Willie & Joe: The WWII Years
By Bill Mauldin; edited by Todd DePastino

"The real war," said Walt Whitman, "will never get in the books." During World War II, the closest most Americans ever came to the "real war" was through the cartoons of Bill Mauldin, the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army.

Here, for the first time, Fantagraphics Books brings together Mauldin's complete works from 1940 through the end of the war. This collection of over 600 cartoons, most never before reprinted, is more than the record of a great artist: it is an essential chronicle of America's citizen-soldiers from peace through war to victory.

Bill Mauldin knew war because he was in it. He had created his characters, Willie and Joe, at age 18, before Pearl Harbor, while training with the 45th Infantry Division and cartooning part-time for the camp newspaper. His brilliant send-ups of officers were pure infantry, and the men loved it.

After wading ashore with his division on the first of its four beach invasions in July 1943, Mauldin and his men changed — and Mauldin's cartoons changed accordingly. Months of miserable weather, bad food, and tedium interrupted by the terror of intense bombing and artillery fire took its toll. By the year's end, virtually every man in Mauldin's original rifle company was killed, wounded, or captured.

The wrinkles in Willie and Joe's uniforms deepened, the bristle on their faces grew, and the eyes — "too old for those young bodies," as Mauldin put it — betrayed a weariness that would remain the entire war. With their heavy brush lines, detailed battlescapes, and pidgin of army slang and slum dialect, Mauldin's cartoons and captions recreated on paper the fully realized world of the American combat soldier. Their dark, often insubordinate humor sparked controversy among army brass and incensed General George S. Patton, Jr.

This is the first of several volumes publishing the best of Bill Mauldin's single panel strips from 1940 to 1991 (when he stopped drawing). His Willie & Joe cartoons are presented in a deluxe, beautifully designed two-volume slipcased edition of over 600 pages. The series is edited by Todd DePastino, whose Mauldin scholarship is on full display in a biography of the artist released in February 2008 from W.W. Norton. Willie & Joe contains an introduction and running commentary by DePastino, providing context for the drawings, pertinent biographical details of Mauldin's life, and occasional background on specific cartoons (such as the ones that made Patton howl).

600-page b&w/color 7" x 9" two-volume slipcased hardcover set $65.00
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Todd DePastino hits the road in April and May to promote his TWO new books about the legendary cartoonist Bill Mauldin. DePastino is the author of the just-released A LIFE UP FRONT, the definitive biography of Mauldin published by W.W. Norton. He is also the general editor of the cartoon collection WILLIE & JOE: THE WWII YEARS, coming next month from Fantagraphics (check out our Flicker slideshow here). He will talk about both books in New Mexico, Chicago, Boston and Pittsburgh in the coming weeks. 

WHEN: Thursday, April 3, 7:00 PM
WHERE: Santa Fe Public Library
145 Washington Street
Santa Fe, NM 

WHEN: Friday, April 4 at 7 PM
WHERE: Page One Bookstore
11018 Montgomery Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, NM
505.294.2026

WHEN: Saturday, April 5 at 3:30PM
WHERE: Garcia Street Books
376 Garcia St.
Santa Fe, NM
505.986.0151 

WHEN: Sunday, April 6 at 3 PM
WHERE: Bookworks
4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW
Albuquerque, NM
505-344-8139

WHEN: Friday, April 11, 11AM
WHERE: Southminster Presbyterian Church
799 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA 

WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 7PM
WHERE: Boston College Cushing Hall 001
140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA
Boston, MA

WHEN: Thursday, May 8, 11AM
WHERE: Pritzker Military Library
610 North Fairbanks Court, 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL
312.587.0234

WHEN: Thursday, May 8, 5-7PM
WHERE: Abraham Lincoln Book Shop 
357 West Chicago Avenue 
Chicago, IL
Including webcast interview & virtual booksigning

WHEN: Tuesday, May 13, 9AM
WHERE: Friendship Village of South Hills
1290 Boyce Road
Pittsburgh, PA

WHEN: Wednesday, May 28, 7PM
WHERE: Mt. Lebanon Public Library
16 Castle Shannon Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA

Our advance copies of Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years arrived at the office yesterday, and hot mustard, this thing is a beaut. We took some photos and put up a preview slideshow on Flickr for your viewing enjoyment.