Bill Mauldin - WWII Cartoon - Up Front - 1945
Artist: Bill Mauldin (All)
8 Comments - 19,203 Views - 1 Like
Additional Images:
Up Front Tearsheet from a Stateside Paper
Stars and Stripes Tearsheet with UP FRONT Cartoon - 17 February 1945
Artwork Details
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DescriptionI'm very, very happy to welcome this original Up Front WWII cartoon panel into my collection. This cartoon originally appeared in the Mediterranean edition of Stars & Stripes on February 17, 1945. It later appeared in a collection of Mauldin's cartoons, This Damn Tree Leaks, also in 1945. I believe that it was later reprinted in another collection of Mauldin cartoons.According to Fantagraphic's wonderful new two-volume set on Mauldin's WWII cartoons, the gag refers to the changing situation in the European theater at the time. Todd DePastino states, "After the invasion of Normandy, Italy became the "forgotten front", as correspondents moved to France. The fighting in Italy remained fierce, nonetheless." The writing on the wall, which is a variant of the slogan used by the Nazis, translates to: Ein Reich (One Nation), Ein Volk (One People), Ein Führer (One Leader). Original WWII cartoons by Bill Mauldin are incredibly scarce, especially ones featuring his classic characters, Wille & Joe, the dog-faced everymen of the army. While Mauldin copies turn up often, I cannot recall the last time I have seen a WWII original by him. When I received the artwork, I noticed that a piece of paper was taped to the back of the illustration board. I saw what looked like stationary imprinting on the other side. So, being a curious cuss, I set out to gently remove the paper from the back of the board. While I'm not yet sure of the importance of the paper (I was hoping for some sort of provenance to tie in with the artwork), I was very pleased to see that the board was stamped "PASSED FOR PUBLICATION -- 5 FEB 1945". While I had little doubt before that this was an authentic Mauldin drawing, the censor's stamp cemented the deal for me. One of the things that I've discovered in both the Fantagraphics set, and the new biography of Mauldin, is that General George Patton couldn't stand the cartoonist. Patton felt that Mauldin was denigrating the Army, by depicting the foot soldiers as unshaven, ill-behaving, and not properly attired. Patton also felt that it bordered on mutiny to depict the soldiers as airing their gripes. These are all the reasons, of course, why the soldiers loved Mauldin and his work. Mauldin, at age 23, was required to have a one-on-one meeting with Patton, where rank was supposed to be put aside. There was no meeting of the minds that came out of the meeting, and Patton later stated that he would take care of Mauldin. Upon hearing this, Eisenhower, who was a big fan of Mauldin's work, issued a hands-off order, which gave Mauldin the room he needed to work. His cartoons still pissed off many of the brass, but he was now untouchable. I've often felt that Mauldin's WWII feature was quite important for a number of reasons. He was the first war cartoonist who really showed the reality of the war on the soldier's who fought in war. While propaganda films would show the best of what was happening, Mauldin was showing the reality, often tinged with humor. Looking at the EC war comics of the '50s, I can't help but think that those comic book artists, many of whom were in the service during WWII, were influenced by Mauldin and his slant on war. Further, the T.V. show M*A*S*H* almost seems to have been borrowed from Mauldin, albeit a later war and a different setting. The mix of humor and seriousness remains the same. My thanks to Dan Forman for parting with this gem. Additional thanks to Thorsten Brummel for the translation of the German. *************************** Addendum (5/6/15): I've recently picked up the massive book, "Bill Mauldin's Army", which was published in 1951. This cartoon appears in the book, but with a different caption: "I don't think th' krauts like bein' liberated." I wonder who made the call to change the caption six years after the piece was originally published. Weird. Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Dan F 
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 3/29/2006
You're quite welcome, and totally right about the EC artist connection. I have a Davis War splash in my gallery that could have been drawn by Mauldin it shows his influence so heavily.
Jyrki Vainio
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 4/4/2006
Wow, what a great piece. Where did this style come from and what happened to it after the war? My guess for the first part would be Will Eisner and Milton Caniff via Noel Sickles, but what about the second part? Everyone in editorial cartooning uses brush lines like these NOW, but only after Oliphant and others brought it back in the 60s - but even Mauldin himself stopped doing this in the 50s! That's very strange - especially seeing how with this technique Mauldin was the master!
Duke Fuller
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 6/11/2012
Words cannot express.... a true classic! Such history!
Timothy Finney
Member Since 2006
1 - Posted on 11/13/2012
I always used to wonder why the military printed these. Then, not too long ago, I was watching the Johnny Cash bio movie and there was the scene where, before a prison concert, the warden asks Cash not to sing anything that reminds the men that they're in prison, to which the man in black allegedly replied, "You think they forgot?" I think that answered my question.
Sean Clarke
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 11/13/2012
I like Mauldin's pen and ink stuff too, but this brushwork is just too great. Also... it's a small thing, but I believe the correct translation is "One Nation, One People, One Leader." It's a slight misread of Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer — "One People, One Nation, One Leader"... one of the Nazi's favorite political slogans.
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