The old comic strip (by the late Milton Caniff) is kind of interesting (from a historical perspective).
Was a movie ever made based on the strip?
Is the strip still published today?
There was something about how the “mysterious east” was portrayed in the comics…I guess its a worldview that is pretty dated today.
Did Caniff base his strip on any real characters?
Yes, it was a 1940’s serial called…Wait for it…Terry and the Pirates. I remember seeing it as a serial in the early '50s. I saw it once (I think) on TCM also. Caniff actually wrote for the film the announcer said.
The strip seems to be defunct, a victim of the death of the continuity strip, as well as George Wunder’s horrible artwork (Wunder took over after Caniff left to do Steve Canyon and could only draw one face on all the characters, male or female).
AFAIK, the characters were based on Caniff’s imagination.