Ernie Pyle, top G.I. war correspondent, called Sergeant Bill Mauldin the best cartoonist of the war. His drawings, thought Pyle, often went beyond comedy, were "terribly grim and real . . . about the men who are ... doing the dying." That was enough for smart George A. Carlin, boss of United Feature Syndicate. In a fortnight 22-year-old Sergeant Mauldin's unshaven, unsmiling infantryman "G.I. Joe" and his hard-faced pals will become syndicated newspaper characters. This week Carlin reported that 42 papers had signed for "Joe."
Sergeant Mauldin has been at the front in Sicily...