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[The Australian Panther]

Well, here is the first of my selections.

This was not my first choice, I can't find that one for now, but this is one I was going to make down the track.

I don't intend to comment on it, until the rest of you have had a good go at it.

PS Magazine #1 (PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly)

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21691

I did say I wanted to throw a light on the more obscure corners of CB+. I think this is a good place to start.

There are stories of a kind here, but I don't want to restrict you in any way in your comments. 

There are 103 of these. If you have not seen these before, I hope you take the time to have a look at the whole series. If you want to comment on the series and not just the individual issue, please be my guest.

Happy Reading!

[Robb_K]

I feel compelled to say that I'm not very interested in analysing a manual on how to be a better motor pool officer, or keep up one's jeep or transport truck.  The artwork, some by the great Will Eisner, and presumably some by some of his staff artists who also worked on "The Spirit", is quite good.  But, it's more like a manual, and a professional monthly journal with a few letters pages, with answers by experts on the editorial staff.  I didn't find any "stories" in  it, per se, - just anecdotes of events that happened causing problems with motor vehicles, and comments in letters to the journal, or by the editorial staff, recommending methods of preventing or solving such problems.  I identified with some of those problems, which I had experienced myself, with regular cars, which I had driven on not-so-good roads, or off-road terrain. 

Never having been all that knowledgeable about auto mechanics, and just draining and changing oil, replacing batteries, replacing or cleaning spark plugs, replacing lamps and window wipers, and jump-starting my cars, as my meagre auto maintenance experience, I don't consider reading this book as "entertainment".

Also, not having been in the military of any of my countries, I have less identification with this book than I otherwise would have.  But, it is clear that such a book was likely useful for a lot of people with such military jobs.

Nevertheless, I'll be curious to see what other members write about this book.

[SuperScrounge]

I tried to read the text articles, but I'm not mechanically-gifted and I don't have a tank to fix, so I just kind of glanced at the articles to see if anything interesting jumped out at me.

Who Does What In The Echelon System - Kind of half article/half comic. Interesting. While reading it I tried to figure out what echelon my dad was probably in. He tells stories about how he was part of the jury rig unit who'd get sent out to various locations to get things up and running until the proper parts arrived. So I figure he was probably 4th echelon. I did ask my dad, but he seemed confused by the echelon term, so I guess it wasn't used a lot by actual soldiers, but he thought the description of the 4th echelon matched what he was doing.

How To Load A Truck - Informative and fun.

[Robb_K]

I tried to read the text articles, but I'm not mechanically-gifted and I don't have a tank to fix, so I just kind of glanced at the articles to see if anything interesting jumped out at me.

Who Does What In The Echelon System - Kind of half article/half comic. Interesting. While reading it I tried to figure out what echelon my dad was probably in. He tells stories about how he was part of the jury rig unit who'd get sent out to various locations to get things up and running until the proper parts arrived. So I figure he was probably 4th echelon. I did ask my dad, but he seemed confused by the echelon term, so I guess it wasn't used a lot by actual soldiers, but he thought the description of the 4th echelon matched what he was doing.

How To Load A Truck - Informative and fun.

Yes, those things are good to know.  I knew to balance the weight in front and back over the strongest areas -, over the wheels.  Also, the tips on how to use the brakes on a curvy, icy road were useful.  But, I knew that already, having grown up in subarctic Manitoba. 

I also find it interesting that enough of the US military truck drivers must have had little, or no truck driving experience before being assigned to their units, otherwise, why would they have to be told to not ride or pump their brakes too much going down hills, or they'll end up wearing down their pads to nothing.  Most kids I knew, knew you should gear down, rather than using your brakes.  I guess that "urban legend" that The US Army looks carefully at what experience a recruit had, and what they said they would like to do while in the service, and then promptly assigns them to a unit that did as close to the exact opposite of the desired work, as possible, is true, after all.   

[Captain Audio]

"The US Army looks carefully at what experience a recruit had, and what they said they would like to do while in the service, and then promptly assigned them to a unit that did as close to the exact opposite of the desired work, as possible."

Less to Un-Learn before learning the right way to do it.

[Andrew999]

How to load a truck was interesting - the rest, for me, was Yawnsville, Kentucky

[The Ghost Man]

Greetings AP and all, from a technical stand point the information is sound and practical albeit in a somewhat limited military sense. What really drives the content forward dramatically is Will Eisner's illustrative expertise. His fluid renditions of form and mechanics add vitality and dimension to the otherwise drab information, making it a more more compelling read. It is Eisner producing works in top form and having a good amount of fun while doing it. Creativity abounds in the panels and lush renditions and sells you on the content with an honest, down-to-earth conviction.

