Who Remembers Milton Caniff?
Heaven Hi!!!
Who remembers some of the old “Terry and the Pirates” comic strips? Or the “Steve Canyon” comics? Well for those of you who know we take a look back to one of the great pioneers of comic strips, Milton Caniff.
Caniff, born a century ago and dubbed the “Rembrandt of the comic strip,” is being recognized this week in a series of exhibits in the city where he attended Ohio State University and took his first full-time drawing job. The shows are timed to the Festival of Cartoon Art, sponsored every three years by Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library. The library, which houses the works of many well-known cartoonists, got its start with Caniff’s 1977 bequest of his papers.
The theme of this year’s festival is the art of graphic storytelling, a technique that Caniff pioneered.
“He was a master storyteller and he engaged his audience in a way that no other cartoonist had,” said Chery Straker, history curator at the Ohio Historical Society and the developer of a biographical exhibit about Caniff. “People looked forward to reading his comics each day to find out what was going to happen next. People cared about the characters as if they were real people.” Or Actors For Real?
Caniff was AWARE of the people’s detail, quirks, HUMOR, and sexuality. He was Observent about the intricacies of human movements, faces, postures, and gestures. He was aware of present time and where people are and what they do, and why they do it. The concept of flirting and sexuality was conveyed in a humoress form to draw the audience in. Among his tremendous prestige, Caniff, brought intrigue, warmth, and comfort to the imagination of all who read him. In my book, Acting For Real, there is a picture exercise where you examine the different movents of facial features as you identify with your character. It gives you not only a sense of character identity, but a sense of being. Pick up my book and check it out. Find out what characters you are playing in life, and you’ll learn how to perfect them.
Be BOP!!!
Thom
