Bruce Gentry (comics)
| Bruce Gentry | |
|---|---|
| First issue of the Bruce Gentry comic book (January 1948) | |
| Author(s) | Ray Bailey |
| Current status/schedule | Finished |
| Launch date | March 25, 1945 |
| End date | January 6, 1951 |
| Syndicate(s) | Post-Hall Syndicate |
| Genre(s) | Aviation adventure |
Bruce Gentry was an aviation adventure comic strip by Ray Bailey [fr], distributed by the Post-Hall Syndicate. The stories deal with an ex-United States Air Force pilot trying to run an airline in South America.[1] Bruce Gentry debuted March 25, 1945, and by July the strip had expanded to 35 newspapers.[2]
Characters and story
[edit ]Comic strip historian Coulton Waugh called Bailey's Bruce Gentry a "job of very high technical skill." He further credited the artist with mastery of "exact perspective, high flexibility of expression and a feeling for drama."[2] Despite such high praise near the time of its inception, the Bruce Gentry series was not a long-term success. It ended January 6, 1951 with Gentry marrying his sweetheart Cleo Patric.[2] [3]
Comics historian Don Markstein took note of the Milton Caniff influence:
The strip's most obvious precursor was Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates , which had taken on a strong aviation slant a few years earlier, when its protagonist joined the U.S. Air Force. And there was good reason for the resemblance. Tho he'd been a sports cartoonist, comic book artist and animator (he worked on Fleischer's Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons), Bailey's best known earlier work was as Caniff's assistant on Terry and Male Call . His drawing style was strongly reminiscent of Caniff, as was his method of putting together stories. Bruce Gentry was a well-done strip because Ray Bailey had learned from one of the best in the business. The title character of Bruce Gentry was a former pilot in the U.S. Air Force, working for a small airline in South America. There, he found enough subversive and/or criminal activity to keep readers of the strip coming back, and enough gorgeous women to motivate a dozen heroes. But a single continent can't contain a good flying hero, so his adventures branched out all over the world—even, long before it became prominent in the news, to Vietnam. That's also a pretty good description of Steve Canyon , which Caniff launched a couple of years later. Bailey did a good strip in the Caniff tradition, but wasn't able to compete with Caniff himself. Tho Gentry came first, it was Canyon that went on to fame.[3]
Comic book
[edit ]
In 1948-49, Four Star Publications and Superior Publishers, Ltd. teamed to publish eight issues of a Bruce Gentry reprint comic book. After the first issue (January 1948) from Four Star, the numbering was continued by Superior when it published issue #2 (November 1948). The earliest issues carried the subtitle, "America's Famous Newspaper Comic Strip". Superior maintained the run until issue #8 (July 1949). The subtitle on the final issue was "Romantic Adventures for Teen-agers!!"[4]
Film
[edit ]Bailey's strip was adapted into the 1949 movie serial Bruce Gentry – Daredevil of the Skies with Tom Neal in the title role.
References
[edit ]- ^ Goulart, Ron (January 1987). "Sci Fi Funnies Part IV". Comics Feature . No. 51. Movieland Publishing. p. 47.
- ^ a b c Waugh, Coulton. The Comics. New York: Luna Press, 1974 (original copyright 1947). p. 303.
- ^ a b Bruce Gentry at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved December 11, 2007. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018.
- ^ Bruce Gentry at the Grand Comics Database. Retrieved on 12/11/07