Up Front

Around 1956, I was 9-years old

and my father, a WWII veteran,

gave me his personal (military

issued) copy of Bill Mauldin’s

Up Front.

This was a witty and sarcastic,

editorial cartoon account of

American Gi’s life on the Euro-

pean battlefield.

For me, that lifted my cartooning

from a Mickey Mouse and Donald

Duck form of cartooning to a more

tongue-in-cheek, satirical approach

and style of rendering which would

influence my characterizations well

into adulthood.

Also, it instilled in me a profound

respect for the US Military which

a few years later inspired me at

seventeen to enlist in the Army

which so many of my peers in

the 1960s had rejected.

One simple-seeming act of

giving from my dad had a

profound influence on my life,

helping to form in part the

person I would become.

Thanks, Dad. 1924-2014, R.I.P.

                      -30-

Chris Hanch 6-13-2023