Willie and Joe

Willie and Joe are stock characters representing US infantry soldiers, drawn by Bill Mauldin from 1940 until 1946, with occasional infrequent drawings until 1998.

History

Mauldin was an 18-year-old soldier training with the 45th Infantry Division in 1940. He cartooned part-time for the camp newspaper. Near the end of 1941 the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred and the USA was brought into World War II Mauldin was sent off to combat, influencing his cartoons, which gradually became darker and more realistic in their depiction of the weariness of the enduring miseries of war[1] The bristles on their faces grew and the eyes – "too old for those young bodies", as Mauldin put it[1] – showed how much Willie and Joe suffered. In most cartoons, they were shown in the rain, mud, and other dire conditions, while they contemplated the whole situation.

While Mauldin was praised for his realistic depictions of what most soldiers felt during war-time, he was less popular with some officers. General George S. Patton, Jr. in particular felt offended by the cartoons.[1] Mauldin was ordered to meet him in March 1945 in Patton's quarters in Luxembourg, where Patton complained about the scruffiness of the characters and blamed Mauldin for disrespecting the army and "trying to incite a mutiny".[2] But Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Commander European Theater, told Patton to leave Mauldin alone, because he felt that Mauldin's cartoons gave the soldiers an outlet for their frustrations. Mauldin told an interviewer later, "I always admired Patton. Oh, sure, the stupid bastard was crazy. He was insane. He thought he was living in the Dark Ages. Soldiers were peasants to him. I didn't like that attitude, but I certainly respected his theories and the techniques he used to get his men out of their foxholes."[3] Still, The War Department supported their syndication,[4] not only because they helped publicize the ground forces but also to show the grim and bitter side of war, which helped show that victory would not be easy.[5] Stephen Ambrose, author of Band of Brothers, praised Mauldin's work: "More than anyone else, save only Ernie Pyle, he caught the trials and travails of the GI. For anyone who wants to know what it was like to be an infantryman in World War II, this is the place to start – and finish."

Publication history

The cartoons were published in the 45th Division News from 1940 until November 1943, when the Mediterranenean edition of the Stars and Stripes took them over. In early 1944, his editor arranged for syndication by United Feature Service as Up Front. As of 1945, according to a Time report, the cartoons were published in 139 newspapers.[6] Mauldin would received two Pulitzer Prizes for cartooning, one in 1945 and one in 1959. By the end of the war, he also received the Army's Legion of Merit for his cartoons. Mauldin wanted Willie and Joe to be killed on the last day of combat, but Stars and Stripes dissuaded him. He also tried to bring them into civilian life, but this was also unsuccessful, as documented in his memoirs, Back Home, in 1947.

"Willie and Joe" were drawn at irregular moments after the war. He drew them only a few times, each time to commemorate the funerals of people he admired, such as generals Omar Bradley and George C. Marshall and fellow cartoonist Milton Caniff.

He retired in 1991 and drew them the final time in 1998, as part of a Veterans Day strip for the popular comic Peanuts, whose creator, Charles M. Schulz, was a personal friend of his. Schulz too saw Mauldin as one of his personal heroes.[7]

Availability

In March 2008, most World War II comics by Mauldin were collected in a Fantagraphics Books edition.[1]

Legacy

The films Up Front (1951) and Back at the Front (1952) were based on Mauldin's Willie and Joe characters; however, when Mauldin's suggestions were ignored in favor of making a slapstick comedy, he returned his advising fee; he said he had never seen the result.

"Willie and Joe" were satirized as "Billie and Moe" by Warren Sattler in National Lampoon Presents The Very Large Book of Comical Funnies.

On Veterans' Day 1998, Willie and Joe appeared in the comic strip Peanuts in a strip that Mauldin drew with Charles M. Schulz.

On March 31, 2010, the United States Post Office released a first-class denomination "$0.44" postage stamp in Mauldin's honor depicting him with Willie & Joe.[8]

Original Willie & Joe comics and other illustrations by Bill Mauldin are in the collections of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library.

Sources

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Willie & Joe: The World War II Years by Bill Mauldin". Fantagraphics.
  2. ↑ "Mauldin at War, 1943–1945".
  3. ↑ Bill Mauldin, The Brass Ring, New York: W.W. Norton & Co^, 1972
  4. ↑ Bill Mauldin, edited by Todd DePastino, Willie & Joe: The War Years, p. 13, ISBN 978-1-56097-838-1
  5. ↑ Bill Mauldin, edited by Todd DePastino, Willie & Joe: The War Years, p. 15, ISBN 978-1-56097-838-1
  6. ↑ Debra Ramsay. American Media and the Memory of World War II. Routledge, 2015. ISBN 1317617908.
  7. ↑ Charles Schulz. "Peanuts Comic Strip, November 11, 1998 on GoComics.com". GoComics.
  8. ↑ USPS News Release: 2010 Stamp Program Unveiled – Bill Mauldin, archived link, June 6, 2011
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