COMIC BOOK PSYOP

SGM Herb Friedman (Ret.)

Note: The RAND Corporation used images from this article for a 2015 study for the U.S. Army looking into U.S. efforts to support Iraqi nationalism after 2003.

Wikipedia describes the comic book as “a magazine or book containing sequential art in the form of a narrative. Although the term implies otherwise, the subject matter in comic books is not necessarily humorous; in fact, it is often serious and action-oriented. Comic books are so called because some of the earliest comic books were simply collections of comic strips (most of which were humorous) that had originally been printed in newspapers. The commercial success of these collections led to work being created specifically for the comic book form…American comic books have become closely associated with the superhero tradition...”

That is a rather fancy way to describe those old Batman and Superman comic books that cost a nickel and were the bane of your parents who wanted you to spend your time reading classical books like Moby Dick and Ivanhoe. However, many children probably cut their teeth on the English language while sitting around with their friends, trading comics and struggling over the big words.

Comics brought superheroes into the war effort when the United States finally entered the war. Many writers joined the War Writers Board (WWB), which was established to promote government policy as well as discourage profiteering. While a private organization, the WWB quickly joined forces with the United States Office of War Information. Headed by Elmer Davis, the OWI focused on coordinating all media for the war effort. The comic book creators cooperated with the prevailing attitude of supporting the war.

In joining the government and private comic industry, they created unified messages. The common and shared purposes of the comics were:

To unite people behind the war effort; to encourage vigilance against enemy spies; to rebut Axis propaganda; to portray the enemy as immoral, brutal and ­ especially the Japanese ­ sub-human; to assure the population that the Allies were fighting for a just cause.

  

Captain America fights the Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hitler

   

Superman joined the fight on both fronts

   

The Green Hornet, Captain Marvel and Uncle Sam all took on Hitler in the comics

   

Batman, Catman and Daredevil also joined the fight against Hitler and the Nazis

In this Superman Action Comic the superhero tells Americans what they must do to help win the war against the Japanese. This issue was released in 1943 and tells readers to buy war bonds to help support the military effort. War Bond drives were very successful and the United States did meet all its goals as far as raising money to fight the war. I did find the politically correct comment by the author Hillary Weiss to be kind of comical. She said:

The comic depicts a very racist picture of a Japanese man, along with a horrible slur. This would not fly at all today.

I lived through those days and I remember the enormous overwhelming hate Americans had for the Japanese for the sneak attack on a Sunday morning that killed thousands of sleeping men at the same time that Japanese delegates were in the United States on a peace mission. My God how we hated them. Children in Kindergarten talked about their desire to kill a Jap. It was believed that an invasion of the United States could occur at any moment. I look at what the author calls a terrible slur and remember those dark days when most Americans considered the enemy "those little treacherous yellow buck-toothed, four-eyed, bow-legged bastards." My friends...that is a slur!

Pocket Guide to China

A U.S. War Department produced a comic strip in the first edition of the WWII Pocket Guide to China, distributed to US soldiers stationed in China. That strip, “How to Spot a Jap” was later removed from all subsequent printings beginning with the 2nd print in 1944. Almost like the Nazis writing scientific studies on how to spot a Jew, this pocket guide uses broad generalizations to tell American soldiers how to spot a Jap.

  

A comparison of Faces

A comparison of Feet

A comparison of Language Ability

Comic books have always been patriotic in nature. In time of war, American firms that produced them were happy to boost circulation by printing copies showing national heroes fighting the enemy and protecting the American way of life. We saw such comics during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Heroes like Captain America regularly took on German and Japanese troops and defeated them. Some of those old comics are now quite valuable and considered historical works of art. 

An Office of War Information Comic Book for Occupied China

The Front and Back Cover
This is an American pilot

Then he can return home.
And every Chinese and American can live happily and peacefully in their homelands.

From the middle of the comic
He has a mission. That is to destroy the Japanese robbers, their looting and savagery.

He feels that this is the most valuable enterprise of his life

The Final Two Pages

This young flyer bade his parents farewell and said goodbye to his hometown to come to China to help his Chinese friends…But he needs the help of the Chinese people to fight against Japan. He has courage, is professionally trained, and is flying the best airplanes in the world. But he needs the help of Chinese friends. When he is shot down, he needs your wisdom and courage to get him back to a safe place. Then he can go back to fight again. He needs your warmth and understanding because he is a young man, and he is in a strange place. For China and the United States to work well together, you should help him as you would one of your own. Then China and the United States can easily win the war.

These comic leaflets were quite common. I note that CA 105 and CA 105B (CA stands for “China Appeal”) both have eight panels of comic propaganda. The first opens with a pilot in a parachute, and the story that the Americans are here to help in the fight against the Japanese and must be helped in every way possible. The text is in part, “Help American pilots who are helping China fight Japan” and, “All our Compatriots with a conscience should help them.” The second is about the same and has the title, “Helping China Fight the Japanese: the American Pilots.”

We should mention that comic books are always good propaganda because many people in foreign nations cannot read but they can understand the pictures. Comic books have been used in just about every war as a form of propaganda. They are always popular and both the children and the adults like to read them.

A sailor takes a comic book break

In an article titled “Comic Books and World War II: Buying into the War,” published in The History Rat, the author adds:

In 1940 and 1941, many comic books had story lines about the events of the wars in Europe and Asia. These stances before the US entered the war quite controversial. At a time when most Americans wanted nothing to do with another war in Europe, the characters in the comic books did. Many of the writers of the comic book heroes were actually Jewish and felt it their duty to influence the American public of the dangers of what was taking place overseas.

In fact, a full nine months before the war, Captain America is seen punching Hitler in the face. Writers Joe Simon and Jack Kirby received hate mail about the goals and actions of Captain America. Many were opposed to such story lines. Captain America stood out in his patriotic red, white, and blue uniform while espousing the ideals of American nationalism. Within a year after Pearl Harbor, Captain America’s views and actions about evil and what to do became the norm.

When the war began, 15 million comic books were being published a month. Two and a half years later, 25 million copies were sold a month. Superman and Captain each sold over 1 million editions a month. And the largest single customer in the period was the United States Army. Originally, the Army was buying comic books as diversions, but soon many of the soldiers became hooked on the story lines, character development, and the virtuous fight against evil and oppression.

Superman

Superman is probably among the most well-known of all the American comic books. One copy of the very first issue of the ten cents Action Comics featuring the debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s historic Superman sold for $3,207,852 at auction. This creation of two Jewish teens from Cleveland fought for truth, justice and the American way starting in 1938. In a specially created two page comic story and accompanying article for Look Magazine in February 1940, Superman flew to Berlin then to Moscow to gather up Hitler and Stalin, and flew them to Geneva, Switzerland and placed them on trial for crimes against humanity at the League of Nations headquarters.

The funny part about this is that Hitler’s chief propagandist Josef Goebbels attacked the comic in the Nazi newspaper Das Schwartz Korps (“The Black Corps”) where he pointed out that the creators were Jewish and the comic just proved how decadent America was and that was why it could never defeat Hitler’s Nazi ideology.

