"I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages."
Bill Mauldin was a badass.
He's probably the most well-known war cartoonist in history. By the time his career ended with the Army, he was printing 6 comics a week for Armed Forces newspapers and syndicated in over 200 domestic ones.
He also had the particular honor of having his ass chewed by the legendary Patton, and Mauldin wasn't afraid to argue his case with one of the most powerful generals who ever lived. He left the army a sergeant, and in 2001 was meritoriously promoted to First Sergeant.
He even quaffed root beers with Snoopy. That's how awesome he was.
Mauldin's cartoons effectively and humorously portrayed the daily lives and plights of the common soldier. His two main characters were Willie and Joe, two smart-ass privates who never quite excelled in their Army careers but made it through the war intact. Mauldin's comics were sympathetic to even the enemy's enlisted, and a lot of his humor was likewise targeted at officers on both sides of the campaign. Willie and Joe radioed in that they were going to be late "due to a 1000 mile detour" when their route took them through Patton's territory (Patton required all soldiers to wear a tie and have a clean shave), the same cartoon that landed him in trouble. Another cartoon shows the duo having captured a high-ranking German officer, who was miffed that they didn't capture his cook and orderly as well.
All of the humor in his comics were based on honest reality. Infantry soldiers have every nicety taken from them, and they act with a complete lack of it in return; Mauldin had no problem showing this. Faced with constant battle, movement, fatigue, and boredom; it's more than likely one soldier in a trench looked over to his fellow and exclaimed, "Why in the hell couldn't you have been born a beautiful woman?" Mauldin participated in more than one invasion and battle, and it was the humor born from these situations that made his comics so real and funny.
He was an outstanding artist and a master of pen and ink. His compositions for his comics were always on-target, his landscapes and gritty style evoked the mud-soaked, sulfur-laced air that was the WWII battleground. If you look at newspaper comics today, you'll find no suitable comparison.