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Wayback Whensday: Joe Dope

It was clear to US Army leaders after the blitzkrieg of 1939-1940, where German tanks overran first Poland and then most of Western Europe in a matter of weeks, that World War II would be conducted with mechanized warfare to a far greater degree than previous wars. The numbers of vehicles (tanks, half-tracks, cargo trucks, troop transports, etc.) would dwarf those built during the World War I. Mobility of troops and supplies in the war would be paramount, and to that end by 1945 the United States alone produced over 2.3 million trucks, 640,000 jeeps and 88,000 tanks, plus tens of thousands of other vehicles.

The Army also controlled the air force (known then as the Army Air Force), which would not become a separate branch of the armed services until 1947. Planes, of which the United States produced 297,000 by the war’s end, added more stress to maintenance duties around the world in that their engines, landing gear, bombs, bomb bays, machine guns and other parts / systems would need regular servicing and a high degree of mechanical skill.

Working against the Army’s needs at this time was the education level of the typical draftee. In 1940 only 25% of males over the age of 25 had a high school degree, with high school graduation numbers just over 50%. There was an overall literacy issue in the armed forces because of these societal deficiencies. New methods needed to be implemented to train not only front-line soldiers how to care for their equipment, but also the mechanics and other support troops spread around the world to service planes and mechanized units.

            Into this educational void was thrust William Erwin Eisner (1917-2005).

Eisner’s basic training was at Fort Dix, New Jersey, after which he was posted to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. It was there that Eisner came up with the idea to use comics to help train army troops, creating the character of Joe Dope to exemplify what one should not do to their equipment.

Joe Dope by Will Eisner

The International Journal of Comic Art blog shares Warren Bernard’s research on Joe Dope, the World War II creation of Will Eisner for the U. S. Army Air Force, including scores of Joe Dope posters.

International Journal of Comic Art past issues.

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Comments 7

  1. What!? You’re not even going to mention the lovely Connie Rod!? She was the smartest one in the outfit.

  2. Connie Rod appeared in the Army Ordnance Corps’s new publication, PS: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, that replaced Army Motors in 1951. Eisner was the publication’s artistic director from its inception through the end of 1971. The magazine’s artists have included Eisner, Murphy Anderson, Joe Kubert, Dan Spiegle, Scott Madsen, Malane Newman, Alfredo Alcala, and Mike Ploog. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Magazine

  3. Warner Bros. had its own version of “Joe” called “Private SNAFU”.
    He was less about maintenance than about not sharing army secrets with unusually buxom women.

    1. Well, actually I wrote about the Navy’s versions – Commandments for Health… It’s been 14 years, so…

  4. Connie Rod was created for Army Motors before Eisner joined in May 1942. Connie Rod was the title of one of the sections of that magazine that had a cartoon with a woman in it as the masthead. Over his run in Army Motors, he created at 3 different Connie Rod mastheads, but did use her as a character until PS Magazine in the Korean War.

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