Guadalcanal Diary
Copyright 1945, David McKay Publications

Dwight J. Zimmerman wrote an article entitled “Comic Books go to War” for DefenseMediaNetwork. He says in regard to commercial comic books supporting the war:

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the comic book industry went on a war footing of its own, ramping up production, and war themed titles quickly proliferated. They ranged from fictional (Uncle Sam Quarterly, The Fighting Yank, and Airboy Comics, amongst others) to biographies and real adventures (two were titled, appropriately enough, Real Heroes and Real Life Comics). Some, like Thirty Seconds over Tokyo and Guadalcanal Diary, were adaptations of best-selling books. Others, like The American Air Forces, Don Winslow of the Navy, and Military Comics: Stories of the Army and Navy, focused on a particular branch. There was even a title, Popular Comics, that reprinted war themed newspaper strips, most notably “Terry and the Pirates” and “Smilin’ Jack.”

Undercover War

It wasn’t just the commercial printers that produced comic books during WWII. The U.S. Government also printed a number of different comics to help with the war effort. The story is told in the military magazine America in WWII. For instance, the US government’s Petroleum Administration for War (PAW) designed comic books to motivate refinery construction workers and of course to keep a sharp eye out for saboteurs. In the comic book above Nazi spies try to destroy a petroleum plant so the allied bombers have no fuel to attack the German homeland.

Another comic, “Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer” appeared in 1943. This comic told of the need for 100 octane gas and depicted American fighters and bombers fighting in all the theaters of WWII. The title was certainly inspired by the 1943 song by Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh

One of our planes was missing
Two hours overdue
One of our planes was missing
With all its gallant crew
The radio sets were humming
We waited for a word
Then a noise broke
Through the humming and this is what we heard

Coming in on a wing and a prayer
Coming in on a wing and a prayer
Though there's one motor gone
We can still carry on
Coming in on a wing and a prayer

 

The Nightmares of Lieutenant Ichi

This 14-page comic book is entitled The Nightmares of Lieutenant Ichi – Juan Posong gives Ichi the Midnight Jitters. It was produced by the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) in Brisbane, Australia, for distribution in the Philippines, meant to raise the morale of the Filipinos and ridicule their Japanese occupiers.

Juan Spreads MacArthur Leaflets

Ben Roth headed the OWI Art Department in Brisbane and drew the cartoons in the book. The story takes place in Panegcenao where the dashing Filipino hero Juan Posong (who pretends to be “slow” but is in fact very clever) makes life miserable for the Japanese Army officer Lieutenant Ichi (who expected to be welcomed with open arms by the Filipinos but was surprised to find out that they considered him a usurper). Posong constantly harasses Icho and this causes the Japanese officer to have nightmares which are depicted in the comic book. Note that Ichi fears the return of General Douglas MacArthur and thus wants to return to Japan. This is a very low-key use of the “Cult of MacArthur” theme that American propagandists pushed in the Philippines.

Japanese Propaganda Comic Book - Manifesto for Greater East Asian Cooperation"

This remarkable 24-page Japanese propaganda comic book was designed to show how they would take the Asian races and lead them to glory. The early pages depict Europeans landing on islands and beating and enslaving the local people. We then see the British forcing the Chinese to deal in opium and shooting civilians.

Good times for the West

At the center of the book, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill are pictured smiling over maps of Asia that have been completely taken over by the West. The text is:

Look! Using their military might, America, Britain and the Netherlands have done all these bad things to us.

Bad Times for the West

Then they are depicted again, this time in shock as the Japanese push them back everywhere and free the Asian peoples. The text is:

Japan has awakened, and returned our East Asia into our own hands. Japan’s strong military has driven away our enemies.

The Asians then join the Japanese and are armed and uniformed to fight for their freedom. They mention the friendly Japanese commander:

Our Commander

Our Commander is a strong Japanese Commander. When we saluted him, he smiled from atop the horse, and saluted back to us. Our Commander is a friendly Japanese Commander.

Near the end we see the people of Asis marching together and the text:

The People of East Asia March.

We people of East Asia have destroyed America and Britain with our combined strength. However, we are friendly with the good countries of the world. We study together and spread our superior culture over the world.

We will give other countries the products they need. We will make the world a much, much better place. We are of one heart. Let’s walk together into the future, with our footsteps ringing out.

They build factories and create their own goods and mine their own ores. As the comic ends they all march hand-in-hand,  the people of Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Manchuria, Malaya and Burma. This is a very effective propaganda comic book. It is a pity that the Japanese only wanted to replace the Europeans and conquer these lands and take their natural resources for their own use.

 The Sound that Kills

The Office of War Information (OWI) also produced a number of comic books and even posters that featured comic strips. One such poster was “The Sound that kills.” It displayed five panels that first depicted a worker talking about a ship full of explosive leaving port, and ended with the ship being destroyed by a Nazi submarine.

One OWI comic book that caused some controversy was “The Life of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Although the propaganda comic was meant to be read by overseas civilians to encourage them to feel positively about the Americans, Republicans in the United States complained that it unfair Democratic propaganda.

The OWI believed that comic books would work as an instrument of propaganda but apparently had very little luck with the actual product. According to Steve M. Barkin, “Fighting the Cartoon War: Information Strategies in World War II,” Journal of American Culture, Spring/Summer 1984:

They decided that the comics inclined toward hackneyed portrayals of patriotic ideals and overly stereotyped characterizations of the enemy as stupid and incompetent, and these depictions tended to lull viewers into complacency rather than prompting them toward greater effort on behalf of the war…

Comic strips in newspapers and magazines did not lend themselves to control or manipulation…Actual government production of comics did not appear to be an answer, either. OWI ultimately decided to leave comics alone for the remainder of the war, ironically after demonstrating the considerable power of the cartoon images and their undeniable hold on the American public.

OWI’s attempts to use comic strips as propaganda ceased in November 1942.

For the purposes of this article on Comic Book PSYOP we will discuss those comic books that were produced by the United States government and used to further its military and political aims. For the most part, those comics were humanitarian in nature and focused on such subjects as mine awareness. The comic books have become part of the media of military psychological operations and we should now take a moment to study the concept in more depth.    

Germany to Portugal – Who Kills with Iron…

During WWII both the Axis and the Allies produced massive amounts of propaganda for neutral Portugal and Spain trying to convince those countries to stay out of the war or join their side. The propaganda usually told the neutral nations how the originator was beating its enemy and how they were sure to win the war. It made good sense to try and turn the neutral countries to your side or at least keep them aloof from the war. Portugal was a particularly worrisome problem for the Germans because Brazil had already come into the war on the Allied side. Lisbon was a hotbed of espionage and both sides moved freely there, made contacts, received and sent secret mail, passed information and exchanged money. It was an open city where spies could act freely as long as they kept a low profile.

The 1939 comic book is six pages in all, tri-folded instead of the usual bi-fold, with 30 drawings about the German blockade in the Portuguese language. During and after the First World War the British had blockaded Germany. In this comic the Germans claim that the tide has turned, and now they are the ones doing the blockading.The cover depicts John Bull, a symbol of Great Britain holding the pincers that he used to blockade Germany from 1914 to 1918. German hands hold a pincer around the symbol that says, “Blockade Model 1939” and the text:

Who kills with iron – dies by iron!

The German Surface Armed Forces…

The two panels above depict a German warship sinking a British ship and a second British ship sailing over the broken parts of the sunken vessel. The text is:

The German surface armed forces…And thus more than half of the British cargo ships were sunk, and many more were damaged.

