Thorpe is mainly a problem because it seems to be perpetually stuck in about the year 1957...but it is also clear that it's all still supposed to be happening in today's society, right now, 2008. I remember reading Gil Thorpe back in the early 60's and enjoying it immensely. There was a great story line going at one point with this new teacher at Gil's school, a young dark-haired, very clever and good looking gal with just a bit of "Beatnik" sensibility about her. Well, more than bit. She was a very cool kid...probably about 24 years old. So she created a sensation at the school, because all the teenage guys thought she was extremely "hot", as the saying goes, yet they couldn't throw her off balance one bit when she was teaching...but the more elderly staff members were suspicious of her and looking for a good excuse to fire her, despite the fact that her teaching skills were extremely good. She wore a beret when outdoors, dressed in black mostly, and drove an old rattletrap of a car that a bunch of the male students had to give a good push down the street once to get it started.

All this was played up to pretty good effect as the elderly fussbudgets on staff grew more and more scandalized by this "serpent" in their midst, but could find no legitimate grounds for ejecting her from their ranks.

So Gil starts getting interested in her and they end up dating, and he discovers that she is quite an admirable person. He eventually has to come to her rescue against the united forces of her bitter enemies on staff.

It was a darned good story, and it fit the mood of the times. The trouble with Gil Thorpe now is that it is miles and miles away from the mood of the times, so it seems out of kilter on account of that.

I wish I could find a reprint of that storyline from way back then, I'd love to see it again.