An awesome collection of a legendary cartoonist

books:

	• Bill Mauldin's Army: Bill Mauldin's Greatest World War II Cartoons Bill Mauldin Presidio Press, 1983 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An awesome collection of a legendary cartoonist

Bill Mauldin is almost certainly the single best-known cartoonist of World War II. His cartoons, many of which I never saw before they were reproduced in this book, are REAL, they are not the result of some funny gag of some sergeant hanging out 50 miles behind the lines... they are the product of a "dogface," a fellow infantryman who saw things which rang true. Mauldin's Willie and Joe characters look like they've been through Hell because that's the way infantry guys looked after weeks on the line. And the humor Mauldin uses is the same kind of fatalistic humor that one sees in this situation.

This collection also has the added benefit of allowing the reader to see Mauldin's development as a cartoonist, from the ones he did while in stateside training to the postwar cartoons which showed the bewilderment of newly-released Soldiers back to civilian life. The large format of the book does the cartoons justice, a definite improvement over the smaller versions of the same work.

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Bulls-eye!

I've been a long-time fan of Bill Mauldins work from WW2. Finally i got myself a copy of "Bill Mauldin's Army" and also one of "Up Front" through a special offer from Amazon.com.
"Bill Mauldin's Army" is a collection of some of Mauldin's best work from WW2 and I truly enjoy the sometimes ironic, sometimes sarcastic but always warm humour he manages to portrait in one single cartoon frame. It is also very interesting that he seldom portraits the enemy (read: The germans) as anything other than a dogface dressed in a different uniform, that must have been very uncommon during the war years.
I strongly recommend both "Bill Mauldins Army" an "Up Front": the first one as instant snap-shots of everyday events during the war, and the later book as a explanation to the first, I find both to be brilliant.

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Exactly as promised

I was looking for a collection of Bill Mauldin cartoons for my father. This book is full of 'em.

Give this to a child you love

My father (who was part of the occupation of Japan in 1946) had a copy of this book. I grew up knowing Willie and Joe. My nephew likes to look at my copy, and I explain the war as best a civilian might, using the cartoons. He's been looking at them since he was five, and when I got a new copy of the book I let him have my old one for himself at the age of 8 -- I find nothing in there inappropriate for a child. I believe it to be a good introduction to that which it is my personal duty to never ever let the next generation forget, what the Greatest Generation did for us all. And yes it's really hysterically funny, even for a civilian, even for a small boy in the 21st century.

My nephew is too young to know that every year on November 11 in the great Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy the WWI flying ace would prepare to go over to Bill Mauldin's house to quaff a few root beers and swap stories. The inside of this book reprints one of these cartoons, in which Woodstock and one of his little birdie friends are marking the day by portraying -- Willie and Joe!

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Excellent Collection

An excellent collection of WWII cartoons showing the day-to-day reality of Army life for the trooper. Very enjoyable to read. The book begins with cartoons about Army training, and continues on to Army life in the European theater, all from the viewpoint of the trooper.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

The foxhole history of the American soldier in World War II, by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin.

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