Review: Meanwhile... a Biography of Milton Caniff

Meanwhile... a Biography of Milton Caniff is a 2007 book published by Fantagraphics and written by R. C. Harvey (who is now deceased). In his life, Harvey was a major fan and promoter of the work of Milton Caniff and had a lot of access to Caniff during the latter years of his life. Meanwhile clocks in at almost 1000 pages yet apparently Harvey's 1st draft was almost twice that length and had to be pared down.

In the early chapters you might well wonder what exactly was pared down - I did. The space spent covering Caniff's early life prior to his professional career as a cartoonist are extremely padded. For instance, to explain something about U.S. culture in the 1920s, Harvey spent two paragraphs recapping the plot and substance of Sinclair Lewis' novel Babbitt. An entire chapter was spent discussing the history of newspaper comics. At times Harvey scripted imaginary conversations he assumed Caniff must have held with other cartoonists. But digressions and rabbit trails (Babbitt trails?) such as this became fairly rare once Caniff's career took off.

Indeed, as Caniff was (and is) best-known for his comic strip Terry and the Pirates (1934-1946), Harvey devoted more time and energy to those years of Caniff's life to the point that most of the storyarcs from the strip were recounted in the text by Harvey. That stands in stark contrast to Caniff's long-running Steve Canyon (1947-1988) strip for which Harvey noted certain highlights in the strip's history but comparatively glanced over much of the content.

I own a set of the complete Terry and the Pirates strips by Caniff that was published by IDW some years ago. I love the strip and I have a lot of respect for Caniff's storytelling and art. I'm less enthusiastic about Steve Canyon - I have vestigal memories of that strip from my childhood and my impression then was that the strip was about as boring as Rex Morgan M.D. or Mark Trail. Of course, as I learned in Harvey's tome, Caniff didn't really draw the strip for very long, turning the penciling duties over to Dick Rockwell and only supplying inks for the majority of the strip's run.

Although I'm overwhelmingly for Milt Caniff, I wasn't prepared for the tone of Harvey's book. Harvey approaches Caniff as though he were beyond criticism. One snippet I found revealing was this, where Harvey engaged with some criticism written by Canadian Arn Saba (today Katherine Collins); Collins (Saba) wrote:

"[When Steve reenlisted in the Air Force], the strip became a vehicle for right-wing political views in that completely transparent and guileless way that Americans have of not even realizing that there might be any other point of view..."

Harvey immediately pushed back against this:

"I don’t wholly agree with Saba. Caniff was a mainstream moderate not a right-wing conservative: he scarcely approached Harold Gray’s end of the political spectrum."

As a fellow Canadian, I understand Collins (Saba)'s perspective as an outsider viewing American culture. Harvey seems unable to consider how American views appear to the world at large, how very right-wing his nation's culture is. One needn't be as far-right as Gray to espouse a right-wing viewpoint. Many of what I see Americans calling centrist views, I would call right-wing if they were uttered by a Canadian. Harvey's own right-wing views were evident when he discussed the protests against Vietnam, where he repeatedly cast shade on the protestor's motivations, at one point calling them "self-indulgent" and generally engaging in bad faith representations of why the war protests broke out.

But for me the most troubling part of Harvey's defensiveness (defensive of the USA and defensive of Caniff) is when he discussed racism in Terry and the Pirates. Despite Harvey's verbose writing style and indulgent 1000 page count, he spent less than 2 pages on this topic. Here's a snippet of the praise he lavished on Caniff:

Almost from the start, Caniff’s treatment of the Chinese in his strip had been respectful—even within the permissive conventions of the medium in a relatively racist society. Caniff’s Chinese villains had been villainous, but they hadn't been racial caricatures: they had been realistically rendered. Some of the early heavies had leaned a little too far in the direction of the Oriental villains of melodrama, but before the strip was six months old, Caniff had scuttled stereotypes like these. And all the other Chinese who crossed Caniff’s stage performed their functions as appropriate to their assigned roles (whether large or small) without any particular attention (or slight) to their race. Not all Chinese were pirates; not all pirates were venal. Not all Caucasians were good guys; and even the good guys had faults.

