An Obscure Book Captures the “Lighter Side” of The War In Vietnam

I picked up this book years ago because I was astounded by its naïve “design” and its raw unadulterated (hardly PC) presentation of a GI’s view of the Vietnam War.  I also haven’t seen many cartoon-books done by or about Vietnam GI’s. I wouldn’t go as far as comparing it to Bill Mauldin’s “Up Front” with Willie & Joe,

the 3 books done by one time Sardi’s caricaturist Alex Gard during WWII,

or certainly anything close to what Arthur Szyk did in his “The New Order”,

but it does present a unique inside look at how some servicemen saw life during the war in Southeast Asia.

It had at least 3 printings (The Wayward Press-Tokyo) between July to October 1966. I can’t find out much at all about its author/cartoonist, Ken Melvin — he DID do another book titled “Be Nice” in 1968.

---

Resources Recommended by Imprint

• Sign up to get The Daily Heller delivered right to your desktop

• Available now: Print Magazine’s Guest Art Director Digital Collection

• Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic give a live DesignCast on The Design of Dissent. Register now!

• Get an inside look at logo design from Chermayeff & Geismar

#naive #GI #TheNewOrder #GettingSalty #ArthurSzyk #KenMelvin #ArmedForces #AlexGard #TheWaywardPressTokyo #BeNice #SailorsInBoots #SickBay #Vietnam #WillieandJoe #BillMauldin #VietNam #SorryBoutThat #navie #WillieandJoe