Other panels show that Germany is much stronger both militarily and economically than it was during WWI. Uncle Sam is depicted giving ships to Great Britain and then worrying about how it will keep its own ocean trade healthy. The comic ends with John Bull on his Island surrounded by sunken ships and finally on the ground beaten by Germany.

And this time it's the English who will fight and starve until they lose the war.

A GOOD FRENCHMAN

In the early days of WWII Germany conquered France and the French government collaborated with their occupiers. Many French fascists allied themselves with the Germans after their occupation and were perfectly willing to send their Jewish citizens off to the concentration camps and even produce their own anti-Jewish literature. This miniature 16-page comic book was produced by G. Mazeyrie, imprimeur-editeur, Paris. I have seen other similar miniature comics by this individual. It depicts a Jew named Isaac who is poor and seems to be homeless. He cheats the Christians regularly with shoddy products and finds a French business partner who he also cheats. His workers labor tirelessly for low wages and Isaac grows richer and buys into various companies. He becomes a Frenchman and then starts to build faulty aircraft which fall to the ground. To make more money on commissions, Isaac pushes France into the war. He becomes a Masonic Grand Master and receives the French Legion of Honor. Isaac leads France to ruins. Then when the British are routed at Dunkirk, he runs away being sure to take his ill-gotten gains. At the end of the comic the French sweep the Jews into the sewers and purify their country. This is as virulent as any NAZI Propaganda. This is pretty strong stuff and I admire the fact that they made the Isaac a Mason. The Nazis hated the Masons too, so here they get two for one.

\

The German Nazi in 22 Lessons

This is not so much a comic book as a 24-page propaganda booklet with anti-Nazi cartoons, written by Bernard Aldebert and illustrated by Walter Trier for the British Ministry of Information in 1942. In 1936, Trier left France for Great Britain. During WWII he worked for the Ministry of Information producing anti-Nazi leaflets and political propaganda. The cover text is:

The German Nazi in 22 Lessons

With useful information for the use of Fuehrer's members of the fifth column officials and Quislings.

The “Fifth Column” was a term for the Fascist Spanish troops under Franco during their civil War. Like termites, they bore into the enemy, attacking his morale and weakening his ability to fight. A cardinal technique of the fifth column is the infiltration of sympathizers into the entire fabric of the nation under attack and, particularly, into positions of policy decision and national defense.

Quisling was a Norwegian collaborator who allied himself with the Nazis during WWII. His name, since his execution, is a synonym for “traitor.” Quisling was executed by firing squad in October 1945.

I will just show two pages from the book, lesson 21 and lesson 22. Lesson 21 depicts a German officer holding a pistol while meeting with a Frenchman under the watchful eyes of a painting of a smiling Hitler. The text is:

An Atmosphere of Cordiality

The one that prevails when two men conclude an agreement to the satisfaction of the one who holds the other under the threat of his revolver.

Lesson 22 depicts a person under a hood and cloak not unlike the early Ku Klux Klan members in the United States. The cloak bears a swastika so this is either a German Nazi or a French collaborator. Around him are scenes of death and destruction. The text is:

The New Order

The destruction of the legal Constitution and its replacement by a Quisling dictator.

THE KOREAN WAR

Only the Dead are Free

When the Korean War was suddenly thrust on the Free World on 25 June 1950, once again American publishers produced a number of comic books that showed American soldiers as heroes and the Communist North Koreans and Chinese as villains. In the above comic, the Communists forces slaughter innocent women and children, driving a South Korean to becoming a guerrilla, eventually fighting alongside American troops.

 

Sometimes the U.S. Government authorized comic books that were really a form of internal propaganda. For instance, in 1951 the United States Government Printing Office and the U.S. Air Force Psychological Warfare Division produced a 5-page comic book entitled Bullets or Words. It was written by Herb Block and drawn by Milton Caniff, best known for his “Steve Canyon” cartoons. The comic discussed the history of psychological operations, the war in Korea and ended with a recruitment advertisement for “Syke-Air,” which the booklet explains is “the U.S. Air Force word for Air Psychological Warfare Activities.”

We should mention that Caniff was so favored by Washington that during the Vietnam War in 1964, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Manning argued for giving publicity to Americans who have performed feats of gallantry and heroism in Vietnam. He suggested working with Milton Caniff to have comic characters operate in Vietnam. He thought the comic strips were ideally suited to dramatize the conspiratorial and savage nature of the Communist assault on Vietnam and why and how the U.S. was trying to combat it.

Korea My Home

This is a beautifully done comic book. I depict the cover, the first four pages to show the evil of
Communism, and the last two pages to show that some of the Koreans did make it safely to the South.

Korea My Home was a comic book created by Al Stenzel and Bill Timmins and published by Johnstone and Cushing in cooperation with the United States Department of State. The comic was an initiative by the U.S Department of State to create an accessible medium to the average Korean citizen about the purpose of U.S. forces in Korea and the evil goals and ambitions of the communist Korean People's Army (KPA). The comic conveyed the hardships of Koreans because of North Korea’s communist regime and the violence and policies they were inflicting upon Korean families.

The firm of Johnstone and Cushing created several comic books for the State Department. In the case of “Korea My Home,” the State Department script was broken into panels and laid out in pencil by Al Stenzel, and then finished in ink by Bill Timmins. Leonard Rifas mentions the comic book “Korea My Home” in his MA thesis The Forgotten War Comics. He says in part:

The story presents a melodramatic interpretation of Korean history from the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule in August 1945 to the Chinese intervention on the side of North Korea in October 1950.

He quotes Edward W. Barrett's 1953 book Truth is Our Weapon, Funk and Wagnall Company: NY, 1953:

To demonstrate the true nature of Communist ‘liberation’ in gripping human terms, for people of minimum literacy, the Department [of State] and USIE Korea collaborated in producing a true-to-life cartoon story. Based on interviews with North Koreans, this cartoon book tells a dramatic story of a Korean farmer and his family and their sufferings - how the Russians drove out the Japanese and set up a North Korean ‘People's Republic’ which seized crops, forced young men into the Army, introduced thought control, and finally plunged North Korea into a bloody, aggressive war. More than 700,000 copies are printed or in production.

I have seen one very small full-color image of the cover of this comic book in the Heritage Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction #823 identified as “Johnstone and Cushing 1953 – price $245.”

 

 

 

An Anti-Communist Comic Book for Japan - Communism Exposed
Courtesy Major Hammond Salley

This Japanese-language Allied comic book was produced for Japan or Okinawa during the Korean War in an attempt to show that the Communists were war mongers who invaded other lands while they took orders from the Soviet Union. That was a common theme of much American propaganda. The comic is 32 pages long and I have chosen to show the cover where international communism based in Moscow is depicted as an octopus; it has one bloody tentacle sunk deep into China, while the one reaching into Korea has been hacked off by the Allies (hence his surprise). He's getting a grasp on Vietnam as well. On the back, a rapacious Communist wolf pretends to be a non-threatening fawn. I include page 14 where North Korean stooges murder innocent South Korean mothers and babies, and page 15 where the resolute forces of the United Nations march to their rescue.

