"Terry and the Pirates" is almost universally rated above Caniff's follow-up military strip, "Steve Canyon", but I think in many ways the latter is a more polished, professional strip by a writer and artist at the top of his game. "Terry..." had the advantage of running during all of World War II, and seamlessly embedded its characters into that theater. Of course the emotions were running high. "Steve Canyon" existed in relative peacetime, although the Cold War and Korean conflict and later the Vietnam War kept things hopping. But there is little action here, much intrigue and suspense, and a somewhat lighter approach to some of the storylines. Here, Steve Canyon shows up at Summer Olson's wedding with her long-thought-dead husband in tow, and Summer goes back to working for Copper Calhoun. Later, Steve is assigned to assist with a Hollywood movie being filmed on Air Force land, which leads to him romancing the star and substituting for the male lead when he is called back to England. One of the sadder storylines is here, the title story, "Taps for 'Shanty Town", based on the real life story of a young general who worked himself to death. And finally, we have the introduction of Steve Canyon's presumptive and heretofore unknown cousin, Poteet Canyon, who is one of Caniff's best characters in many years and a needed balance for the now sometimes stodgy Steve Canyon.It's a pleasure to re-read a finely produced collection of action/adventure/humor/romance/suspense strips by a master of every category. ( )