Feb 21, 2010

MILLIE AND TERRY – Jack Cole’s 1956 Mystery Comic Strip

My friend and fellow comics history writer Frank Young (see his great Stanley Stories blog) has shared his latest comics discovery: a previously unknown comic strip by Jack Cole. Frank tells he found this in a stack of discarded newspapers some time ago and forgot about it until it recently re-surfaced during a move. Here’s the comic:
MillieTerryJuly1956
Here’s Frank’s notes:
“Here is the one known episode of Jack Cole's Millie and Terry newspaper strip.I've also scanned the top of the front page of this sorry-ass military comics section, The American Armed Forces Features, and its mysterious hand-lettered indicia.
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"Google searches reveal nothing about this publication. One can assume it was a monthly newspaper.
Jack Cole's strip is unsigned, but bears his stylistic signature quite heavily. It's a lost link between the Playboy cartoons and BETSY AND ME.


"Cole's is the only notable work in this 8-page tabloid, which I found in a garbage pile in 1971. All the strips have military themes, and cover Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. On the front page you can see part of the primitive Pvt. Gooch by Jess Benton.

"One can only wonder how long this publication lasted, and how long Jack Cole's spot in the comics section spanned. It's a nice little gag, with Females by Cole, tell-tale "tremble lettering," and an elegant, simplified approach to cartooning that still retains a flavor of his 1940s work.”

Thanks very much, Frank, for this lost gem you dug up from the Cole-mine! I agree that this is a link between Cole’s Playboy cartoons and his better-known BESTY AND ME comic strip.

It seems that Cole developed more than one comic strip idea, which was submitted to a totally different market. This fits with what we know of Cole’s restless ambition. In addition to the identifiers that Frank Young notes, the strip also bears the hallmark of Cole’s work in that it somehow has more content, and feels like there’s more plot and depth to the characters than one would expect from a story of this length.

Additional note (Sept. 2011) - Thanks to the helpful information provided by folks in the comments section, it would appear that there were perhaps at least 9 installments of Millie and Terry, from April, 1956 to December, 1956. If Cole did all nine strips, then this would stand as a terrific "lost" find!

If anyone out there has further examples of this strip, we’d love to see them!

6 comments:

  1. You and Frank are missreading the name of this suppliment. it's the "American Armed Forces Features"
    see the link below to the Stripper's Guide,
    and to where a run maybe located.
    http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2006/04/american-armed-forces-features-wha.html
    W.B. Bradbury Co (1932-1978+)started as an ad agency, sold ads for college magazines in the 40s-50s, before branching out to ad inserts for the military.

    steven rowe

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  2. I was happy to find your post that helped establish the importance of this publication I recently found. I can't post scans, but I have seen the first several issues of this publication in a newspaper for the Lima Ordnance Depot (Lima, Ohio). The newspaper was called "Tracks and Wheels." Here is a list of contents for each issue of American Armed Forces Features, including ads which are also all in the comic strip format. Thanks for identifying Cole's work.

    no. date title author
    1 April, 1955 Private Lives T/Sgt O'Brien
    1 April, 1955 Salty
    1 April, 1955 The Little Corporal
    1 April, 1955 The Wise Guy
    1 April, 1955 The Fly Guys
    1 April, 1955 Service Sally
    1 April, 1955 Just Plane Fun Scheduled Airlines
    1 April, 1955 Camel
    1 April, 1955 Fearless Fosdick
    3 May, 1955 Private Gooch
    3 May, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry Vic Martin
    3 May, 1955 Jet Jordan
    3 May, 1955 Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    3 May, 1955 The Wise Guy
    3 May, 1955 Millie and Terry
    3 May, 1955 Top Kick
    3 May, 1955 The Kid Who Became a Queen at 13 Camel
    3 May, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes Hap Lyons
    3 May, 1955 Prentiss Propwash Shelly
    3 May, 1955 Cartoon Pareade Fred Levinson
    3 May, 1955 The Little Corporal Vic Martin
    3 May, 1955 Just Plane Fun Scheduled Airlines

