''Steve Canyon'' is an American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

by writer-artist

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 ...

. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, '' Terry and the Pirates'', ''Steve Canyon'' ran from January 13, 1947, until June 4, 1988. It ended shortly after Caniff's death. Caniff won the

Reuben Award 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 ...

for the strip in 1971.

History

By 1946, Caniff had developed a worldwide reputation for his

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndica ...

d ''Terry and the Pirates''. However, the rights for the strip he had created, written and drawn (for '' Chicago Tribune'' newspaper syndicate editor Captain Joseph Patterson) were entirely owned by the syndicate. Seeking creative control, Caniff negotiated with

Field Enterprises Field Enterprises, Inc. was a private holding company that operated from the 1940s to the 1980s, founded by Marshall Field III and others, whose main assets were the '' Chicago Sun'' and ''Parade'' magazine. For various periods of time, Field Ente ...

for a new strip on which he could retain ownership. ''Steve Canyon'' was "marketed and distributed by

King Features King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspaper c ...

, which was subcontracted as Field's selling agent".Brian Walker, "The Times Are A'Changin'", in Dean Mullaney, Bruce Canwell and Brian Walker, ''King of the Comics : One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate''. San Diego :

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, 2015. (pp.232–5) Caniff's popularity meant that sixty clients agreed to run ''Steve Canyon'' before publication. The last Caniff episode of ''Terry and the Pirates'' appeared in December 1946, and then

George Wunder George S. Wunder (April 24, 1912 – December 13, 1987) was a cartoonist best known for his 26 years illustrating the '' Terry and the Pirates'' comic strip. Born in Manhattan, Wunder grew up in Kingston, New York. As a youth, he planned a career ...

took over the strip. Caniff's new strip, ''Steve Canyon'', debuted in 168 newspapers. In the 1950s, the strip was enormously popular, and Caniff and ''Steve Canyon'' appeared on the covers of both ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' (1947) and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' (1950). Many strip creators before and since have employed uncredited assistants or ghost artists, and Caniff was no exception. In 1952, he hired

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

artist

Dick Rockwell Richard Waring Rockwell (December 11, 1920 – April 18, 2006)
at the

(nephew of famed illustrator

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country's culture. Rockwell is most famous for the ...

) as his assistant. While Caniff scripted and drew the main characters, Rockwell penciled and inked secondary characters and backgrounds. Rockwell continued on ''Canyon'' until Caniff's death on May 3, 1988. The last syndicated ''Steve Canyon'' strip was a tribute to Caniff in two panels, one drawn by cartoonist

Bill Mauldin William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by the ...

, the other containing the signatures of 78 fellow cartoonists. On June 23, 1997, an authorized 50th anniversary ''Steve Canyon'' strip was published by the ''

Air Force Times ''Air Force Times'' is a newspaper published 26 times per year to provide active, reserve and retired United States Air Force and Air National Guard personnel and their families with news, information, analysis, community and lifestyle features, e ...

'', a civilian weekly newspaper covering 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 ...

. ''Steve Canyon'' and the U.S. Air Force having been created the same year, the shared anniversary was celebrated with ''Steve Canyon'' appearing 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 Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

, the story and art for this commemorative were provided by Air Force Master Sergeant Russ Maheras, with coloring by

Carl Gafford Carl Gafford (born November 23, 1953) is a colorist (and occasional editor) who has worked for several decades in the comics industry. His career has spanned several publishers, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Topps Comics. Biography ...

. On Monday, September 24, 2007, ''Air Force Times'' published a 60th anniversary ''Steve Canyon'' strip by Maheras. The color, Sunday-style strip depicts Brigadier General Steve Canyon in Afghanistan, investigating

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pashtu ...

activity.

Characters and story

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 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 Signa ...

during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{{ ...

and stayed in the military for the remainder of the strip's run. In later years he was involved in Air Force intelligence and operations. Initially, his buddies were fellow veterans, and romantic interest was provided by Copper Calhoon, a kind of capitalist version of the popular

Dragon Lady Dragon Lady is usually a stereotype of certain East Asian and occasionally South Asian and/or Southeast Asian women as strong, deceitful, domineering, mysterious, and often sexually alluring. Inspired by the characters played by actress Anna Ma ...

character Caniff had created for ''Terry and the Pirates''. Eventually, Canyon developed a sometime-

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sh ...