It really is fair game to talk about racism in Terry and the Pirates. I love that strip, but I also won't hesitate to call it racist. There absolutely are mitigating factors such as Harvey notes above, but any contemporary reader who sees a Caniff drawing of the character Connie will not hesitate in calling him a racist caricature. There's definitely a debate to have on that subject, probably an especially good one to hear from a critic of Asian descent (to say nothing of the Dragon Lady, who I myself saw targeted for criticism in a female Asian student's comics presentation at my university). I don't think Harvey's attempts to cast Caniff as going against the tide of his culture will really resonate with today's audiences; I think they'll simply see Caniff as (at best) a product of his times - and because of his great influence on comics, a fair target for criticism.

So Meanwhile is a hard book to recommend. If you are really enthralled by Caniff's work, I think it's indispensable. Otherwise, no one would want to engage with the book - it's too big, too overwritten, too hagiographic for the casual reader.

Radio Recap: 2000 Plus

2000 Plus was one of the first science fiction radio programs developed for an older audience. It debuted over Mutual on March 15, 1950, almost a month before the better-known Dimension X premiered on NBC. That these two shows launched within a month of each other shows how science fiction's reputation was growing by leaps and bounds at the dawn of the 1950s.

And yet, 2000 Plus has remained under-the-radar in old-time radio fan circles. Growing up, my local radio station only played one episode of 2000 Plus in their lineup - a drama called "Worlds Apart." As I gained more knowledge of old-time radio I went looking for more information on the series, but found it lacking. Circa 1998, the internet had only a couple of episodes of 2000 Plus and it didn't appear in any of the radio logs I used for research. My assumption was that 2000 Plus was a very short-lived program that lasted perhaps 3 months or so.

As it happens, more information about 2000 Plus has come to light and the series actually ran from March 1950 until August 1953! And yet, although it's believed about 92 episodes were produced we only have 16 currently circulating - and of them, some are a bit chopped-up, missing intros or outros (although the dramas are complete). The show's obscurity is no doubt due to originating on Mutual as that network's programming - particularly in the 1950s - is elusive compared to the bigger networks (note that we have every single episode of Dimension X and in great sound quality).

2000 Plus originated under the guidance of producer Sherman H. Dreyer. Dreyer's earlier credits for Mutual included the 1944-1945 series the Human Adventure and the 1946-1947 series Exploring the Unknown. Although both of these show titles sound like they belong to a science fiction anthology show, they were actually concerned with real science - about explaining advances in science to the layman (which dovetails neatly with some science fiction magazines of the day). And even then, there were exceptions - for Christmas, Exploring the Unknown ran a science fiction comedy-drama called "Chuckle Charlie and the Christmas Cloud" starring Morey Amsterdam. Clearly even then, Dreyer had an interest in bringing such programming to the airwaves.

It's impossible to talk about 2000 Plus without comparing it to Dimension X, especially since old-time radio fans are much more familiar with the latter series. Dimension X had the benefit of adapting works by big name science fiction authors such as Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. 2000 Plus had... a lot of uncredited authors thanks to the clipped nature of surviving episodes mixed with some wholly unremembered authors. Then too, Mutual didn't draw from the same talent pool as NBC (although they had some decent players such as Luis Van Rooten and Joseph Julian) nor did they have sound effects as accomplished as what the major networks could achieve.

The writing on 2000 Plus was frequently very juvenile; the episode I noted above, "Worlds Apart," is pretty much a kid-friendly science fiction adventure tale where the whole drama is just a big misunderstanding. Stories on the surviving episodes tend to involve mad scientists and malevolent alien invaders. Other episodes, such as "Brooklyn Brain" (the story of a Brooklyn man who becomes very smart thanks to an experiment) are played for laughs. Every episode is set beyond the year 2000, so there are frequently casual references to people piloting their jet cars. It may not have had any talent from Amazing Stories magazine but it certainly feels akin to that magazine.