The comic book was probably printed in Okinawa around 1953. It was apparently printed under the sponsorship of the Information Coordination Committee, affiliated with the Office of the High Commissioner USCAR (United States Civil Administration of Ryukyus). The U.S. Eighth Army was headquartered in Japan and the booklet was likely meant to keep the Japanese firmly on the American side during the Korean War. There are no markings of any kind on the comic so it could be “black” or “white.” About the same time, a million watt Voice of America transmitter was beaming messages into Mainland China from a transmitter located on the edge of the Okuma Rest Center on Northern Okinawa. The Central Intelligence Agency was also training mainland Chinese at a secret camp in Northern Okinawa at that time. Before his firing by President Truman, General MacArthur had planned to use Chinese Nationalist forces from Formosa in the Korean War.

Some of the text is:

Communism Exposed – Information Coordinating Committee

In North Korea, the Communist party under the dominant rule of Soviet philosophy started a war against the people.

However, the countries of the free world denounced Soviet aggression. They took the field to defend South Korea. (Pennant on UN flag: The Flag of Righteousness)

No matter what country, the Communist Party bosses follow the policies of Moscow. Okinawa, Indochina, Chinese Communists, North Korea, Japan.

One frog said “I am a fish”. However, by the way he cried out and by the way he swam and by his shape he was a frog. No matter how much he said he was a fish he could not become a fish. A frog is a frog.

COMMUNISTS are the same as this frog.

A well-known Japanese expression is “the offspring of a frog is a frog”. The Japanese also have an expression that “a tadpole is still a frog”

MEDAL OF HONOR

Ralph Puckett Cover

The End of the Comic, Puckett Lives

Sometimes the comic books are not quite government issues, but those of agencies or organizations that work with the government. The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is an organization that supports the Army and when I was in the military, I was a member and often made the annual conventions in Washington D.C. where they would show the latest military weapons and often the PSYOP units would display their materials.

At some point, AUSA started producing comic books that illustrated the activities of soldiers that had won the nation’s highest award, the Congressional Medal of Honor. The 8-page issue we illustrate here, Medal of Honor: Ralph Puckett, was issued in May 2022. Puckett is seen graduating from West Point and volunteering to be sent to Korea. Once there, he is put in charge of a unit of Army Rangers. His unit is surrounded and attacked by Communist Chinese forces. He fights all night, is wounded several times, and forced to call in artillery “danger close.” He told his men to leave him behind, but they disobeyed orders and carried him off the field. Ten of his men were killed and 31 wounded. It took him a full year to recuperate from his wounds. Puckett volunteered once again to lead troops in Vietnam and eventually retired as a colonel. In May 2021. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage and leadership in Korea.

AUSA says about the books:

These full-color digital books are created by a talented team of professionals drawn from the world of comic book industry, and the details are vetted by professional historians. Each eight-page issue profiles a true American hero, bringing to life the daring deeds that distinguished themselves by gallantry in action ‘above and beyond the call of duty. In October 2018, AUSA released its first edition of “Medal of Honor: Alvin York.” To date, a dozen issues have been published, commemorating such heroes as Audie Murphy, Mary Walker, Daniel Inouye, Henry Johnson, and Roy Benavidez.

NORTH KOREA

The Secret of Frequency A

The North Korean government uses comic books called (gruim-chaek) to help keep the people in line. The plots are often rather strange, usually blaming loud-mouthed Americans and opportunist Japanese for cursing their promised land with vice. In The Secret of Frequency A, an elite North Korean youth science squad teams up to help an African nation rid itself of a mysterious plague of locusts caused by U.S. agents who have utilized a particular frequency of the note A to advance imperialist interests in Africa.

A Blizzard in the Jungle

In A Blizzard in the Jungle, published in 2001, a group of Americans and North Koreans traveling on an airplane crash in an unnamed African country. The Americans selfishly go their own way, ignoring the Koreans, only to be devoured by alligators in a nearby river.

The Great General Mighty Wing

For decades, the communist regime has distributed books to elementary school students. One of North Korea’s most famous comic books aimed at children is The Great General Mighty Wing," published by a state-run press in 1994. Mighty Wing the honeybee confronts a horde of imperialist wasps trying to invade his land. After the wasps lay dead, he quickly rallies his enthusiastic colony into a workers’ collective.

VIETNAM

SGT ROCK comic book "Paper Bullets" told
readers at home about leaflets in Vietnam

During the Vietnam War comic books were used for in several different campaigns. For instance, they were used as part of the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) amnesty operation where Viet Cong guerrillas were invited to return to the national government where they would be greeted as wayward children, given clothes, cash and training for the workforce.

One of the Army officers who worked at the Regional Service Center in Manila producing the comic books for the U.S. military and other agencies told me:

The comic book type booklets we did were not like U.S. style comic books for kids. Most were educational and instructional targeted at adults. They were approximately 3x 6-inches or 3 x 8-inches. We had been using this format for at least two decades before the Vietnam War PSYOP effort came into existence, primarily to support the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and international development efforts across Southeast Asia. They were targeted at adults, given that in the middle of the 20th Century literacy rates in the region were not much above 10% and even then at the low side of comprehension.

 

The PSYOP Guide

The United States Military Assistance Command Vietnams’ April 1968 PSYOP Guide serves as a handbook of information to assist users to accomplish Psychological Operations in the Republic of Vietnam. It sets forth broad concepts and specific "dos" and "don'ts" which comprise the guidelines for effective PSYOP. It says about comics:

The simplicity of the texts and/or pictures makes this medium especially effective by conveying the message to a relatively illiterate audience. Cartoon books have been published and distributed in sizes ranging from 4x5 inch, six-page pamphlets to 8xl0. 5 inch, multiple-page booklets. Relative size versus effectiveness has not been evaluated, although it is believed that smaller sizes with from six to ten pages are most effective.

A Nightmare Ended - Comic Book 2078

There were a number of small booklets published that mentioned Chieu Hoi. A July 1967 20-page full-color comic book coded 2078 presents in cartoon style the experiences and thoughts of a Hoi Chanh on the events which led to his decision to rally. Its title is A Nightmare Ended. This Joint United States Public Relations Office booklet is 5 x 7-inches in size and printed by the 7th PSYOP Group. The comic book presents, in cartoon style, the experiences and thoughts of a Hoi Chanh (defector or “rallier” from the Viet Cong) on the events which led to his decision to Chieu Hoi (return to the National Government). At the start of the book a happy young man is shown at school. Later he decides to join the Viet Cong. He is attacked by Allied aircraft. The text on the three panels on page 7 is:

We have been living a peaceful life, why are we in this misery?

We must endure it for the ideology!

I'm a teacher, and they force me to work so hard. Mr. Hien, I'm not going to withstand it for long,

Alarm! Enemy aircraft!

It is quite possible the aircraft will kill us before we can accomplish anything!

His group is first bombed by the Americans and then he gets sick but cannot be treated properly in the field. He is forced to take part in self-criticism and after a second American aerial attack he finds Chieu Hoi leaflets on the ground. The text on page 19 is:

Ah! A Chieu Hoi leaflet...and a safe conduct pass at the same time so we can return!

But Hien is not aware he was being watched day and night...

Huh! Hien, why do you keep this Chieu Hoi pass in your backpack?

Poor guy! Since then, nobody has seen or heard of Hien! Lucky for me, I learned the lesson and was very cautious, otherwise I couldn't have escaped!

The enlightened former Viet Cong guerrilla goes Chieu Hoi at the end of the book and has happily returned to his old school.

