Buz Sawyer Series by Roy Crane

Roy Crane created the adventure comic strip with Wash Tubbs, and many a superhero owes a debt to Crane’s square-jawed, hard-hitting adventurer Captain Easy. But during World War II, he left the Captain Easy strip to create a more realistic fighting man, a Navy pilot named John Singer Sawyer, who fought in the Pacific Theater from 1943 until V-J Day in 1945.This book, the first in a series reprinting the Buz Sawyer strip, reprints all of the daily strips published during World War II... moreRoy Crane created the adventure comic strip with Wash Tubbs, and many a superhero owes a debt to Crane’s square-jawed, hard-hitting adventurer Captain Easy. But during World War II, he left the Captain Easy strip to create a more realistic fighting man, a Navy pilot named John Singer Sawyer, who fought in the Pacific Theater from 1943 until V-J Day in 1945.This book, the first in a series reprinting the Buz Sawyer strip, reprints all of the daily strips published during World War II. Buz serves aboard an aircraft carrier, flies combat missions against the notorious Japanese Zeros, crash lands behind enemy lines, and is captured by a Japanese submarine.The book also includes a selection of the best of the Sunday strips, which featured Buz Sawyer’s pal and gunner, Roscoe Sweeny.Everywhere Buz goes, he finds high adventure and beautiful women—in fact, his fellow flyers kid him about his ability to find romance on even the most hostile Pacific island, where he meets a dangerous spy named Sultry (!). And when he goes home on leave, it is only to be caught up in a rivalry between rich heiress Tot Winter and girl-next-door Christy Jameson.It features some of Crane’s most atmospheric drawing, aided by his expert use of Craftint tones, luscious romance, and exciting action scenes. These stories amply illustrate why Peanuts artist Charles Schulz called Roy Crane “a treasure.” less

World War II has ended, and with so many pilots mustered out at the end of the war, jobs for pilots are hard to find, and Buz s record as a hot-shot pilot does not recommend him to commercial airlines. While looking for a job, Buz visits his old alma mater and spends time with glamorous Tot Winter and girl-next-door Christy Jameson. He finally finds the perfect job as a troubleshooter for International Airways, flying to trouble spots all over the world... moreWorld War II has ended, and with so many pilots mustered out at the end of the war, jobs for pilots are hard to find, and Buz s record as a hot-shot pilot does not recommend him to commercial airlines. While looking for a job, Buz visits his old alma mater and spends time with glamorous Tot Winter and girl-next-door Christy Jameson. He finally finds the perfect job as a troubleshooter for International Airways, flying to trouble spots all over the world. He encounters Sultry, the beautiful and dangerous woman he met on a Japanese-held island during the war, with fatal results for a major character in the strip. He travels to the arctic to stop the Mad Baron, an insane ex-Nazi trying to shoot down International Airways planes. And, in the only adventure to combine the daily and Sunday story lines, he teams up with his old pal Roscoe Sweeney to discover a fabulous ancient Mayan treasure. This book reprints the Sunday pages from this adventure in full color for the first time. In the last adventure in our second volume, Buz is kidnapped and flown to Africa by mysterious assailants. His friend Chili Harrison bets International Airways chief Mr. Wright $200 that even in this desperate situation, Buz will manage to get involved with a pretty girl. Long-time readers of the strip will have no trouble guessing who wins that bet. Comic strip historian Brian Walker wrote, Buz Sawyer combined fast-paced adventure stories with authentically illustrated military equipment and real locations, which Crane researched during trips around the world. Roy Crane s drawing and storytelling skills just get better and better. With this volume s Buz reprints from 1945 to 1947, Crane hit his stride. less

Buz Sawyer -- adventurer, bon vivant, and former bachelor -- can't let a little thing like romance and marriage slow him down. Buz knows that Christy is the only woman for him brave, beautiful, and able to handle herself when the going gets tough, and just the kind of woman Buz needs when the chips are down -- a lover and a fighter. And indeed, Christy has her mettle tested, because the road to marriage is a rocky one... moreBuz Sawyer -- adventurer, bon vivant, and former bachelor -- can't let a little thing like romance and marriage slow him down. Buz knows that Christy is the only woman for him brave, beautiful, and able to handle herself when the going gets tough, and just the kind of woman Buz needs when the chips are down -- a lover and a fighter. And indeed, Christy has her mettle tested, because the road to marriage is a rocky one. First, Buz has to survive a hurricane in the Caribbean, a typhoon in the South Seas, and a stone cold killer with a deceptively mild manner and the innocuous-sounding name of Harry Sparrow.As if that weren t enough, Buz gets himself caught in a political hurricane when he gets trapped behind the Iron Curtain just as the Cold War heats up. And if you think Buz and Christy s African honeymoon is a picnic... think again. All of this is brought vividly and gorgeously to life through Roy Crane s sure-footed writing and stunning storytelling in the classic newspaper strip, a rollicking series of adventures filled with knock-out women, brutal assassins, and extremely bad weather. less

This volume contains ten complete newspaper strip stories from the tail end of the 1940s into the 1950s.