in crotchety millionaire adventurer Happy Easter, along with a permanent love interest in Summer Olson, initially Calhoon's private secretary. (Canyon and Olson were pronounced "man and wife" in the first panel of the April 25, 1970, daily strip.) General Philerie was based on legendary World War II hero Phil Cochran, who came from

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

, as noted in the character's name ("Phil-Erie"). Cochran had been the model for Flip Corkin from ''Terry and the Pirates''. In the mid-1950s Steve Canyon became guardian to Poteet Canyon. Just why she was sent to him was left unanswered for many years, along with how she was related to him. She went to Maumee University, then got a job in journalism, first at a local newspaper. At the nearby airfield, she became friends with Bitsy Beekman, who worked at a high-end magazine like 'Vogue'. In the late-1960s to the late 1970s, more stories focused on Summer’s son by her first marriage, Leighton Olson Jr., who got involved with drugs, then went to Maumee University, now filled with radical anti-war types. He became steady with Stalky Schweisenberger while at Maumee U. Caniff was 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. Despite this shift in tone, Caniff was able to maintain the

picaresque The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for " rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...

quality of his globally-set stories. During Christmas time, in ''Steve Canyon'', as he did in ''Terry'', Caniff made a special effort to remind readers of servicemen’s sacrifices.

Models

Caniff was famous for colorful villains and intriguing female characters, such as Madame Lynx and the lovely exiled ruler, Princess Snowflower. Madame Lynx was based on Madame Egelichi, the

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

spy played by

Ilona Massey Ilona Massey (born Ilona Hajmássy, June 16, 1910 – August 20, 1974) was a Hungarian-American film, stage and radio performer. Early life and career She was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary (now in Hungary). Billed as "the new Di ...

in the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

movie ''

Love Happy ''Love Happy'' is a 1949 American musical comedy film, released by United Artists, directed by David Miller and starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx and Chico Marx) in their 13th and final feature film, as well as a memorable wal ...

'' (1949). The character stirred Caniff's imagination so much that he hired Ilona Massey personally to pose for him.'' Pageant'' vol. 8, #11 (May 1953) Besides casting Ilona Massey as Lynx, Caniff patterned Pipper the Piper after

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

, and Miss Mizzou after either Marilyn Monroe or actress Bek Nelson. The character of Charlie Vanilla (who would frequently appear with an ice cream cone in hand) was based on Caniff's longtime friend Charles Russhon, a former photographer and U.S. Air Force lieutenant who became a technical advisor on five

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

films.

Other media

Cinema

In the late 1940s producer

David O. Selznick David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced '' Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture. ...

considered a ''Steve Canyon''

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

starring

Guy Madison Guy Madison (born Robert Ozell Moseley; January 19, 1922 – February 6, 1996) was an American film, television, and radio actor. He is best known for playing Wild Bill Hickok in the Western television series ''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hick ...

, but Madison's agent

Henry Willson Henry Leroy Willson (July 31, 1911 – November 2, 1978) was an American Hollywood talent agent who played a large role in developing the beefcake craze of the 1950s. He was known for his stable of young, attractive clients, including Rock ...

talked Selznick out of it.

Television

The strip was adapted into a filmed, half-hour

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

of 34 episodes on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...

in 1958–59 (with reruns on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1960).

Dean Fredericks Frederick Joseph Foote (January 21, 1924 – June 30, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the title role in the television series ''Steve Canyon''. Born in Los Angeles, California. Fredericks se ...

(1924–1999), formerly the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

manservant on

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

's 1955–56 ''

Jungle Jim Jungle Jim is the fictional hero of a series of jungle adventures in various media. The series began on January 7, 1934, as an American newspaper comic strip chronicling the adventures of Asia-based hunter Jim Bradley, who was nicknamed Jungle J ...

'' series, played Canyon—a troubleshooter for the

, spending half the season traveling from base to base before becoming the commanding officer stationed at the strip's fictitious Big Thunder Air Force Base in California. With the exception of General "Shanty" Towne (in the pilot episode), none of the other supporting characters from the newspaper strip appeared in the series. The show is broadcast periodically on the

Decades A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...

over-the-air television network. From 2008 to 2009, the first 24 episodes were released on DVD; the remaining episodes were released on July 28, 2015.

Novels

A series of novels was published by

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

in the 1950s. They were all written by Caniff, with illustrations by himself.

Real world depictions

A statue of Steve Canyon was erected in

Idaho Springs The City of Idaho Springs is the Statutory City that is the most populous municipality in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. Idaho Springs is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, and a nearby mountain canyon was renamed "Steve Canyon". A mosaic of Steve Canyon's ward, Poteet Canyon, stands in front of the city fire station in the town of

Poteet, Texas Poteet is a city in Atascosa County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,260 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was named for its first postmaster, Francis Marion Poteet. It is best know ...

