Buz Sawyer
Encyclopedia
Buz Sawyer was a popular comic strip
created by Roy Crane
and highly regarded by comic strip historians. Distributed by King Features Syndicate
, it had a long run from November 1, 1943 to 1989. The last strip signed by Crane was dated 21 April 1979.
, the adventurous John S. Sawyer, nicknamed Buz Sawyer, flew as an ace Navy
fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater
where he had numerous adventures with his sidekick Sweeney. As a civilian in the post-WWII years, Buz became an oil company troubleshooter. He rejoined the Navy in the 1950s and flew carrier-based reconnaissance attack jets over Vietnam during the 1960s.
Roy Crane was one of the innovators of the adventure comic strip. Wash Tubbs
began in 1924 as a humorous story about the romantic adventures of Washington Tubbs, but increasingly Tubbs became involved in exciting adventures in exotic places. With the creation of the popular soldier of fortune Captain Easy
in 1929, the strip became, along with Tarzan of the Apes
and Buck Rogers
, one of the first adventure strips. However, Crane was an employee of the Newspaper Enterprise Association
syndicate, which owned the rights to the Tubbs and Easy characters. Crane approached King Features with an idea for a new strip, and when they offered him ownership, he abandoned Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy in 1943, giving full concentration to launching Buz Sawyer. Crane remembered the events this way:
drew the daily until it was discontinued 7 October 1989. Schlensker, who fought with the Army Air Corps in East Asia during World War II, died in 1997 at the age of 82. "He loved to draw, and he loved action. That strip was his whole life," said his wife, Virginia Schlensker.
, who was a pioneer jet pilot. Later, Al Wenzel did the Sunday strip, which Crane brought to a conclusion on May 19, 1974.
in 1950 (when it was the Barney Award). He also won their Story Comic Book Award in 1965.
The daily Buz Sawyer has been reprinted by Comics Art Showcase, Dragon Lady Press
and Comics Revue
. Manuscript Press
has published two books collecting the daily strip from the beginning. Only a few scattered Sundays have ever been reprinted. The comic strip was also adapted into a Better Little Book, Buz Sawyer and Bomber 13.
In 2011, Fantagraphics Books
published the first in a series of books reprinting the daily strips, along with selected Sunday strips. The first volume covers the daily strips from November 1, 1943 (the first strip) until October 5, 1945 (when Buz leaves the Navy). A second volume is planned for December 2011.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
created by Roy Crane
Roy Crane
Royston Campbell Crane , who signed his work Roy Crane, was an influential American cartoonist who created the comic strip characters Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer. He pioneered the adventure comic strip, establishing the conventions and artistic approach of that genre. Comics historian...
and highly regarded by comic strip historians. Distributed by King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
, it had a long run from November 1, 1943 to 1989. The last strip signed by Crane was dated 21 April 1979.
Characters and story
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the adventurous John S. Sawyer, nicknamed Buz Sawyer, flew as an ace Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
where he had numerous adventures with his sidekick Sweeney. As a civilian in the post-WWII years, Buz became an oil company troubleshooter. He rejoined the Navy in the 1950s and flew carrier-based reconnaissance attack jets over Vietnam during the 1960s.
Roy Crane was one of the innovators of the adventure comic strip. Wash Tubbs
Wash Tubbs
Wash Tubbs was a comic strip created by Roy Crane that ran from April 14, 1924 to January 10, 1988.Initially titled Washington Tubbs II, it originally was a gag-a-day strip which focused on the mundane misadventures of the title character, a bespectacled bumbler who ran a store. However, Crane soon...
began in 1924 as a humorous story about the romantic adventures of Washington Tubbs, but increasingly Tubbs became involved in exciting adventures in exotic places. With the creation of the popular soldier of fortune Captain Easy
Captain Easy
Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune was an action/adventure comic strip created by Roy Crane that was syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association beginning on Sunday, July 30, 1933...
in 1929, the strip became, along with Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan of the Apes is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first in a series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazine All-Story Magazine in October, 1912; the first book edition was published in 1914. The character was so popular that Burroughs...
and Buck Rogers
Buck Rogers
Anthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
, one of the first adventure strips. However, Crane was an employee of the Newspaper Enterprise Association
United Media
United Media is a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. It syndicates 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. Its core business is the United Feature Syndicate and the Newspaper Enterprise Association...
syndicate, which owned the rights to the Tubbs and Easy characters. Crane approached King Features with an idea for a new strip, and when they offered him ownership, he abandoned Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy in 1943, giving full concentration to launching Buz Sawyer. Crane remembered the events this way:
- I drew Wash Tubbs until 1943, when I started drawing Buz Sawyer. It was during World War II, so I decided to make Buz a Navy pilot. It promised lots of action, and I also felt that I would be making a contribution to the war effort. Before actually starting the strip, and to insure authenticity, I did a great deal of research. I’ve always loved to travel, so I went to many different places in search of information that I could use in the strip; I even spent some time aboard an aircraft carrier. In addition, I gathered together a very large collection of Navy photographs to use as background material. Rosco Sweeney, who is now featured on the entire Sunday pageSunday stripA Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
, was Buz’s wartime buddy. He was also the gunner on the Navy bomber which Buz flew. After the war, I had Sweeney start an orange grove in Florida… the same as I did. I have no plans for bringing Buz into the Sunday page. Action is one of the most important elements in a strip. In fact, I feel that graphic pictorialization is the essence of the comic strip medium and that is what makes it a unique art form. When newspapers cut the size of the comic strip until there is no room left for anything but dialogue, then that will be the end of comics. Buz is conceived four weeks in advance. My collaborator, Hank Schlensker, finishes the layouts from my rough drawings. He works approximately one week behind me. I am also assisted by Al Wenzel and Edwin GranberryEdwin GranberryEdwin Phillips Granberry was an American writer, novelist and translator. In 1932, he won the O. Henry Award for Best Short Short Story....