And yet, there are episodes of 2000 Plus that strike me as being something unique, something special. The episode "A Veteran Comes Home" tells the tale of a veteran who has been fighting on Mars returning to Earth and struggling with adjusting to everyday life after his hellish experiences. It's essentially a PTSD story using a science fiction backdrop to set up a story that was familiar to post-World War II audiences. "A Veteran Comes Home" is a quiet, human drama that just happens to have a science fiction setting. For that episode alone, I think the fan who seeks out the series won't be disappointed.

You can hear the 16 circulating 2000 Plus episodes on YouTube through this playlist created by the Old-Time Radio Researchers Group.

Post-script: Because it seems every other post I write about old-time radio leads me to Suspense, I have to bring up that series, too; in 1962, Suspense's final year, the show used a lot of scripts from older shows including at least one instance where they recreated a lost 2000 Plus story called "the Doom Machine." You can listen to the episode right here as another example of what 2000 Plus was like.

My Favorite TV List

I've composed an unusual list at the Internet Movie Database; this is my list of the best of TV. It begins with 1949 (the earliest original TV broadcast date of anything I've seen) and continues to the present with my picks of my favourite TV broadcast from each year. I considered TV episodes, TV movies, TV specials and TV mini-series to be equally eligible and consequently, there are some unusual picks. You'll notice in recent years my favourite programs seem to be primarily documentaries.

Anyway, check out the list, hopefully it serves as a good series of recommendations!

Radio Recap: Mr. Moto

Mr. Moto was a fictional character created by author John P. Marquand and first appeared in fiction in 1935. Marquand presented Moto as an agent of the empire of Japan. It was certainly a background that set Moto apart from other detective heroes of the time, but Marquand's timing left a little to be wanted. Mr. Moto was very quickly snapped up by Fox to become the protagonist of a series of films starring the not-at-all-Japanese performer Peter Lorre (who fortunately was good in anything) and that added to the character's fame; then, of course, Japan declared war on the United States and that was that.

Marquand did just fine - his Mr. Moto novels were just a few among his many successful publications. In fact, after 1941 he didn't touch the character again until 1957 when he published his final Mr. Moto novel; Marquand died in 1960 (a few years later his earlier books were reissued in new paperback editions). The character made one last attempt at motion pictures in 1965 with the also-not-at-all-Japanese actor Henry Silva in the Return of Mr. Moto, which has been dismissed by historians as an attempt to cash-in on the James Bond craze.

I haven't read any of Marquand's novels, but Mr. Moto was written up in various encyclopedias of detective heroes (that I have read) as one of the better characters. Obviously, the war with Japan forced the character out of bookshops and cinemas for a time; in fact, in some wartime popular culture you can hear "Mr. Moto" used as a perjorative term for Japanese people.

But before the attempted film revival - before even Marquand's attempted revival - Mr. Moto's big return to popular culture occurred in the 1951 Mr. Moto radio series on NBC. Some refer to this program as Mr. I. A. Moto, which is how he always introduces himself on the program; but then, what's in a name? The series was broadcast from May 20th to October 20th of 1951 with the additionally-not-at-all-Japanese actor James Monks as Mr. Moto. The series did not have a sponsor and, as NBC was much less generous about allowing programs to find their footing than CBS, it didn't last very long.

The war was 6 years in the past by 1951 and the NBC series seemed content to leave the past in the past. Moto was emphasized to be an Interpol agent cooperating with American authorities and thus, less inclined to be a figurehead of the Japanese government. Episodes of Mr. Moto would almost exclusively pit him against communist agents operating in the US, emphasizing Moto's keen mind (yet deemphasizing his physical prowess which had been a major part of his previous depictions). The radio version of Moto is depicted as quiet and wise... frankly, he comes off as an imitation of Charlie Chan.