Comic book 7-738 (16)

This 16-page comic book seems to have been printed by the Vietnamese. Usually, they ask the Americans to print it and it bears both a U.S. Code and a Vietnamese one. On this comic I only see the Vietnamese code, but the original fact sheet for this product might have featured a U.S. code, it is a mystery.

The general theme of the comic book is democracy. The story is about two men running for the position of Village Chief in a free democratic election. The man who was pro-Government wins and the one who backs the Viet Cong’s policy is beaten badly.

The title is:

OUR VILLAGE, OUR HAMLET, OUR HOME

Pages 10-11 depict the pro-Viet Cong candidate making promises while the pro-Government candidate tells the truth:

If only I had won this Village Chief election...

Commendation

I know there are modest people who did not register as a candidate. Therefore, by democratic rules, you still can nominate someone you trust and capable of serving the people in our village as your candidate for the election!

We nominate Mr. Nam! We trust Mr. Nam! Mr. Nam is a patriot, anticommunist, and knows the affairs of our village! Kindly ask Mr. Nam to run for our village! Long live Mr. Nam!

People trust you! You should run! Long live Uncle Nam! Come out, Daddy! The people have asked you so much!

Page 16

Hooray! Long live democracy! Alas! The glory days are gone! I have lost the bet of one chicken and two ducks!

I have shamefully lost! I have always trusted Mr. Five, the Machete, and his comrades. It turns out the people despise them!

Ha, ha, ha, ha.

A soldier from 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment sits on the ground reading an Archie comic during a brief break while on patrol in Bien Hoa Province in 1965. The Australians served with the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade. For those who never saw the comic, Archie was a high school student who liked a beautiful brunette named Veronica, but was chased by a beautiful blonde named Betty. You took sides. I liked the brunette. She always seemed more classy.

Photo by Tim Page

The Joint U.S. Public Affairs Office Field Development Division booklet Guidelines to Chieu Hoi Psychological Operations: the Chieu Hoi Inducement Program, states that various media should be utilized to the maximum degree to reach military forces of the Viet Cong and encourage Hoi Chanh ralliers with Government of Vietnam and United States support. Some of the “other media”mentioned are:

Comic books, calendars, almanacs, messages on gifts or donated items, books and letters.

Comic books could also be used to win the trust of children and orphans. Specialist five Jack O’Neill of the 6th PSYOP Battalion told me:

While working with 82nd Airborne in 1969 First Lieutenant Ben Rogers and I volunteered at an orphanage just outside Saigon. We were happy to spend time there because the children were mostly orphans of ARVN soldiers whose parents had been killed by the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army. When we were there the kids would flock around us, wearing my hat, and wanting hugs and laughter which we were able to give them by making faces and funny noises. We also cried a lot worrying about their future. When working with 1st Air Cavalry we helped with medical and dental projects and spent time with the children teaching them how to play baseball, taking them to the Saigon Zoo, giving them comic books, coloring books, soccer balls and other items.

There are other mysterious reports of comic books used in psychological operations in Vietnam. For instance, although we know little about the product, 60 copies of “Vietnamese War Heroes” children’s comic books coded 6-789 and 50 copies of a later issue coded 6-791 were distributed during Operation Lanikai, from November to December 1966 by PSYOP troops of the U.S. Army 25th Division. On other occasions during the same operation 15 “Navy Hero” and 30 “Children’s Hero” comic books were given to the locals. On another Medcap visit 10 copies of the comic book “History of America” coded 6-182 were given to the children of Long Dinh. These comics were of course printed by the American 6th PSYOP Battalion.

   

 

One of the more interesting PSYOP items was in the form of a comic book. It tells the story of a “Mr. Ba ” who has Communist agents hiding in his village of Phong Thanh and decides to inform the authorities of their presence. The VC have taxed him even though the crop is poor, killed his friends and innocent civilians, and generally made life inconvenient by blowing up bridges and buildings. Mr. Ba reads posters offering rewards for the capture of the two VC and listens to the same offer on his radio. The village is then covered with aerial propaganda leaflets offering a reward for the two VC. Mr. Ba is convinced. He talks to the local authorities, gives them the address of the house that the Viet Cong are hiding in and asks for complete secrecy. His secrecy is guaranteed. The Communists are arrested and Ba is rewarded. Mr. Ba tells his friends that the Viet Cong were foolish. If they had simply come over to the Government they would not be in prison. The village is once again peaceful and all live happily ever after. Even better, one of the Viet Cong decides to return to the National Cause and he is released and returned to his family.

Major Marcus S. Welch, mentions adds in his Command and General Staff College thesis: Irregular Pen and Limited Sword: PSYWAR, PSYOP, and MISO in Counterinsurgency:

To augment the “specific” wanted posters, the “general” Phung Hoang comic book was created. Similar in concept to the Chieu Hoi Safe Conduct Pass, the Phung Hoang comic book provided the method for peasants and villagers to report information concerning Viet Cong Infrastructure activity, and how to do it anonymously. The comic book pictographically and textually conveyed the intent of Phung Hoang posters, leaflets, and broadcasts and how villagers could act on the information.

 

Comic Book 2554

This May 1968 Joint United States Public Relations Office comic book is entitled “New Life Development.” It is 5 x 8-inches in size and 29 pages in length. It tells the story of Hoa Dong Hamlet and how the unsophisticated villagers and the Revolutionary Development Cadre worked together to build a new school, market, and other projects. Comics such as these were used to motivate the Vietnamese people to accept the new hamlets where the government hoped to keep them protected against Communist exploitation. We know the U.S. code for this comic is 2554. The actual comic only shows a Vietnamese code 8-696 (32). 

On pages 14-15, the residents of the hamlet discuss the material the government has given them to modernize their village. The text is:

They are for us to use. Will the government help us dig wells, build markets, construct dams?

Of course, and we should take advantage of this assistance!

[A dissident voice says] If the government really wants to help, why wouldn't they just dig the wells, build the markets and dispensaries for us?

The government does not have enough money to dig wells, build roads and construct dams for every one of the 14,000 hamlets nationwide. Even if they want, they cannot do it all.

Notice the dissident is shown in a dark outfit. The VC were known for their black pajamas so although this individual is not identified as an enemy of the people, perhaps some will see him that way.

 

On pages 24-25, the whole village pitches in and seem to be having fun as they work together for the betterment of all:

So, we will not have to go the village. So much time wasted, and the legs so tired! How exciting! Everything is here in this market!

With such an abundance of water in the field, we can have two crops a year.

Mum, now I can have a bath every week!

Nonsense! Now you will have it every day! Now there is no shortage of water!

Although I do not have a copy, I know that Comic Book 2954 was developed in January 1969 and titled Mission Impossible. It targeted the Viet Cong and their families as part of the Chieu Hoi / Dai Doan Ket campaigns. The comics were handed out during the 1969 Tet Campaign. The comic tells the story of a Viet Cong attack:

A cartoon story telling the dramatic story of a raid by a special Q Viet Cong commando squad on the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces during the Saigon 1968 TET offensive. It emphasizes the futility and suicidal nature of VC military actions.

A special comic book was also prepared for the 1967 elections in the Republic of Vietnam.

