To mark May as Military Appreciation Month, two display cases on the fourth floor
of James Branch Cabell Library pay tribute to the work of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist William Henry "Bill" Maudlin. His World War II cartoons were published abroad and in the United States. (Image at right: cover of "This Damn Tree Leaks, A Collection of War Cartoons," by Bill Mauldin, 1945.)
Maudlin (1921-2003) first gained a following drawing cartoons for the 45th Infantry Division newspaper. His reputation grew at the global military newspaper Stars and Stripes. Willie and Joe, his best known creations, typified common soldiers and gave voice to their experiences.
After winning the Pulitzer Prize for his wartime work in 1945, Maudlin received a second Pulitzer for a Cold War cartoon. At the Chicago Sun-Times, he created what many observers consider among the greatest editorial cartoons ever penned. In response to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1963, Maudlin drew Abraham Lincoln of the Lincoln Memorial bowed in shock and grief.
of James Branch Cabell Library pay tribute to the work of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist William Henry "Bill" Maudlin. His World War II cartoons were published abroad and in the United States. (Image at right: cover of "This Damn Tree Leaks, A Collection of War Cartoons," by Bill Mauldin, 1945.) Maudlin (1921-2003) first gained a following drawing cartoons for the 45th Infantry Division newspaper. His reputation grew at the global military newspaper Stars and Stripes. Willie and Joe, his best known creations, typified common soldiers and gave voice to their experiences.
After winning the Pulitzer Prize for his wartime work in 1945, Maudlin received a second Pulitzer for a Cold War cartoon. At the Chicago Sun-Times, he created what many observers consider among the greatest editorial cartoons ever penned. In response to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1963, Maudlin drew Abraham Lincoln of the Lincoln Memorial bowed in shock and grief.
- More about the Military Month display
- More on his work from a comics arts blogger and from his official site
- About VCU's new Military Veterans Alumni Council: Take the survey.
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The Military Appreciation Month exhibition includes items from VCU Libraries' Comic Arts Collection, housed
in Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library. It consists of some 100,000 items,
including more than 40,000 comic books, graphic novels, editorial
cartoons, comic strips, memorabilia, comic journals, fanzines and
an array of reference materials. In addition to the growing,
comprehensive collections for the study of comic arts, VCU Libraries
is the repository for the Will
Eisner Comic Industry Awards Archives.