English

With Sgt Mike In Vietnam

With Sgt. Mike in Vietnam by Michael T. Hodgson. 2nd Printer December 1971. Army Times Publishing Company. Like most of the good ones (Bill Mauldin, George Baker), Mike Hodgson got the material for his art from where the action was. For 12 months in Vietnam, in rain and mud, he created characters in cartoon form. Now "Sledge", "Lieutenant Frisby" and especially Sgt. Mike himself are this war's successors to "Willie and Joe" and "The Sad Sack". Hodgson's cartooning career grew out of the zany sketches he began sending home from Vietnam illustrating how he was "making it" in the war. These got printed in the local newspapers and eventually (in 1966) led to syndication of his "Sgt. Mike" panel in about 60 outlets, including Army, Navy and Air Force Times, the Saigon Press, Okinawa Morning Star and San Francisco Examiner. "With Sgt. Mike" was one of the last nationally syndicated comic strips that was created to comment on a specific war and on the condition of American troops in that war. Service comedy is a significant genre in American popular culture. Think of movies such as "Buck Privates," comic strips such as "Beetle Bailey" and television shows such as Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko,

Sign in with your free account to read, download EPUBs or listen.