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  3. 5 July, 1955 Pvt Gooch
    5 July, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry
    5 July, 1955 Barnacle Barney Rogo?
    5 July, 1955 Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    5 July, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes Hap Lyons
    5 July, 1955 Top Kick
    5 July, 1955 America's Fighting Heroes
    5 July, 1955 Millie and Terry
    5 July, 1955 Tall, Tawny and Terrific (Lizabeth Scott) Camel
    4 June, 1955 Pvt. Gooch nc
    4 June, 1955 Top Kick nc
    4 June, 1955 Barnacle Barney nc
    4 June, 1955 ad-Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    4 June, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes Hap Lyons
    4 June, 1955 Millie and Terry nc
    4 June, 1955 America's Fighting Heroes nc story of Benjamin E. Wilson
    4 June, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry Vic Martin
    4 June, 1955 ad-Camel Joanne Dru and John Ireland
    4 June, 1955 Cartoon Parade
    4 June, 1955 The Little Corporal Vic Martin
    4 June, 1955 ad-Bradbury, Sayles, O'neill Co., Inc (paperback books)
    4 June, 1955 ad-Certificated Scheduled Airlines
    6 August, 1955 Pvt. Gooch
    6 August, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry Vic Martin
    6 August, 1955 Barnacle Barney
    6 August, 1955 ad-Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    6 August, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes Hap Lyons
    6 August, 1955 Top Kick
    6 August, 1955 Millie and Terry
    6 August, 1955 ad-Camel Donna Atwood
    6 August, 1955 The Wise Guy
    6 August, 1955 Cartoon Parade
    6 August, 1955 The Little Corporal Vic Martin
    6 August, 1955 ad-Just Plane Fun, Certificated Scheduled Airlines
    7 September, 1955 Pvt. Gooch
    7 September, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry Vic Martin
    7 September, 1955 The Little Corporal
    7 September, 1955 ad-Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    7 September, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes Hap Lyons
    7 September, 1955 Top Kick
    7 September, 1955 America's Fighting Heroes story of Reginald Myers
    7 September, 1955 Millie and Terry
    7 September, 1955 ad-Camel Mickey Mantle
    7 September, 1955 The Wise Guy
    7 September, 1955 Cartoon Parade
    7 September, 1955 Barnacle Barney RogoTP?
    7 September, 1955 ad-Just Plane Fun, Certificated Scheduled Airlines
    8 October, 1955 Pvt. Gooch Jess Benton
    8 October, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry Vic Martin
    8 October, 1955 Barnacle Barney signed, but illegible, possibly R-something
    8 October, 1955 ad-Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    8 October, 1955 Top Kick
    8 October, 1955 Prentiss Prattle
    8 October, 1955 Millie and Terry
    8 October, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes Hap Lyons
    8 October, 1955 ad-Camel Tyrone Power
    8 October, 1955 America's Fighting Heroes story of Audie Murphy
    8 October, 1955 Cartoon Parade
    8 October, 1955 The Little Corporal Vic Martin
    8 October, 1955 ad-Just Plane Fun, Certificated Scheduled Airlines
    9 November, 1955 Pvt. Gooch Jess Benton
    9 November, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry Vic Martin
    9 November, 1955 The Little Corporal Vic Martin
    9 November, 1955 ad-Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    9 November, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes Hap Lyons
    9 November, 1955 Top Kick
    9 November, 1955 America's Fighting Heroes story of Col. David Larr
    9 November, 1955 Millie and Terry
    9 November, 1955 ad-Camel Walter Dietel, underwater spear fisherman
    9 November, 1955 The Wise Guy
    9 November, 1955 Cartoon Parade
    9 November, 1955 Barnacle Barney R.Y. ?
    9 November, 1955 ad-Just Plane Fun, Certificated Scheduled Airlines
    10 December, 1955 Pvt. Gooch
    10 December, 1955 Phineas Fogg and Crocklesberry
    10 December, 1955 Barnacle Barney H. R.
    10 December, 1955 ad-Fearless Fosdick Al Capp
    10 December, 1955 Armed Forces Athletes
    10 December, 1955 Top Kick
    10 December, 1955 America's Fighting Heroes story of Charles E. Yeager
    10 December, 1955 Millie and Terry
    10 December, 1955 ad - Camel Joanne Dru and John Ireland
    10 December, 1955 The Wise Guy
    10 December, 1955 Cartoon Parade
    10 December, 1955 The Little Corporal Vic Martin
    10 December, 1955 ad-Just Plane Fun, Certificated Scheduled Airlines

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  4. So who's tg and how can I get in touch with him?

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