Soldiers against Desertion

I was recently sent what appeared to be a Vietnamese military comic book but is more in the form of an illustrated instruction manual. It is a propaganda product and since each page has at least one cartoon panel, I have added it here, though I could make a case that it is not really a comic book in the most classical sense of the word. The title of the booklet is Soldiers against Desertion, and below are the words “Study Document” or “Training Manual.” The back cover says “General Department of Political Warfare, Psychological Warfare Department.” The booklet was printed by the South Vietnamese Political Warfare Department.

The Loyal Soldier

It is a propaganda manual on how to talk soldiers out of deserting and disappearing into the populace or going over to the enemy. Each page of the booklet depicts a different scene. Loyal soldiers of the south are depicted as admired, with their friends looking on in awe and women looking at them lovingly. The soldiers are shown getting paid well, eating good food and wearing fine clothing. They learn usable trades. The sun shines on them and smiles. The text on these two pages is:

On 1 July 1965 a soldier's salary was increased from 20% to 100%.
On 1 June 1966 a soldier's allowances were increased from 20% to 30%.
A Grade 1 Private in the South with a wife and 3 children who previously received 3,875 piasters now receives 5,052.5 piasters.
A Corporal with a wife and 5 children receives 6,482.5 piasters.

Volunteer for a 5-year service commitment and receive a 4,500 piaster bonus.
After completion of services, if you sign up for an additional 5 years you receive 7,500 piaster bonus.
A draftee who completes his term of military service and who has a Level 1 Specialist Certificate will receive 12,300 piasters bonus if he signs up for an additional 5-year service commitment.

The Deserter

Deserters are depicted as losers, who are tried and found guilty, jailed, cannot find a job, are snubbed by women and laughed at by civilians. The sun frowns at them. It is a nice piece of propaganda, but heavy-handed by American standards. The text on these pages is:

No matter where a deserter goes to apply for work, his application is rejected and he is chased away.

Out on the streets a deserter does not dare to maintain a proud, bold attitude but instead must avoid people and slink around like a thief.

A pictorial history of America

The U.S. Army 7th PSYOP Group produced this 52-page propaganda comic book for the Vietnamese to teach them the history of the United States. It opens with the Vikings and Columbus, goes on to the Mayflower, then the Revolutionary War, on to Andy Jackson and the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The westward movement follows, and then WWI and WWII featuring Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. The comic ends with Khrushchev, Jack Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. It bears a code on the back: 6-182(208). The 7th Group had a detachment in Vietnam all through the war so at some point it must have been asked to produce this comic to help the Vietnamese better understand the Americans that were in their country.

The last page of the comic book is all about Vietnam so I add it here.

The first panel features President Lyndon B. Johnson and the text:

Why are we in Vietnam? We are there because we have to keep our promise. Since 1954, every American president has promised to support the people of South Vietnam. We help them to build a nation and we help them to defend their nation. So for many years now, the whole world has promised to help South Vietnam protect its independence.

Since 1964, the war became more global in Vietnam. U.S. President Johnson still keeps his word to protect the Republic of Vietnam.

The second panel depicts a busy airport and the text:

The US Air Force bombed military targets in North Vietnam to prevent the North Vietnamese Communists from sending soldiers and weapons into South Vietnam in order to help the Viet Cong to destroy the Republic of Vietnam.

The third panel depicts U.S. troops and equipment and the text:

U.S. Marines land in Da Nang to protect the air base in this area and stand side by side with Vietnamese military forces to defeat the Communist invasion to protect the country's independence and freedom.

The final panel has a picture of the entire area of Southeast Asia and the text:

Economic progress is the most important battle, so in parallel with the protection of the independence and freedom of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States has started a social and economic development plan to help Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia like the construction of the Nam Ngum Dam in Laos.

Propaganda comic book for Thailand – The Victorious Black Panthers

This comic book was prepared in 1968 coded 2065. I assume it was prepared by the U.S. Army 7th PSYOP Division on Okinawa to motivate the Thais to stay in the war fighting to keep the Vietnamese free. Its plot describes the heroic Thai Black Panther Division planning an attack against the Viet Cong and being victorious. The comic mentions spotter aircraft seeing some Viet Cong near the Thai base named Bearcat. The Thais call in an airstrike and send in their Rangers to clean up. It ends with the comment that "The Rangers of the Black Panthers Division in Vietnam successfully completed their mission and make their brothers back home proud."

In the page above, an American soldier reports the sighting of a small group of Viet Cong fighters about 12 kilometers west of Base bearcat, the home of the Black Panthers. The commander calls for a conference and for their Rangers to be readied for action.

This is the insignia of the Thai Black Panther Division.

A Vietnam War Patriotic Comic Book for Korea

This U.S. Army 7th PSYOP Group 68-page comic book was written to tell the Korean people the story of their troops fighting in Vietnam. It shows them helping the people, feeding them and doing public services like digging wells, digging ditches and building homes for the local Vietnamese people. The first page I depict shows brave farmers informing on the Viet Cong guerrillas. In the second picture a lone guerrilla with bloody hands is starving because the Korean troops have so protected the local hamlet that he cannot go down and beg for or threaten people for food. The title of the book is:

Civilian Aid

Korean Army Headquarters in Vietnam.

Department of Psychological Warfare for Civilians

The first page has the text:

When cooperation is achieved with the residents, our soldiers become fond of the people and their comrades, observe army discipline and become friendly with the local citizens. Our soldiers fight the communists most effectively.

The second page text is:

The enemy will notice the affection and support given to the soldiers by the local people. The enemy will cease their Communist propaganda and abandon taking the people hostage. The enemy will become alone and isolated as time passes by.

Collating the Pages of a Booklet

Members of the Australian 1st Psychological Operations Unit gather together to collate and put together a propaganda booklet for the enemy. This is definitely not high-tech. Notice the stapler at the lower left.

  

 

History of PSYOP

Sometimes comic books are just written and drawn by military cartoonists for their own amusement. This 32-page Vietnam War comic was created by a member of the 246th PSYOP Company named Al Bentley while stationed in Bien Hoa. The title is History of PSYOP – You really can’t believe anybody.” The second page of the comic book states that it is dedicated to all Psywarriors, and especially a number of officers and men serving in the unit that were helpful to Bentley. It was varityped by Specialist 4th Grade Forrest. The text and images of the comic are a humorous look at the alleged origin of PSYOP in prehistoric days; how words like “Love” and “Hate” mold opinions and actions, and the last page depicts what appears to be PSYOP as practiced by the American forces in Vietnam. It was a nice souvenir for the unit members.

Another illustrator in the 246th PSYOP Company told me:

Alvin Bentley was a phenomenal illustrator with the 246th PSYOP Company in Bien Hoa during the Vietnam War. I understand he became an artist at Ft. Bragg after he retired and did official portraits for the Army Museum there.

This book was found by Australian Army Psychology Corps Captain Tom McCann in Late 1970 in the files of the 16th Psychological Unit in Sydney, Australia. Remember that during the Vietnam War the Australian PSYOP troops worked closely with the 246th PSYOP Company so they would have probably been given a copy of the comic as a souvenir. Readers wanting to know more about the Australian-US connection should read my article Australian PSYOP of the Vietnam War.

