After a publishing gap of over eight years, Fantagraphics continues their collected editions of Roy Crane’s long-running adventure comic strip. The book series returns in the same format and design as prior volumes, although the new entry notably shifts from the main publishing line to their small-run imprint, Fantagraphics Underground, indicating that classic-comic-strip fans should hustle to secure their copy before it goes out of print much faster than the prior four volumes.
Buy Buz Sawyer Vol. 5: Island of the Lotus EatersBuz Sawyer launched in newspapers in 1943, following the adventures of a dashing young Navy fighter pilot operating in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Of course the problem with that setup is that the war was winding down just as Buz was taking flight, resulting in a significant story crisis as the character searched for direction in the post-war years. Thanks to Crane’s ongoing popularity in the wake of his previous adventure strip, Captain Easy, and the relatable plight shared by all returning veteran families, Buz successfully navigated his perilous early years and became such an enduring character that the strip survived until 1989.
The new book contains a nearly three-year continuous run of daily strips originally published between 1952-55. As with previous volumes, Sunday strips are not included, but those strips primarily focus on the wholly independent adventures of Buz’s wartime buddy, Rosco Sweeney, so Buz’s story is complete and uninterrupted in these pages.
Crane was very much a collaborator, making it difficult to really assess his contributions to the strips in this book. While he’s the sole listed creator on the strips, he worked from scripts by writer Edwin Granberry to pencil rough layouts which were then handed off to art assistant Henry G. Schlensker for finishes. By the 1960s, health issues forced his retirement from even that level of engagement, although the strip continued to carry his signature until 1977, when Schlensker finally got credit.
Assuming that Crane did maintain tight control on the layouts of these strips, there’s much to praise about his eye for framing the action and lavishing detail on the amazing planes and building architecture. Where he falls short is the character models, with fairly simplified, slightly cartoony faces that seem a bit off from the otherwise realistic settings. That could be a factor of the daily grind of the strip, but considering his impeccable rendering of the vehicles and panel compositions, it seems more likely that he (and/or Schlensker) just had a slight weakness in drawing people. It all works in the grand scheme of the strip, but his character art is a cut below other titans of super-realistic adventure strips like Hal Foster (Prince Valiant) and Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon).
Where the strip excels, at least in this volume, is with Granberry’s rollicking adventures that constantly keep Buz on the move. The early outings of this volume feel much like a modern-day Prince Valiant, with the restless family man off for glory in far-flung locales before briefly checking the home fires in between. This book includes the birth of his son, as well as recurring comic relief in the form of his happy-go-lucky, womanizing younger brother who innocently manages to foul up Buz’s objectives at nearly every turn.
As the book opens, Buz is working as a “troubleshooter” for an oil company, basically the guy who goes wherever needed to grease the wheel of the global operation. He starts in Africa, assisting natives with a looming locust-infestation problem to keep the oil company in their good graces, then jets to South America to unmask a ghoulish baddie sneakily trying to steal the company’s government-granted, oil-drilling concession for his own evil empire. From there, it’s back to an island off the coast of Africa to investigate bogus resident complaints that the company’s insecticide is harming humans and livestock, bringing his oil company responsibilities to a close.
The rest of the book finds Buz returning to the Navy on a secret mission from the Pentagon, first as a jet-pilot trainee and then as a full-fledged test pilot for the Navy’s most experimental new plane designs. It’s amusing watching the veteran prop pilot being put through his paces as a rookie in flight school again due to his years away and lack of jet experience, and rewarding when he succeeds and brings his skills to play. He’s first tasked with uncovering a Soviet plot hiding in the eye of a Caribbean hurricane and then faces off against the communists in a bonkers Arctic adventure with a shocking conclusion.
Considering the ‘50s timeframe and mostly military setting, the strip is refreshingly free of jingoism and fear-mongering about the Red Menace. Buz is just a principled and effective soldier following orders, with Granberry keeping the focus firmly on the adventures, not geopolitics. On the home front, Buz’s wife is given little to do but fret about his dangerous life and pine for his return, but at least Granberry strives to show the effect his continual prolonged absences have on her mental well-being, painting her as a sympathetic character and an equal partner in their marriage.
It’s a delightful surprise to have a new volume of Buz Sawyer after the project was presumed cancelled. With the decline of the Library of American Comics line (aside from recent reformatted Dick Tracy and Terry and the Pirates releases), Fantagraphics is really the only significant player still making an effort to publish classic American newspaper comic strips. Thankfully, this archival continuation of Roy Crane’s second great adventure strip was well worth the wait.
