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WW2 re-enactor cartoons and other drawings...


willysmb44
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When I first got into WW2 re-enacting in the late 80s, I noticed that nobody had ever done re-enactor cartoons (not decent ones, anyway). A few have done it since, but I'm convinced that I was the very first WW2 re-enactor cartoonist (at least the first with any talent or humor). I did dozens of them over a few years. Right now, I'm compiling them all along with all the other similar stuff I've done and will be putting it all into a book sometime next year. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy! ;D

Keep in mind, most of these were done in 1992-1995, so I'm much better than this now. Here's some more recent stuff:

And yes, these are colored drawings, not photoshopped photos:

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Lee- You did not include your best and classic one! almost up there will Mauldin's jeep cartoon...

The "got you.. no I got you.. no I got you.." You should post that one!

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Lee- You did not include your best and classic one! almost up there will Mauldin's jeep cartoon...

The "got you.. no I got you.. no I got you.." You should post that one!

Most people in the hobby at that time that saw that one took a LOT of offense at that one. Go figure. When you ran that one in "Militaria" magazine back then, I got no orders for my work at the time, but a LCVP load of hate mail!

I always partial to the Tapioca thrower, I think my best ever "Far Side" style re-enactor gag. My Dad, years later, still chuckles and brings it up when we talk and the subject comes up...

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Those are very good! Nice job! Feel free to post more if you like! :)
I must have hundreds of such drawings all over the place, but scanning them would take longer than it took to draw most of them. For years, I used to do all the drawings for Military Marketplace out of Georgia. Some of you here have probably seen the catalog stuff I've done. I used to live nearby them so getting work to them was pretty easy and I always got excellent trade goods out of the deal. Their website has many of these drawings, but their web master scanned most of them backwards. Check out this link: http://www.militarymarketplace.com/cgi-bin/eShop/index.cgi
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  • 1 year later...

For almost a year now, I've been doing cartoons for the new WW2 re-enactor magazine out of England, you should check them out. Issue # 6 will start them in color!

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There Anyway I can get that MP one up above from you to hang up on my wall?
If anyone wants a copy of anything I've done, I have reatined the rights to almost all of my work and probably still have the originals to everything around here somewhere. PM me if interested. BTW, that MP drawing was printed onto a shirts for a convoy, maybe they might have some left:
http://railsplitterslivinghistory.org/2007%20WWIICONVOY.htm
Here's the first of the newer 'toons, more will be posted after they run the magazine.

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Excellent work! They put me in mind of the drawings by regular G.Is often featured in "Yank" magazine during WW2.

 

Sabrejet :thumbsup:

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General Apathy

Hi Lee, always thought that your art was a great addition to Tom & Sharon's catalog, loved them then,

love them now. :thumbsup:

 

Cheers Ken

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Those are great! Please do post more when you get a chance!

 

As for other re-enactor cartoons, does anyone have any to share or know of any? I know there used to be "Reenactor Parking" - anyone know what happened to that one? Used to be part of an Airborne re-enactment unit's site but they seem to have disappeared last time I checked. There was also a set of printed books, small-zine style affair, called "Are you fer Real?" I have three of those ... not sure if there were others?

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As for other re-enactor cartoons, does anyone have any to share or know of any? I know there used to be "Reenactor Parking" - anyone know what happened to that one? Used to be part of an Airborne re-enactment unit's site but they seem to have disappeared last time I checked. There was also a set of printed books, small-zine style affair, called "Are you fer Real?" I have three of those ... not sure if there were others?
Never heard of the book you mention, was it a WW2 theme? The only other guy doing stuff along my time in the 90s was a guy with the HRS, but his stuff wasn't all that funny nor was the art all that good. Never heard of anyone else at the time. "Re-enactor Parking" was very well done, loved the guy's work. Beats me what happened to him. Maybe like me, he burned out for a while? People in this hobby have VERY thin skins and I took a lot of flak over some of my cartoons, and that was the pre-e-mail era when people had to write you a letter! On ym website, I think I'l write some descriptions of the ones I never drew. I bounced some truly dark humour off of people and was told it was funny but never to draw some of them (they were right, some of them would have had me re-enacting the ending of "Frankenstien" with the re-enactors as the angry villagers...)

 

Hi Lee, always thought that your art was a great addition to Tom & Sharon's catalog, loved them then, love them now.
Thanks! Crying shame the catalogs are a thing of the past now that they're getting rid of all their stuff and closing the business. I'll really miss dealing with them.
I know you have some talent as well, you should post your stuff here sometime!
Here's one more than ran in the December issue of WW2 re-enactor magazine:

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Great stuff.Outstanding detail.The patch you painted almost looks alive.
How do you do apply the paint?? Is it airbrush??

You mean this one?

It's all done with brushes and a lot of patience and practice. I painted it on a A-2 jacket for a airplane owner.
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Never heard of the book you mention, was it a WW2 theme?

 

I will have to dig out the ones I have to see whether there is a date on them, but they seem to be fairly recent, most likely 1990's. I have three of them and they're not really books - more like "zines". Basically printed on nice paper and stapled at the spine, but pretty well done. They're all about World War II reenacting, and there's a lot of jokes about the Gap in them. I think (if memory serves), a 29th ID reenactor did them. At any rate, I will look for them when I get home.

 

People in this hobby have VERY thin skins and I took a lot of flak over some of my cartoons, and that was the pre-e-mail era when people had to write you a letter!

 

People in general seem to have pretty thin skins - the things people get upset about or annoyed with are just ridiculous. I drew a comic strip for the Fort Eustis Wheel (among other papers) and did a joke about "bad rations" (the kind that come in cans, or now in MRE baggies) and the cooks at Fort Eustis sent me a nasty email, saying that they were offended because I was making fun of them. Not sure how they figured that one, as it clearly showed the from-a-can type of chow, but yeah ...

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You mean this one?

It's all done with brushes and a lot of patience and practice. I painted it on a A-2 jacket for a airplane owner.



Thanks Lee,

Great detail.

RON
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  • 3 months later...
willysmb44

The new cartoons at WW2 re-enactor magazine will be color from now on. I've done two so far, only one has run. I'll post them as they get run in the magazine. This was done on request as the issue had a "The Pacific" article:

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HolyHappiness

Lee, those are absolutely fantastic. I showed a few friends this thread, they love the cartoons! And as always the best cartoon is the one based on truth. That one you just posted that has to do with the Pacific is way too true. Just recently at the Ogden Gun Show, we had two younger teens doing this very thing so they could create their 1st Marine impression. Keep up the good work!

 

-Nathan

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  • 2 weeks later...
willysmb44

The latest, just got published within the last couple of weeks. Just completed another one and sent it off, but the public won't get to see it for a couple of months yet, sorry!


MODS, IS THERE ANY WAY THIS THREAD MIGHT BE MOVED TO THE RE-ENACTING SECTION??? :think:

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  • 2 months later...

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