. The CIA/

US 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 ...

covert air war in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and ...

was unofficially called the "Steve Canyon Program"

Reprints

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 ...

reprinted the strip in a half-dozen 1948 comic books, and

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

published seven issues of original stories (1953–1959) by former Caniff assistant (who had anticipated ''Steve Canyon'' with his own '' Bruce Gentry'' about a charter pilot) in their ''

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic b ...

'' series (#519, 578, 641, 737, 804, 939, 1033). ''Steve Canyon'' was reprinted by '' The Menomonee Falls Gazette'',

Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hardcov ...

and ''

Comics Revue ''Comics Revue'' is a bi-monthly small press comic book published by Manuscript Press and edited by Rick Norwood. Don Markstein edited the publication from 1984 to 1987 and 1992 to 1996. As of 2020, it has published more than 350 issues, making ...

'',''Steve Canyon''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia 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 Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on March 15, 2012. with

Hermes Press Hermes Press is an American publisher of art books, comic books, and comic book reprints. The company was founded in 2000 and is best known for their archival reprints of classic comic book and strip series and art books. History Hermes Press was ...

reprinting the comic book in 2011.

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, , 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 to November 28, 1956) * ''Steve Canyon v.25 Damma Exile'' (1991, , reprints Nov 29, 1956 to Sept 24, 1957) * ''Steve Canyon v.26 War Games'' (1992, , reprints Sept 25, 1957, to April 7, 1958) Kitchen Sink Press also published a one-shot ''Steve Canyon 3-D'' comic in June 1986 featuring an anaglyph 3D process by Ray Zone. In 2006,

Checker Book Publishing Group Checker or chequer or ''variant'', may refer to: People *Chubby Checker (born 1941), American singer-songwriter best known for popularizing The Twist * Tarasha Checker, prettiest girl in West Delhi Arts, entertainment, and media * Checker, a ga ...

began releasing a year-by-year collection of ''Steve Canyon''. Nine volumes were released before publication ceased: * ''Steve Canyon: 1947'' () * ''Steve Canyon: 1948'' () * ''Steve Canyon: 1949'' (, February 9, 1949, and February 18, 1950) * ''Steve Canyon: 1950'' (, reprints January 29 to October 7, 1950) * ''Steve Canyon: 1951'' (, reprints October 8, 1950, to Nov 14, 1951) * ''Steve Canyon: 1952'' (, reprints April 9, 1952, to May 14, 1953) * ''Steve Canyon: 1953'' (, reprints May 15, 1953, to August 5, 1954) * ''Steve Canyon: 1954'' (, reprints August 6, 1954, to August 8, 1955) * ''Steve Canyon: 1955'' (, reprints August 9, 1955, to 1956; new format) In 2012,

began a new hardcover reprint series under their "

The Library of American Comics Library of American Comics (abbreviated as LoAC) is an American publisher of classic American comic strips collections and comic history books, founded by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell in 2007. History Background Dean Mullaney, the found ...

" imprint. * ''Steve Canyon v.1: 1947–48'' (2012) * ''Steve Canyon v.2: 1949–50'' (2012) * ''Steve Canyon v.3: 1951–52'' (2013) * ''Steve Canyon v.4: 1953–54'' (2014) * ''Steve Canyon v.5: 1955–56'' (2014) * ''Steve Canyon v.6: 1957–58'' (2015) * ''Steve Canyon v.7: 1959–60'' (2016) * ''Steve Canyon v.8: 1961–62'' (2018) * ''Steve Canyon v.9: 1963–64'' (2019) * ''Steve Canyon v.10: 1965-66'' (2020) * ''Steve Canyon v.11: 1967-68'' (2021) * ''Steve Canyon v.12: 1969-70'' (2022)

References

External links

*
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum: Milton Caniff CollectionUncaptioned photograph of Milton Caniff
and model identified by family as Bek Stiner, later Bek Nelson Gordon. (undated) The Adelman Family Homepage {{Authority control Adventure comic strips American comic strips Aviation comics Canyon, Steve 1947 comics debuts Canyon, Steve 1988 comics endings Comics adapted into television series Aviation television series 1958 American television series debuts 1959 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming Black-and-white American television shows Television shows based on comic strips NBC original programming Canyon, Steve War comics