[rollei_list] Re: Comic art was Re: OT: Miscellany
- From: "Robert Lilley" <54moggie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:23:43 -0400
Allen,
Her name was Connie Rodd. I always enjoyed the personification of the
various parts and machines - air filters and rifle bolts that could talk,
etc.
The characters Connie Rodd and Sgt Half-Mast were first featured in WWII's
"Army Motors" - the first maintenance magazine. "PS" as we know it and
Eisner didn't get into the act until the Korean War - 1951. He worked on
and off on the magazine for twenty years. Eisner trained Murphy Anderson to
take over and after that a series of artists have continued the characters.
The last artist (circa 2000) was Joe Kubert of "Sgt Rock" comic fame. I
believe the unit putting out the magazine was relocated from Ft Knox to
Redstone Arsenal, Al in the early 1990's. The title was actually "PS" not
"PM" like most people seemed to read it. The"PS" stood for Post Script as
the magazine was a post script to the regular army publications.
Out of nowhere in 2001 I received a 50 year anniversary edition (1951 -
2001) of PS in the mail. I was on some list of folks to get it I suppose.
I had forgotten all about that little sojourn in the past. Speaking of
draftees, I was at the Pentagon in 1972 when the draft was dismantled. I
remember being told that everybody on their first enlistment had to make up
their minds in about two weeks - to re-enlist or get out. In my case that
would have been a year's drop from my four year hitch if I had not stayed
in. The army changed a great deal after the draft - it seemed as though any
and all intellect within the "other ranks"* was gone and it was pretty awful
during those first years of the "all volunteer army".
Rob Lilley
*PS - I had a plaque over my drawing board with a phase from an 1890's army
officer's handbook that stated, "Enlisted men are stupid. However, they are
sly and cunning and bear considerable watching". By virtue of being married
to a GS-15 general officer equivalent Army civilian at the time, I was the
only EM to be a member of the Fort Lee Open Officers Mess and a general
embarrassment - my chain of command was rather expedient.
-----Original Message----
From: rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Allen Zak
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 9:57 AM
To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Comic art was Re: OT: Miscellany
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
---
Rollei List
- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
---
Rollei List
- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
Other related posts:
