Tailspin Tommy
| Tailspin Tommy | |
|---|---|
 Hal Forrest'sTailspin Tommy(June 26, 1938) | |
| Author(s) | Glenn Chaffin (1928–1933)Hal Forrest(1933–1942) |
| Illustrator(s) | Hal Forrest(1928–1942) (inks)Reynold Brown(1936–1942) |
| Current status/schedule | Concluded; reruns |
| Launch date | May 21, 1928 |
| End date | March 15, 1942 |
| Syndicate(s) | Bell Syndicate(1928–1940) United Feature Syndicate(1940–1942) |
| Publisher(s) | Stephen Slesinger Inc. Eastern Color Printing Dell Comics |
| Genre(s) | Aviation-adventure |
Tailspin Tommywas anaviation-adventurecomic stripabout a youthful pilot, "Tailspin"Tommy Tomkins (sometimes spelled Tompkins). Originally illustrated byHal Forrestand initially distributed byJohn Neville Wheeler'sBell Syndicateand then byUnited Feature Syndicate,the strip had a 14-year run from May 21, 1928 to March 15, 1942.[1]
In the wake ofCharles Lindbergh's 1927 flight across theAtlantic,the public's fascination withaviationescalated.Tailspin Tommywas the first aviation-based comic strip to appear as a result of this heightened interest. The strip's 1928 launch was followed by others, notablySkyroads(1929-1942),Scorchy Smith(1930-1961),The Adventures of Smilin' Jack(1933-1973) andFlyin' Jenny(1939-1946).[2]
Publication history
[edit]Scripted by Glenn Chaffin, a newspaper journalist and press agent,Tailspin Tommybegan its run in four newspapers on May 21, 1928.[1]By 1931, it was published in more than 250 newspapers across the country. After buying out Chaffin's interest, Forrest took over the scripting; his first credited Sunday strip ran on January 7, 1934, and his first Sunday appeared on January 22.[1]Forrest wrote and drew the strip solo for the next three years.
In 1936, Forrest took on an assistant,Reynold Brown,who inked (uncredited) over Forrest's pencils.Tailspin Tommyis held by some to have improved with Brown's contribution.[2]
The Sunday page had severaltopper stripsover the course of the run:Progress of Flight(1930-1933),Four Aces(1934-1941),How to Fly(1935),War Plane Insignia(1935) andTailspin Tommy Flying Club(1935-1941).[1]
Characters and story
[edit]Living in Littleville, Colorado, young Tommy Tomkins had such an obsession with flying that he was given the nickname Tailspin Tommy before he ever actually went inside a plane. Although Tommy took an aero-engineering correspondence course, his real introduction to aviation happened when mail pilot Milt Howe made an emergency landing in a field near Tommy's neighborhood. Tommy watched the downward spiral of Milt's plane and ran to help. Howe rewarded Tommy with a greasemonkey job in Texas at the Three Point Airlines, where he soon became a pilot along with his girlfriend, Betty Lou Barnes, and his best buddy, Peter "Skeeter" Milligan. The trio eventually became part owners in Three Point and took off for many airborne adventures.[3]
By 1940,Tailspin Tommybegan to lose papers. A change in syndicates from Bell toUnited Featuresdid little to help, and the strip ended on March 15, 1942.[1]
Film
[edit]Tailspin Tommy flew into movie theaters throughout the 1930s. He was portrayed by Maurice Murphy in the 12-episode1934movie serialTailspin Tommy.Another 12-chapter serial,Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery(1935), starredClark Williamsin the title role.John Trentportrayed Tommy in a series of hour-long features, includingMystery Plane,Stunt Pilot,Sky PatrolandDanger Flight.All were released in1939.
Comic books and reprints
[edit]
Stephen Slesinger Inc.published a series of 30Tailspin Tommy Adventuresin eight-page booklet form as a promotion with Big Thrill Chewing Gum. In 1936, C.J.H. Publications put out two issues ofTailspin Tommy Adventure Magazine.The magazines published adaptations of comic strip stories. Publication apparently ceased because the rights to the character had not been properly secured. After taking over the syndication, United Features published twoTailspin Tommycomic books, one in 1940 and one in 1946.Tailspin Tommyalso saw reprints inDell Comics'The FunniesandPopular Comics.
In 1934,Tailspin Tommywas among the strips reprinted in the first modern comic book,Famous Funnies,published byMax GainesatEastern Color Printing.That same year, Slesinger began publishing a series ofTailspin Tommybooks in itsBig Little Bookline. Except where noted, beginning with Tailspin Tommy and the Island in the Sky these adaptations of the comic strip were ghostwritten byGaylord Du Boisand illustrated by Hal Forrest:
- Tailspin Tommy in The Famous Pay-Roll Mystery,1933
- Tailspin Tommy - The Dirigible Flight to the North Pole,1934
- Tailspin Tommy - Hunting for Pirate Gold,1935
- Tailspin Tommy and the Island in the Sky,1936
- Tailspin Tommy and the Hooded Flyer,1937
- Tailspin Tommy and the Sky Bandits,1938
- Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery (starring Noah Beery),1938 (based on the screenplay of the serial)
- Tailspin Tommy and the Lost Transport,1940
- Tailspin Tommy, The Weasel, and His Skywayman,1941
Others:
- Tailspin Tommy,a Big Little paperback (no subtitle), 1935
- Tailspin Tommy in Flying Aces,from Dell Publishing, 1938
A novel by Mark Stevens,Tailspin Tommy: The Mystery of the Midnight Patrol,was published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1936
References
[edit]- ^abcdeHoltz, Allan (2012).American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide.Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 374.ISBN9780472117567.
- ^abCollectAir: "Hal Forrest and Tailspin Tommy"
- ^Tailspin TommyatDon Markstein's Toonopedia.Archivedfrom the original on September 23, 2015.