. I own the rights to the strip. The rendering of Buz Sawyer is done with Craftint; a technique pioneered in this strip as well as in Wash Tubbs. I have always been interested in trying new techniques, and I especially try to capture a three-dimensional quality in the strip.
Daily strip
Granberry began writing Buz Sawyer during the 1940s, continuing as the strip's scripter until 1983. In 1946, 31-year-old Henry G. Schlensker, who had created Biff Baker with Ernest Lynn (1941-45), settled in Orlando, where he became Crane's art assistant. An ulcer resulted in Crane's retirement from the strip in the 1960s, but he continued to work closely with Granberry and Schlensker. After Crane's death in 1977, Schlensker began signing the strip. The duo continued as a team until 1983. When they retired, John CelardoJohn Celardo
John Celardo is a comic strip artist.After studying at the Art Students League of New York and the New York School of Industrial Arts he began his professional contributing sports cartoons to Street & Smith.-Comic books:He then drifted into comic books, working among other places at the...
drew the daily until it was discontinued 7 October 1989. Schlensker, who fought with the Army Air Corps in East Asia during World War II, died in 1997 at the age of 82. "He loved to draw, and he loved action. That strip was his whole life," said his wife, Virginia Schlensker.
Sunday strip
Rosco Sweeney, who was Sawyer's comic-relief sidekick, was the lead character of the Buz Sawyer Sunday strip, a comedy about rural and suburban life. Sweeney largely disappeared from the dailies after WWII. Beginning in the late 1940s, Crane assigned the writing and drawing chores for the Sunday strip to cartoonist Clark HaasClark Haas
Clark S. Haas, Jr. was a cartoonist and, from 1957 to 1965, owner of Cambria Studios, which produced the limited animation series, Clutch Cargo .-Career:...
, who was a pioneer jet pilot. Later, Al Wenzel did the Sunday strip, which Crane brought to a conclusion on May 19, 1974.
Family tree
- John “Buz” Sawyer - Navy pilot
- Christy Jameson – His fiancée, later wife
- Pepper Sawyer– Their son, named for Edwin Granberry's great nephew, William R. "Pepper" Chalker
- Lucky Sawyer – Buz’s brother, musician
Awards
Roy Crane won the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists SocietyNational Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society 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 troops...
in 1950 (when it was the Barney Award). He also won their Story Comic Book Award in 1965.
Books and reprints
Dragon Lady Press
Toronto-based Dragon Lady Press was the publishing wing of the Dragon Lady Comics store. Its publications were distributed through the direct market throughout the United States and Canada. This company was known for its reprints of classic newspaper comic strips in various forms...
and Comics Revue
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....
. Manuscript Press
Manuscript Press
Manuscript Press is a small press publisher started by Rick Norwood in 1976 and currently located in Mountain Home, Tennessee. It specializes in previously unpublished novels by science fiction authors such as Hal Clement and R. A. Lafferty and also in reprints of comic strips such as Prince...
has published two books collecting the daily strip from the beginning. Only a few scattered Sundays have ever been reprinted. The comic strip was also adapted into a Better Little Book, Buz Sawyer and Bomber 13.
In 2011, Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
published the first in a series of books reprinting the daily strips, along with selected Sunday strips. The first volume covers the daily strips from November 1, 1943 (the first strip) until October 5, 1945 (when Buz leaves the Navy). A second volume is planned for December 2011.
Digital rebirth
In June 2006, King Features' email service, DailyINK, began running Buz Sawyer dailies from the beginning. By 2009, this run had brought Buz into civilian life. All of these strips are missing the bottom quarter inch of art.Episode guide
Story arcs in the early years of the daily strip:- 1943
- War in the Pacific
- 1944
- Island Raids
- Sultry
- 1945
- Mr. Flint
- Civilian Life
- Sultry’s Tiger
- 1946
- The Mad Baron
- Salvaduras (daily and Sunday)
- 1947
- Africa
- Vacation with Christy
- Thursty Collins
- Harry Sparrow
- 1948
- Miss Freeze
- The Search for Buz
- The Wedding Present
- 1949
-
- African Honeymoon
- Monkey Business
- Revolution
- 1950
- Buz Alone
- Diana
- William Shakespeare
- 1951
- Wish Jones
- Alaska
- Doldrums
- Zazarof
- 1952
- The Hawks Boys
- Locusts
- Panazuela Oil
- 1953
- Island of the Lotus Eaters
- Christy’s Baby
- Test Pilot
- 1954
- Hurricane Hunters
- VTO
- 1955
- Paint
- Mystery Plane
- All Washed Up