Customer Reviews

World War II in Cartoons

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This book by Mark Bryant is a treat for people interested in history and cartoons told through the eyes of cartoonists of that time.Its a visual treat of cartoons collected from newspapers and magazines.What really got my attention was the sample materials from aerial leaflets,posters and never published cartoons drawn in prisoner-of-war camps.The book is printed on good quality glossy paper and also has historical background by the author related to the cartoons.Highly recommended.

It is difficult today to imagine the issues of war, sacrifice, slaughter, and redemption being conveyed by simple, drawn lines. And yet there once was such a time, and we are fortunate that the art of the cartoon reached its zenith during the greatest conflict in our history. In his World War II in Cartoons, Mark Bryant has assembled a collection of more than 300 of the best cartoons from that era. Bryant has chosen cartoons published in the Allied and Axis countries, with the majority of the works coming from England. Bryant has selected well. He gives us a wide sampling of the various types of cartoons-some not humorous at all, some very light, all provocative-as well as the many styles of drawing. Throughout, he succinctly explains the context of each drawing. He is adept at pointing out small details which otherwise might be overlooked by the modern reader.

Although Bryant does not comment on the relative standing of the artists, it is clear that the most accomplished of the wartime illustrators was David Low (later Sir David Low). Bryant has selected more of Low's drawings than of any other cartoonist, and it is easy to see why. No one was better than Low in summing up the moral stakes of a given situation. His three drawings of the Nazi defendants at Nuremburg are masterpieces in the study of the banality of evil.

No collection of World War II cartoons would be complete without American Bill Mauldin, whose most famous drawings are included in this collection. Also included is the haunting image drawn by Clarence D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News in 1936, of Death dressed as a prostitute enticing a young man upstairs to her room. "Come on in," she says to the boy, "I'll treat you right. I used to know your daddy."

By assembling these cartoons-the best of which become art-Bryant has done much to remind us of how issues could be powerfully presented in a small, simple frame. I don't think he-or anyone-can now rescue this art form, but he has done us all a great service by showing what was done during the great blood letting of the last century. "World War II in Cartoons," by Mark Bryant. ISBN 1904943063 (Grub Street), 300 illus., b&w, color, hardcover oversized. 160 pages. Highly recommended.

They also enable you to plot the progress of the war. They are chosen from most of the combatant nations (apart from Japan) and are very interesting and engrossing, in the way that picture and map books often are. Also many of them are still very funny: the motorist asking for directions in a fuel-starved Britain suspicious of possible spies (or traitors -'fifth columnists') is obviously addressing this suspicion when he says 'If I were a spy or fifth columnist, you still would not want me to waste petrol, would you? Another one shows an irate householder, with a bomber thundering over his roof, just missing it, with a comment about how he thinks he will delay building the extension until after the war.

I found the cartoons produced by the Dutch, Danish and French underground interesting. There are artistic ones, such as 'Autumn' which shows swastikas tumbling like leaves from the trees and being swept up by a figure of death, as a skeleton.There is another harrowing one drawn by an inmate in a concentration camp which shows the air raid siren as thousands of people screaming. Awful.

On a lighter note, one of the most memorable shows two British troops (we drive on the left, unlike you and the Continental Europeans) in a jeep, driving like madmen down a road being shelled, bombed, strafed. The caption is:'You fool, do you realise you are driving on the wrong side of the road?' (as if you'd care!)

Wonderful value and great presentfor a relation who remembers the Second Great Unpleasantness. Get it!

This review covers both Mark Bryant books:

This is perhaps the best collection ever compiled from both wars. Cartoons from all sides -not just Britain or the U.S.- printed in full color and mint condition! WORLD WAR I IN CARTOONS features lots of cartoons from all warring nations (Italy, Russia, Turkey, Japan, etc.) that most likely haven't been seen in generations, along with the best examples from France's Poliu, Britain's Punch and Germany's Simplicissimus. There's also a great deal of recruiting posters and War Bonds ads to delight one's eye (what great artists, by the way!). Cartoons are arranged chronologically by topics, so you can see what was being printed at the time of Belgium's rape, Churchill's sacking, or Hindenburg's Great Offensive.

WORLD WAR II IN CARTOONS works the same way, and presents the best works from all the great names one can remember -and then some! Low, Mauldin, the Kukryniksi, Giles, Steinberg, Fougasse, Arno, Soglow, Tim, Szyk, Breger ...even Walt Disney! Not to mention lots of less known -but neverheless great- cartoonists from all over the world. Both books a must of musts; DON'T MISS 'EM!!!

P.S.: I included politicians in the title because they could very well benefit from the way politicians past were lampooned. Maybe it would help them think twice before screwing things up (-whom am I kidding?)!