Note: After we added the History of PSYOP comic book to this article it was donated to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum, the designated PSYOP Regiment Museum, at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

Nguyen Charlie

The Vietnam conflict had its own version of Bill Mauldin's WWII characters “Willy and Joe.” The above comic strip appeared during the Vietnam War in the Pacific edition of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes from 1966 to 1974. It was created by Corky Trinidad, an award winning Philippines-born editorial cartoonist for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The comic strip is non-political and both sides are treated equally. No one dies in Nguyen Charlie's war. I selected this particular strip because it mentions propaganda leaflets and of course that is always our main theme.

North Vietnam Returns the Favor

This little comic is titled "Is the hole shallow or the man tall?" It is a 1967 North Vietnamese collection of caricatures on Popular Air Defense and life in time of war. The comic was printed by the General (or Universal) Publishing House. It was the main publishing house in Hanoi in that era. After 1975 the name changed to The Culture and Information Publishing House. In 2015 it was merged with The Ethnical Culture Publishing House.

The first cartoon shows a female Viet Cong medic treating an injured fighter. The text is:

Was it because you were too lazy to dig a deeper hole.
- No, it was because I am too tall.

The second cartoon depicts a Viet Cong with a captured pilot, his airplane burning in the background. The VC tells his son:

Dad: Quickly, run home and tell mom to give you my ammo pouch that I left in the chest.

THE HUMANITARIAN COMIC BOOKS

Mine Awareness

      

Croatian, Serbian and English versions
of the Superman Mine awareness Comic Book

The U.S. Government and the United Nations joined with DC Comics, a division of the Time Warner Entertainment Company in 1996 to produce a special Superman comic book entitled Superman - Deadly Legacy. The idea for the mine awareness comic book was allegedly sparked by a comment by First Lady Hillary Clinton during her visit to Bosnia. She reviewed a mine awareness coloring book for young children, and asked what was being done for the older children. The comic was then created to foster landmine awareness among children in the Former Yugoslavia and was printed in both the Cyrillic alphabet used by Serbs and the Roman alphabet used by Croats and Muslims. On 21 October 1996 Hillary Clinton introduced the Superman comic book at a White House ceremony. DC Comics published the comic book in cooperation with the US Department of Defense and UNICEF. Half a million Superman books were initially shipped to Bosnia and Kosovo. Superman was chosen to spread the message because “he is a citizen of the world.” The text on the back is:

Superman has come to help the children of Bosnia-Herzegovina! But even when he can’t be here, you can keep yourself safe from landmines.

US Army, Corporal (CPL) Candy, 304th Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Unit hands out DC Superman comic books outlining mine awareness to children at a refugee camp in Boznia-Herzegovina, Operation JOINT GUARD, 26 March 1997.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Implementation Force (IFOR) distributed over 1 million of the magazines in their first year in Bosnia.

The Superman Poster

One British Veteran told me about finding such a poster in the 1990’s. He completed two tours of Bosnia was later deployed to Kosovo, Lipjlan and Pristina. He told me that the posters were freely available the time. He thinks he got the poster during his first Bosnia tour circa 1996/97. He said he would now frame the poster as a permanent reminder of days passed.

Although they seem to be rare, I have found many PSYOP veterans with collections of them in their closets. I have also seen comic book cover produced as posters with some additional text at the bottom in in all the same languages as the original comics The posters may come in different sizes, or some may have been trimmed. One was reported to be 22 x 34 inches. Another framed poster 24.5 inches wide by 35.5 inches tall was offered at auction in 2015 estimated at $500. I have no idea what the poster finally sold for if it sold at all.The additional text at the bottom is:

MINES KILL CHILDREN

To know how you can prevent such accidents, call the mine clearing center [phone number]

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Swayne was the liaison with DC Comics in New York City tasked with the mine-awareness project. The military paid for the materials, ink and transportation, but not the art or concept work. It supplied the photographs of Bosnians, local homes, landscape and backgrounds and the comic book artists did the rest.

Regarding the comic book for Bosnia, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the Mine Action Center lent their endorsement to the project. They said that there are 130,000 copies of the comic in Latin and Cyrillic, and 35,000 in English. The priority for distribution was to children in hospitals, orphanages, refugee camps, and schools.  

A field test of the Kosovo version of the comic book was conducted by Prism Research, which interviewed 512 children. The report suggested that the comic book was not a suitable mine awareness tool for children in the 7–9-year age group. However, with appropriate supervision, the comic book could be a suitable mine awareness tool for children in the 10–14-year age group. The testing board recommended that if the comic book is to be used in schools, then teachers should monitor its use as a mine awareness tool.

The comic book started as a research and development effort for a Special Forces team deployed for demining support for the Department of Defense. This is what happened in Bosnia, Latin America, and Mozambique. A team of eight or ten Special Forces soldiers was used. They have a language and cultural proficiency in the host country. The team will typically start working in the schools with Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) and the mine action centers. For instance, in Mozambique, DC Comics gave us storyboards, which are large, colored diagrams of various characters in the story line. The special forces teams use them with a focus group of 10-20 kids and see what type of reaction the storyboards receive, what characters are recognized, or not recognized, and what they think of the story. They also talk to the kids about their community to determine who they look up to and what the real structure is for passing information along. In Mozambique, one of the things we found out is that big sisters are very important, often as important as parents, because they are more available to the younger children and are often taking care of them. We also gave the children disposable cameras to take pictures of their communities. They came back with a goldmine of information for the DC Comics artists to work with. DC Comics then gives our team back a rough draft, which they take back in the country and test it with focus groups, small groups with interviews afterwards, questionnaires. They also get the involvement of NGOs, UNICEF and mine action centers."

Uran Agic, an interpreter contracted by the US government to translate the Serbian language, hands out comic books on mine awareness to Serbian children in Kosovo. Mr. Agic is in Kosovo with 315th Tactical PPSYOP Company out of Upland, California, who are distributing Humanitarian Aid (HA) items. The HA items were donated by families back in the United States and consisted of clothing, school supplies and toys.

The Kosovo version of the comic book was released in the school system through UNICEF and through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the area. Originally, the Kosovo version of the comic book was designed to be released for children in the refugee camps. The comic book was designed to teach children to stay away from landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), to recognize areas where mines may be located, and to take certain actions if they find a mine. The comic book also encourages children to share their understanding of the landmine threat with friends and family members and teaches them that deminers working in their country are protecting them from dangerous landmines. The Bosnia-Kosovo version of the comic book depicts Superman protecting two young children from mines, while the dog of one child is severely injured. They meet a boy who has lost his legs, and later save a girl who has wandered into deep grass. It is a wonderful joining of the military and commercial sector to save lives. 

 

Spanish and English versionsof the Superman
and Wonder Woman Mine Awareness Comic Book

A second comic book in Spanish was released for children in Latin America 11 June 1998 at UNICEF House at UN headqurters in New York City. It is entitled Superman and Wonder Woman - the Hidden Killer. Brian Sheridan, principal deputy to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, represented the Defense Department at the unveiling ceremony. He called the book a major step forward in the effort to protect children in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras from the threat posed by land mines.

Ambassador Bill Richardson, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, and Secretary General Kofi Annan praised the efforts of a Department of Defense, DC Comics and UNICEF partnership. In addition to the Secretary General and Ambassador Richardson, speakers included: Jenette Kahn, President of DC Comics, and Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. Also present at the launch was General Charles E. Wilhelm, Commander of United States Southern Command, who joined Ms. Kahn in presenting copies of the new comic to Ambassadors from the recipient nations. Kahn said:

I can think of nothing more rewarding than to know that Superman and Wonder Woman have leapt beyond the pages of the comics to save real lives.