I find Mr. Moto to be okay as a post-war radio espionage series. The identities of the villains are often supplied to we listeners prior to Moto learning who they are, leaving us to wonder how Moto will put the pieces together, rather than what the big picture is. Episodes were written by Robert Tallman (Suspense, Intrigue, Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, Adventures of Sam Spade) and by Harry W. Junkin (Radio City Playhouse, Top Secret, the Chase), both of whom were clearly able hands.

The Internet Archive has a collection of Mr. Moto episodes. You'll notice there's an episode titled "the Kuriloff Papers" and another called "the Bazaloff Papers" that are basically the same script. The best explanation I've seen is that the former episode was a rehearsal program and the latter the broadcast version. Episodes of Mr. Moto do appear a bit clipped - I get the sensation that other surviving episodes might not be the broadcast versions but are instead rehearsals.

Brief essay: Reasonable Jesus

I was inspired to write this by a recent sermon I heard in which the pastor suggested that Jesus' miracles were not "reasonable." I started thinking about what it would mean to have a "reasonable" version of Jesus.

One of the definitions of "reasonable" is to be "moderate, fair." So how would a "reasonable" Jesus appear (assuming that he was still the son of God and therefore a supernatural being capable of miracles)?

I see "Reasonable Jesus" as being one who would uphold the law and expectations, not one to court controversy. If Reasonable Jesus were asked to comment on divorce he'd ask them what Moses commanded them (as in Mark 10:1-10) but simply tell his audience to obey that law. He'd agree that taxes should be paid even though no one really liked paying taxes (Matthew 22:15-22). If a woman who committed adultery were brought before him (John 8:1-11) he'd consider stoning to be the acceptable form of punishment. This would be a version of Jesus who would read from Isaiah but choose not to claim he had fulfilled his words before his audience (Luke 4:14-30).

Still, this version of Jesus would have supernatural power. If 5 thousand hungry people were before him, he wouldn't hesitate to use this power to feed them. But I think instead of multiplying a single meal into sufficient food for the entire assembly, he'd perhaps magically supply sufficient money for everyone to go buy their own food. And once word got out that he had a bottomless supply of money he'd be certain to win followers!

But although this silly version of Jesus I'm describing could still find followers by his very nature he wouldn't attract controversy. This is not someone who would unnerve the religious establishment by speaking into the heart of the law in a way they didn't anticipate - Reasonable Jesus wouldn't say anything out of line from the establishment. This is not someone whose movement would be considered a potential threat to the authority of the Roman occupation. He would never inspire a movement to have him crucified.

And of course, you know all of this. We know that the things Jesus said did upset the leaders and the establishment. We know he even upset the man in the street by the number of times people tried to have him killed. He cautioned his disciples, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." (Luke 12:51)

But I think given enough passage of time and familiarity, what once seemed unreasonable can become reasonable. Those of us with many years in the church aren't shocked when we hear Jesus say things that were outrageous in their original context. We don't dwell in the same time and place as his original audience - we are all-too-aware that we are outside of the original context in which those words were spoken. Heck, even outside of the church, Jesus' principle of "the Golden Rule" (Matthew 7:12) is a widely-admired belief that people of other faiths or of no faith background consider a sound - reasonable - teaching.

I think our danger is that we can read Jesus' words and simply nod along thinking, "yes, that's reasonable." We only become flummoxed when Jesus suggests following him brings on challenges such as:

"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)

Well, that sounds very hard and we're not accustomed to being challenged by anything said by Jesus in scripture, so we will ourselves to sidestep or minimize it. We know the Jesus of the Bible is not the "Reasonable Jesus" I invented; but I think sometimes we'd rather have a Reasonable Jesus who doesn't make great demands on us and whose supernatural power is held back. I'm sure I've made that mistake many times. So for me, as I attempt to make sense of the world and to recognize how Jesus is working today - the challenge to me is to not expect everything to be reasonable.