan, in the Far East. These 1937–38 panels are from two years into the strip’s run. The feature’s exotic locales and colorful supporting cast—including heiress Normandie Drake, with whom Pat would share a heartbreakingly tragic romance; the Harlowesque, shady lady-with-a-past known only as Burma; and the stereotypical but unforgettable femme fatale, the Dragon Lady—are all established. Caniff’s drawing style has shed most of its initial cartooniness and taken on the economic realism and cinematic verve that would distinguish his work for the next five decades. The oblong dimensions of the book showcase the black-and-white daily strips well, but the full-color Sunday installments, meant to fill a broadsheet page, suffer from the reduction here. Quibbles aside, it’s gratifying to have one of the comics medium’s indisputable masterworks available again (a series from the 1980s and 1990s is long out of print). --Gordon Flagg

Customer Reviews

Hitting his stride
Here's where Caniff really starts to come into his own. The action is fast and furious, the charcters are more defined, the sexy bits get steamier, and the artwork becomes slicker and more expressive. The reproduction of the strips is crystal clear (with the Sundays in the original full color). This comic strip represents the highwater mark of action/adventure strips. And this volume contains some amazing stuff. If you're a fan of the comics, don't pass this one up. Highest recommendation.

In some ways the best collection yet
Before I bought this, I'd read negative reviews by people who favored the Kitchen Sink and Flying Buttress collections. Well, I'd bought both (but lost them in a fire) and I consider this series on a par. They're different, each with their pluses and minuses. But see for yourself before taking the negative reviews seriously; having seen both, I don't understand the harsh reviews of the print quality - these volumes are solid, and far more loyal to the original presentations than the other collections. If you want the flavor of reading these strips as they originally appeared, I think this collection comes the closest. The strips aren't as large as in the Flying Buttress series, but the dailies are larger larger than in the Checker or the Kitchen Sink collections. Also, the Buttress color collections of Sunday strips, while flawless, are too vivid - they're gorgeous, to be sure, but the advantages of think paper stock and quality inks is so rich that it loses the Sunday comics feel. That's why I endorse this collection and recommend seeing for yourself. If you want the "real" flavor of Milton Caniff as he revolutionized the continuity strip, this collection is your baby.

Since posting this review, I have purchased several more volumes of this superb collection, and all stand up beautifully. Of the various Caniff/Terry collections published over the years, this is my favorite for its combination of decent size, color Sundays integrated with the dailies, and ease of handling/reading the book.

Second Volume is a indeed magnificent to the first.
First I would like to address some of the concerns previous reviewers have of the first volume, concerning the small size of the strips. My advice; don't worry about it. At first glance, they do appear small, but brother, once you've gotten hooked by the first volume and started upon the second, it simply doesn't matter, for you are now deeply entranced by Caniff's masterful storylines.

The great thing about the second volume over the first is that the Sundays and Dailies are now in synch, and the adventures flow seamlessly from one dramatic encounter and escape into the next. And the characters have taken on stronger, flesh and blood personas, refined by Milt's ongoing development of his craft and draftsmanship. Plus the ladies are prettier and suggestive, in a 1930's fashion.

I can't wait for the next four volumes, and already pre-ordered them all, except for the sixth, which has not yet been offered on Amazon.

Believe me, it's truly good stuff.