So while it would seem that the reading group selection may appear lackluster, if you look a little deeper on what Eisner is crafting, there in lies the gold.

Nicely done AP.

[paw broon]

As you'd expect, the cover art is tasty.  I'd never give something like this more than a cursory glance but as it's been put in front of me, it would be rude not to have a swatch.  Just like Robb and Scrounge, I have little knowledge of auto mechanics.  Actually, even less than those 2 stalwarts. It doesn't interest me.  So the articles on maintenance do nothing for me.  But the artwork makes me smile at times.  Particularly our page 24, Joe's Dope Sheet: that's funny, screwball and well done.
I was not in the military, so no connection with this book.  My dad was, in the 2nd WW, on a bren carrier in the desert, but he seldom spoke about it.
An out of the ordinary choice.  Thank you.

[Robb_K]

As you'd expect, the cover art is tasty.  I'd never give something like this more than a cursory glance but as it's been put in front of me, it would be rude not to have a swatch.  Just like Robb and Scrounge, I have little knowledge of auto mechanics.  Actually, even less than those 2 stalwarts. It doesn't interest me.  So the articles on maintenance do nothing for me.  But the artwork makes me smile at times.  Particularly our page 24, Joe's Dope Sheet: that's funny, screwball and well done.
I was not in the military, so no connection with this book.  My dad was, in the 2nd WW, on a bren carrier in the desert, but he seldom spoke about it.
An out of the ordinary choice.  Thank you.

Yes, the artwork on the great cover, and that in the "Joe Dope" "story" was excellent - up to the best standards of Eisner's early-to-mid 1940's work.  Just as I'd like to have artist libraries of ALL Carl Barks', Floyd Gottfredsson's, and Walt Kelly's artwork for whatever clients, I would want these military public service drawings in my "Will Eisner Library".  So, I enjoyed this choice of book for review, especially because I'm more biased towards art than story in my love of comic books.

[crashryan]

I've always liked machinery. I used to fix my own car back in the day, though I was hardly an expert. So the technical stuff in this magazine interested me. I liked the "Combat Maintenance Stories" because I learned a lot of obscure information. For instance: a shell ricocheting off a tank turns the point of impact white hot, and if you have oily rags inside the tank near the impact point, the heat could ignite them. Who knew? I also learned how to drive my tank over a ditch. Something that surprised me (but shouldn't have) was the number of warnings about machinery that had been shipped from the factory missing parts, improperly lubricated, etc.

What that struck me about the book as a whole is how much text is crammed into it. It's hard to imagine a typical GI deployed in Korea having enough free time each month to plow through all this stuff...assuming he felt like making the attempt, which I suspect most GI's wouldn't. Looking at later issues I saw that Eisner & Co. addressed the readability issue by increasing the pictorial content and replacing Joe Dope with a busty gal (Connie Rodd, I think) wearing a Canteen Kate costume.

I doubt I'll be reading more of these, but reading this one wasn't a total waste of time.

[lyons]

In essence, the premise of the magazine is that it is easier and quicker and cheaper for a mobile army to maintain a vehicle with daily maintenance and inspections than it is to replace it.  The manual is also famous among comic readers for having Will Eisner as artist and art director for its first 20 years - a good mixture of comic book characters, vivid graphics, gags, and no-nonsense writing, with the emphasis on pictures over words as a means of communicating to the soldiers how to care for their equipment.  An entertaining read.  Thanks Panther.

[The Australian Panther]

I don't intend to comment on it, until the rest of you have had a good go at it. 

Well, it's nearly time for Robb to delight us with his reading group choice, so here we go.
I chose this, because as I said, I wanted to use the opportunity to look at the hidden gems in CB+.
Like many of us, I continued to read and appreciate comics into my teens and then as an adult. But if you did that, back in the day, you find yourself needing to justify your love of comics, not only to others, but also to yourself.
You can be sure that professionals like Eisner also would have needed to justify themselves to others.
It's finding and appreciating the craftmanship and sophistication of creators like Eisner, Barks, Kirby, Charles Schultz, Steranko, Ditko and Walt Kelly that vindicated my appreciation of comics. As I matured and grew older as a person, my taste and understanding matured and so did some of the work I was appreciating.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly,  there is a whole website [and a book] dedicated to Eisner's PS magazine work.
http://www.willeisnerandpsmagazine.com

PS Magazine