Army Comics: Does PS Magazine Know Something We Don't?

PS Magazine ^ | Jan 2003 | U.S. Army Materiel Command

[B-Chan]

I found this interesting image at the U.S. Army Logistics Command's PS Magazine site today. If you're an Army veteran (or an Army brat!) you know PS -- it's the world's only monthly comics magazine dedicated to the maintenance and upkeep of military vehicles and equipment in the field. Click over to the official PS Magazine website and note the locale of the flea-bitten GI depicted in Joe Kubert's cover for the January issue: the "field" is depicted as a sandy desert, where sunscreen and sand-flea repellent are necessary and from where soldiers are encouraged to write home. Sound like any place you've ever heard of?

PS is a great free download, chock full of tips on keeping that Claymore in perfect working order (Note: THIS SIDE TOWARDS ENEMY) and when to change the boot seals on your M1A2 Abrams tank. And the artwork (courtesy of Kubert Studios) is great. (The PCs I remember from my days hanging around my dad's company HQ in the early 1970s featured plenty of sexy babes as well as exploded views of the receiver mechanism of the M-14 Carbine; sadly, the army of today insists on all female characters depicted in PS being appropriately clothed.)

Although I'm a Navy man, I still read PS -- and so should you. For a comic book about routine maintenance, it's pretty entertaining.

[B-Chan]

Now DROP and give me FIFTY!

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[Fred Mertz]

PS Magazine ping!

[BlueLancer]

The only thing wrong with the newer editions is, because of political correctness, the bustline of Connie and the other females in the pub have been drastically reduced. The females in PS magazine used to look like "Little Anny Fanny" with the same general outline as the old Barbies.

Heck, sometimes, it was even better than Playboy ... at least the articles were more useful when you were in the field.

[mhking]

I love Kubert's work...

[Norman Conquest]

Remember his 1960s work on Hawkman? And I think he did Sgt. Rock as well.

[1stFreedom]

Army Brat here. I used to love those comics!

[niteowl77]

My late favorite uncle (a reserve Lt. Col.) used to give me his copies of PS when he was through with them, and they were fascinating. I believe that Will Eisner was doing all or most of the illustrations, and there were some babes shown (which were not all that important to most seven year-old boys back then). I can still recall one issue whose covers were an aerial view of a small base town, with tons of neat details to find.

Those old issues were thrown away at some point, probably along with Sgt. Rock comics and broken Aurora plastic airplane models.

[sneakypete]

What does "PS" stand for?

[mhking]

Yep. He did some of the best renditions of Sgt. Rock DC ever had. And who could forget his work on Hawkman?

[Jerry_M]

"What does "PS" stand for?"

Preventative Service.

[LiteKeeper]

dittoes

[confused1]

As a young Marine (back then) I would read those manuals every month. Not only were they some of the best cartoon artwork to involve curvacious women, but the depictions of the weaponry were amazing. And everybody knows that the army was given some of the coolest accessories to go with their weapons, which they would detail within the magazine. Many times did I order items that no other Marine Corps units had that I found within the covers of what some called "a childish comic book not worthy of the ink it was printed with." How wrong they were. I'm glad to hear they are still keeping up the good work. Semer Fi.

[confused1]

My age is showing, as well as my poor typing skills.

Semper Fi

[sneakypete]

Thanks.

[RonF]

Note: THIS SIDE TOWARDS ENEMY

I'm taking the tour on the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor. The tour is being conducted by a Naval enlisted man who was born and raised in the shadow of the Bunker Hill monument. We're on the gun deck. The guns have an arrowhead cast into their tops. I asked what those were for. The sailor asks if there are any Marines present. Upon determining that none were, he said, "There were two reasons for those arrowheads. One is that they show that these guns were legally purchased in Britain, so that if the ship was taken the ship's officers wouldn't get arrested for theft."

"The other reason," and here he looked around again, "is so that if the sailors on the gun deck were killed and the Marines had to take over the guns, the Marines would know which end of the gun to point at the enemy."

Couldn't wait to get back to Chicago and relate the story to the USMCR Regimental Sargeant that I worked with....

[Man of the Right]

Yeah, that's a flavor from the past I'd forgotten. I remember the monthly pin-ups on the inside back cover. There's no silicon bag on the planet big enough to explain how they filled out a fatigue blouse.

[TexasBarak]

Note that that picture was credited to "Joe Kubert *Studios*". The pic in this post was not drawn by Joe himself- unless he has drastically changed his style. I haven't cracked a comic in years, but I can still see his stuff clearly in my mind's eye, and this ain't it. It is reminiscent of some old Keith Giffen stuff, though.

[weegee]

Yep, Will Eisner contributed to PS for years. I have some old issues that I found at a flea market one time.

I've met Mr. Eisner several times (he's still alive and drawing new comics). The last time I saw him (at a comic art symposium at Ohio State Univesity in 1998) I had him sign a WWII poster he had drawn for the war effort as a private.

Here's one of Eisner's PS covers:

Here's an example of his comic art from the 1940s:

Here's one of his latest:

[weegee]

Thanks for the post, I didn't know it was online and didn't know if it was even still published.