By the time ye scribe was able to read, Terry & The Pirates was drawn by George Wunder, while the series' creator, Milton Caniff, continued with Steve Canyon. Both were entertaining adventure strips that appeared in the NY Daily News, and it was believed that Wunder had tried too much to emulate Caniff's particular style.
Both strips made it to television. Terry & The Pirates made the air first, as a syndicated summer entry in June 1953. As we've seen, Steve Canyon landed at NBC five years later. Both lasted one season each.
In the series, Terry Lee is all grown up, a pilot working for Chopstick Joe (Jack Kruschen--the part was recast after the pilot episode below). In fact, Chopstick is one of a small handful of supporting characters that were used in the series, including Hotshot Charlie, Terry's co-pilot/sidekick, the Dragon Lady, a villain who'd later reform, and Burma (Mari Blanchard--the part was recast later), who, as you'll see, was crushing on Terry.
Keye Luke guest stars in the pilot, "Macao Gold":
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