George S. Wunder (April 24, 1912 – December 13, 1987) was a cartoonist best known for his 26 years illustrating the ''
Terry and the Pirates
''Terry and the Pirates'' is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, ...
'' comic strip.
[
Born in Manhattan, Wunder grew up in ]Kingston, New York
Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...
. As a youth, he planned a career as a professional comics artist. Other than correspondence courses, including the International Correspondence School art course, he was a self-taught artist. At the age of 24, he began as a staff artist at the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
, where he worked alongside illustrator Noel Sickles
Noel Douglas Sickles (January 24, 1910 – October 3, 1982) was an American commercial illustrator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip '' Scorchy Smith''.
Sickles was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. Largely self-taught, his career beg ...
and sports cartoonist Tom Paprocki. At AP, Wunder illustrated fiction and various editorial cartoon features, such as "Can Hitler Beat the Russian Jinx?"
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he served in the Army from 1942 to 1946.[ Returning to the Associated Press after World War II, he drew the strip ''See for Yourself'' in 1946 for ]AP Newsfeatures
AP Newsfeatures, aka AP Features, was the cartoon and comic strip division of Associated Press, which syndicated strips from 1930 to the early 1960s.
History Origins
In February 1930, I. M. Kendrick, executive assistant to AP president Kent ...
.
''Terry and the Pirates''
In 1946, when Milton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates (comic strip), Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips.
Biography
...
left ''Terry and the Pirates'', there were about 100 artists who applied for the job, according to Caniff. Wunder submitted samples, and the Tribune-News Syndicate chose Wunder as Caniff's replacement (with former Caniff assistant Lee Elias
Lee Elias (May 21, 1920 – April 8, 1998) was a British-American comics artist. He was best known for his work on the ''Black Cat'' comic book published by Harvey Comics in the 1940s.
Biography
Emigrating to the United States from Manchester ...
a close runner-up).[Syracuse University Special Collections]
/ref>
/ref> Wunder's first ''Terry and the Pirates'' appeared in newspapers on December 30, 1946, launching the story "Trouble in Tibet". Comics historian Don Markstein
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonop ...
noted the transition:
:Terry was left in the hands of George Wunder, a skilled cartoonist who maintained a high level of quality. But Caniff was a unique talent, and nobody could ever truly replace him. Terry Lee had joined the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Wunder left him there, and let him mature fully as an Air Force officer. During the Vietnam Era, military-oriented entertainment declined in popularity. The strip was discontinued in 1973. By that time, Wunder, too, had stopped doing it — although it still bore his byline, it was ghosted by Al Plastino
Alfred John Plastino (December 15, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American comics artist best known as one of the most prolific Superman artists of the 1950s, along with his DC Comics colleague Wayne Boring. Plastino also worked as a comics w ...
, better known for his work on ''Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
''. (Plastino was also handling the pantomime strip ''Ferd'nand
''Ferd'nand'' was a Danish pantomime comic notable for its lack of word balloons and captions and its longevity (over seven decades). It was first published in 1937 and is still published regularly in several countries around the globe.
Backgrou ...
'', and later became Ernie Bushmiller
Ernest Paul Bushmiller Jr. (August 23, 1905 – August 15, 1982) was an American cartoonist, best known for creating the daily comic strip ''Nancy (comic strip), Nancy'', which premiered in 1938 and features the title character who has remained ...
's assistant on '' Nancy''.)
Initially, Wunder drew the strip so it was similar to that of Caniff and Sickles, but he soon developed his own distinctive style. Hotshot Charlie, for example, was drawn in a more openly humorous manner than before. In 1953, Canada Dry
Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks founded in 1904 and owned since 2008 by the American company Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its ginger ale, though ...
offered a "premium giveaway" with a case of its ginger ale — one minibook in a trilogy series of ''Terry and the Pirates'' strips by Wunder, printed by Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfr ...
. Throughout the 1950s, the Sunday pages used color for psychological effect. One Wunder panel from that period has no blue or green shadows as one might expect; the panel was colored only with orange, red and yellow. In another, Terry is colored green in front, and his back is a yellow-orange. Wunder drew dramatic and highly detailed pictures, but comics historian Maurice Horn
Maurice Horn (born 1931) is a French-American comics historian, author, and editor, considered to be one of the first serious academics to study comics. He is the editor of ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'', ''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoon ...
claimed it was difficult to tell one character from another and wrote that Wunder's stories lacked Caniff's essential humor. At the end of the 1950s, Hotshot Charlie was dropped from the strip, which was drawn and colored in a more sedate manner with careful attention to the airplanes flown by Terry Lee and his friends.
Writer-artist Bill Pearson noted that Wunder spent "decades producing a very solid adventure strip. He drew ugly people, even young women, which was certainly a curious trait, but he was one of the ''very best'' inkers in the business. His technique was flawless." With his clean and precise inking style, Wunder filled his panels with numerous foreground and background details, as landscape painter Bob Foster observed:
:I read Wunder's ''Terry'' when I was a kid and even then was impressed by all the work he put into it. Every single panel was fully loaded with detailed backgrounds and detailed wrinkles, costumes and hairs, even on all the characters in the background, all the woodgrain in all the wood, and all those black shadows that lent an air of foreboding to each panel. I could never get over his 3/4 rear view of a character's eyeball straining to see something behind him. And all those overly bridged noses on both guys and gals all crying out for rhinoplasty. For many years I resented the overloaded panels and decided I didn't like Wunder's rendering of ''Terry and the Pirates''. It was only in the last few years that I came to appreciate Wunder's work on ''Terry''. One day I realized that he never cheated. He gave us everything in infinite detail in every panel and never deprived us of any wrinkles, bricks, tiles, leaves, woodgrain, fingernails, hairs, cloth patterns or buttons. Yeah, the look-alike facial features of all his characters in the later years of ''Terry'' was stylistic and bothersome, but he never cheated.
