I feel a little better about the probable length of my long-range Jack Kirby bio now that I've received R.C. Harvey's new book on the life of Milton Caniff. A full-scale biography of the great comic strip writer-artist was long overdue (so is my Kirby book) and I can't imagine anyone doing a better, more thorough job than Bob Harvey did on Caniff. It runs 800 pages and even the official title is long. For the record, it's Meanwhile…: A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon.
Is it too long? Maybe the title is but the book sure isn't. Caniff's incredible career demanded that kind of detail, and I found myself wishing Harvey had written more, not less, about some aspects of the man's life. Of particular interest is how Bob nails down the life of a working strip artist — the relentless schedule, the dealings with editors and syndicates, etc. One forgets that Caniff's achievement was not merely in producing serialized graphic novels of great excellence for so many decades. Just sitting at the board and doing that would have been impressive enough but Milton Caniff also had to be a spokesperson for his strips and profession, and deal with so many aspects of the business. The portrait of the gentleman himself — as smart and determined as any of his heroes — is fascinating and, from what I can tell, quite accurate.
Do I have quibbles? Little ones, not enough to tarnish this enthusiastic recommendation. The main one is probably that next time I see Bob, which I hope will be at the looming Comic-Con International, I want to discuss his view of Al Capp's troubles and scandals in the sixties and seventies. But that's minor and the important thing is that he seems to get Milton Caniff exactly right. Click here and order a copy.