[rollei_list] Re: Comic art was Re: OT: Miscellany
- From: Allen Zak <azak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:56:41 -0400
On Sep 9, 2007, at 9:14 PM, Robert Lilley wrote:
Oh my, somebody out there remembers the army's maintenance comic book
besides me.
It was/is called "PS Monthly (Preventative Maintenance Monthly) put
out by
the Army Maintenance Board, Ft. Knox, Kentucky (back then) and the
cartoon
characters inspired by Will Eisner are still in use today. The two
gals who
demonstrated the various maintenance "postures and techniques" were
called
"Bonnie and Connie" and of course there was Sgt Half-Mask and a few
lovable
others. Bonnie and Connie were pretty risqué back when I remember
them in
the 60's but today they are rather tame and politically correct.
Something
definitely was lost after Eisner and the original team left the
magazine.
Wasn't Connie's surname Conrod? Yes, she was drawn to look sexy, but
was actually a nice girl. Actually, what I remember most, for some
reason, was how the art succeeded in explaining the machinery. These
were very effective shop manuals that I am convinced should stand in
some art category as a masterwork.
After serving with an intelligence unit in Vietnam preparing visual
aids for
the "Five O'clock Follies"(briefing the press) among other things, I
was
awarded an army illustrator MOS (81E) and worked briefly with the
staff that
published PS. The idea to use cartoon characters was based on the
belief
that the average enlisted level of education was 5th grade and this
approach
would be best understood. The army out sources the magazine today.
Rob Lilley
Yep, that was me, all right. Dumb as sod, but I loved comic books and
always looked forward to each issue of PM (as I remember its title).
Despite the army's generally accurate view of its troops reading
preferences, there were apparently exceptions. On one occasion, the
glove compartment of a truck to which I had been assigned held a copy
of Tolstoy's "Kreutzer Sonata." That may have been a reflection that
it was largely a drafted army.
It's wonderful to howdy with someone actually worked on what I consider
a true comics classic. Thank you very much and most sincerely.
Allen Zak
-----Original Message-----
From: rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Allen Zak
Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 3:49 PM
To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: OT: Miscellany
On Sep 9, 2007, at 12:21 AM, Marc James Small wrote:
a decrepit 50-year old M113 Amored Personnel Carrier which can barely
run is only a "tank" in the eyes of some idiot National Public Radio
reporter.
When the M113 was adopted by the army in 1960, I was one of the early
mechanics to work on them. The first version was powered by a gasoline
engine, but by 1961 all subsequent models were diesel equipped. We
used to get monthly maintenance updates illustrated by the great
cartoonist, Will Eisner (The Spirit).
To this day I remember vividly how important it was to change the fuel
filter regularly, firmly fixed by the brilliant art work in the
instructions. Decades later I met Eisner, now deceased, at a comic
artist convention in Columbus, where I got the opportunity to thank him
for the help ;-).
I ended up my stint as an M113 commander, which meant that so long as
nobody was shooting in our direction, my only job was to stick my head
out of the open hatch on top and get a faceful of dust kicked up by an
armored battalion on the move. Now they are obsolete relics.
At a Veterans Day parade a few years ago, I was struck by how few
weapons and equipment I had trained with are still in service. I think
the 2 1/2 truck was just about it. There were items passing in review
that I couldn't even guess what they are used for. Nor did I ask.
Allen Zak
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