Assistants
In mid 1962 former EC Comics and Classics Illustrated artist George Evans George Evans may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer
* George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist
* George Evans (si ...
came on board as Wunder's assistant on the daily strip. As Evans related in an interview in ''The Comics Journal
''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...
'' #177 (May 1995), "George would lay out the strip, pencil and ink the characters' heads, and I would finish the strip." Evans said that during these years Wunder did the Sunday pages all himself. In the same interview he told how he had drawn a daily strip where a general's uniform varied from the way Wunder drew the character in the Sunday for that week, necessitating re-drawing parts of the Sunday. Evans offered to help, but Wunder wouldn't let him saying, "It wasn't your mistake." Then he dug out his electric eraser and went to work on the Sunday. Evans worked on the strip until it was cancelled in 1973. Other artists who stepped in to assist Wunder included Lee Elias
Lee Elias (May 21, 1920 – April 8, 1998) was a British-American comics artist. He was best known for his work on the ''Black Cat'' comic book published by Harvey Comics in the 1940s.
Biography
Emigrating to the United States from Manchester ...
, Russ Heath
Russell Heath Jr. (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018), was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for ''Playboy'' magazine's "Little Annie Fanny" feature. He also prod ...
, Fred Kida
Fred Kida (December 12, 1920 – April 3, 2014) was a Japanese-American comic book and comic strip artist best known for the 1940s aviator hero Airboy and his antagonist and sometime ally Valkyrie during the period fans and historians call the G ...
, Don Sherwood, Frank Springer
Frank Springer (December 6, 1929 – April 2, 2009) was an American comics artist best known for Marvel Comics' '' Dazzler'' and '' Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.''. As well, in collaboration with writer Michael O'Donoghue, Springer created one o ...
and Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...
.
Retirement
The strip was being carried in 100 newspapers when Wunder retired in 1973. The ''New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' ran every ''Terry and the Pirates'' daily and Sunday except for the final three weeks by Wunder in 1973. At the time of his retirement, Wunder commented:
:It's a strip I've enjoyed doing, but on the other hand, it has been, oh, a chore. The sheer mechanics of producing that much work week in and week out ties you down... Taste in strips seems to be changing. People just don't seem to follow continuity strips any more the way they used to. They get an average of three to four complete stories a night off the boob tube. There's no reason why they should hang around anywhere from eight to 12 weeks to find out just how one story came out."
When Wunder, who lived in Sherman, Connecticut
Sherman is the northernmost and least populous town of Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,527 at the 2020 census. The town was formed in 1802 from the northern part of New Fairfield. It is named for Roger Sherman ...
, announced his retirement, the syndicate chose to cancel the strip on February 25, 1973. Wunder regarded the cancellation as a Vietnam War casualty, commenting, "The fighter pilot is no longer the glamorous, reckless defender of the free world against all comers. He's now the cold-blooded professional dropping napalm on women and children."
Death
Wunder died of a heart attack in the New Milford Hospital on Sunday, December 13, 1987, survived by his wife, Mildred, and his sister, Beatrice Bogert of Riverdale, New Jersey
Riverdale is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,107, an increase of 548 (+15.4%) from the 2010 census count of 3,559, which in turn reflected an incr ...
.["George S. Wunder, 75; Drew ''Terry'' Comics". ''The New York Times'', December 15, 1987.]
/ref> At age 87, Mildred "Millie" A. Wunder (née Smith), who was known as "Mrs. Terry and the Pirates," died March 1, 2001, in Port St. Lucie, Florida
Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most populous municipality in the county with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, O ...
after a short illness.
''Our Guest Star''
Wunder's ''Our Guest Star'' was a 1955 promotional strip featuring characters from ''Terry and the Pirates'' with cameo appearances by film stars and other celebrities.
*January 27, 1955 (features Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in '' South Pacific'' (194 ...
)
*April 19, 1955 (features Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly ...
)
*October 28, 1955 (features Robert Cummings
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...
)
*December 29, 1955 (features Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
)[
]
Awards
Wunder was a member of the Illustrators Club and the National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
. On June 11, 1963, he was honored by the United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
with their Exceptional Service Award. In 1970, he received the National Cartoonists Society's Silver T-Square Award.[Dodd, Philip. "Honors Terry Cartoon Artist", ''Chicago Tribune''. June 11, 1863.]
/ref>
See also
* Titles of George Wunder's 95 ''Terry and the Pirates'' stories from 1946 ("Trouble in Tibet") to 1973 ("Contraband")
References
External links
Ger Apeldoorn: Month-long ''Terry and the Pirates'' sequence (October 1952)
''Milton Caniff: Conversations'' by Robert C. Harvey
at Syracuse University (primary source material)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wunder, George
1912 births
1987 deaths
American comics artists
American comic strip cartoonists
Artists from New York City
People from Kingston, New York
Terry and the Pirates
United States Army personnel of World War II