DC Comics donated the use of the Superman and Wonder Woman characters and worked closely with Defense and UNICEF to make sure the story and artwork would be specific to the host countries.

The Central American book is 32 pages long, compared to 10 pages for the Bosnia version. The second book includes 24 pages of story and eight pages of activities targeting children between 8 and 15. Text on the back is “Superman and Wonder Woman have come to help the children of Central America! But even when they cannot be here, you can keep yourself safe from landmines. This book tells of the story of Brothers Miguel, Diego, and Sister Gabriella. One brother suddenly finds himself in a minefield. He is rescued by the super-heroes, shown some mine-warning signs, and then introduced to a military deminer. Later, Gabriella washing clothes in a stream also comes upon a mine. She is saved by Wonder Woman. The children are shown signs and posters depicting different mines and meet a child who has been injured. They then kick their soccer ball into an area that sets off another mine. The book contains a number of mine warning stickers, and features a two-page scene depicting a countryside with various signs and clues of hidden mine fields. The reader is urged to place the stickers on those sites. It closes with a 10-point quiz and the warning: “Spread the word: Mines Kill!”

  

Guide for Seniors

A 4-page folded handout was also prepared for distribution to seniors who worked with the children. It stated that, “The Organization of American States and the Inter-American Defense Board are dedicated to helping the people of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica rid their countries of the deadly threat of antipersonnel mines.” Besides giving hints on how to teach mine awareness it gave 23 phone numbers for offices in the three countries to report or learn more about mines. The back of the handout depicted the type of mines that might be found in Central and South America.

Soldiers from the 1st PSYOP Battalion (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, conducted assessments in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras, provided background information and photos and recommended a story line to the creative staff at DC Comics. The collaboration ensured accuracy and that Central American children would be able to identify with the villages, countryside and clothing depicted in the new book. Once the story and artwork were completed, the battalion tested the comic book in Central America to see if it conveyed the intended message. Members of the Army’s Special Forces, as well as the staffs of UNICEF, U.S. embassies and local governments, worked together to distribute the book throughout the region. 

The comic books were distributed through U.S. embassies, and presented to the Ministries of Education in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A U.S. Southern Command Mine Awareness Team assisted the host ministries of education in the distribution. The initial printing was Six hundred fifty thousand copies of the book, 560,000 in Spanish and 90,000 in English. Mine-awareness posters based on the comic book, 170,000 in Spanish and 30,000 in English, were distributed in Latin America. Similar posters were used in the Bosnia campaign.  

A third version of the comic book will be published in Portuguese for the children of Angola, which the United Nations estimates has 15 million land mines. The release date for the third comic book is unknown. “I can think of nothing more rewarding than to know that Superman and Wonder Woman have leapt beyond the pages of the comics to save real lives,” said Jeanette Kahn, President of DC Comics. DC Comics donated the use of the Superman and Wonder Woman characters and worked closely with the Department of Defense and UNICEF to make sure that the stories and artwork would be specific to the host countries. 

It is worth mentioning that Wonder Woman was made an honorary United Nations ambassador for the empowerment of women. In another victory for political correctness, she was “fired” from the job in December, 2016, as a “skimpily dressed woman prone to violence.”

PSYOP Soldiers passing out the Superman mine awareness comic book

The compliments for the comic books were not unanimous. There were doubters. One official in Bosnia said:

I was the Chief of Information in Sarajevo, at the United Nations Mine Action Centre for 18 months (1997-98). The comic book was brought there by US forces as part of the UN-mandated NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) with the intent to win hearts and minds. As a group, we determined that Superman (the comic) gave the wrong messages. (1) If you find yourself in a mined area, Superman will fly in and save you. (2) Retrace your foot steps out of a minefield. It was the decision of the Mine Awareness Working Group that the Superman comic gave the wrong messages, and it was stopped from further distribution. It was never field-tested to see if it was suitable!

It is interesting that the Superman comic, once again, tried to save the Balkans, this time in Kosovo. I was the Chief Mine Information Officer at the time. This time it has been field-tested. The results indicate that the Superman comic is not a suitable medium for mine awareness education for children in the 7-9 age group, and with appropriate supervision, the comic book is a suitable medium for mine awareness education for children in the 10-14 age group. However, the Testing Board recommended that if the comic is to be used in schools that, teachers can use them, hand them out in class, but withdraw them at the end of the class.

It has been alleged that the French were not enamored with the comic book, apparently disturbed that Superman represented “Truth, Justice and the American Way.” Superman was very popular among the youth of Bosnia, but was the subject of consternation among certain allies. 

Philip M. Taylor criticized this leaflet in Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Present Day, Manchester University Press, UK, 2003. He claims:

A classic example of how such well-intentioned propaganda can backfire, this comic had to be withdrawn when it was discovered that some young children were deliberately walking into minefields in the hope that Superman would come and save them.

The Landmine Monitor seems to agree. They don’t exactly say that young children might enter a minefield, but they do say:

Most attention, however, has been focused on the Superman comic book, with concerns being widely expressed as to both its technical accuracy and cultural appropriateness. The comic book has apparently been used to advantage as one of a number of media items in Guatemala but overall the reaction has been extremely negative. As a result, the original version produced for Bosnia-Herzegovina has now been withdrawn from distribution; a Spanish version was not distributed in Colombia; and a version planned for Mozambique appears to have been shelved, at least for now. Independent testing of the Superman comic book in Kosovo concluded that it was suitable for children in the 10-14 age group but not for children in the 7-9 age group, who might infer incorrect and dangerous messages.

These comments are rejected by Major Jeffrey White who told me that the comics were never withdrawn from circulation, and definitely not as Phil Taylor suggests, based on the rationale that he cited. Major White never saw any comic books returned to Sarajevo.  He did feel that there was a significant undercurrent of anti-American sentiment among the NATO Forces, but the criticisms did not bear out in any of the post-testing in Bosnia. There was never even one incident where it was ever reported that a child went into a known minefield hoping to be rescued by Superman, nor were there any other incidents provoked by the comic book.

A Serbian boy examines the mines
shown in the Superman Comic book

LTC Swayne states that he recalls two minor negative reactions to the Superman Comic Book. The first occurred when he coordinated with the United Nations Mine Action Center in Sarajevo prior to putting their phone number on the back cover of the comic book and matching poster. They were not prepared for the number of calls that flooded their office.  Overnight their office went from a “Sleepy Hollow” to a place where the phone never quit ringing.

The second was something that did not come out in pre or post-testing among the 10 to 15-year-old target audience.   It was brought up by the International Press Corps at the unveiling of the comic book in the Sarajevo Holiday Inn. They posed questions about the sexist nature of the comic in that the girl was always the subordinate character. The comic was made for an audience and culture where that is the case whether we like it or not. As a result, although it was an overwhelming success among the target audience, it was scrutinized by the international press because it did not depict an unrealistic but politically correct dominant role for the female characters.

Although I am absolutely certain that this story is incorrect, I must note that the October 2001 Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Managed Information Dissemination claims that some Bosnian children entered a minefield because they wanted to be saved by Superman. The report states that it is also likely that because of such dangers, companies like DC Comics will likely seek immunity for such future government-sponsored operations.

In 2021 while discussing these mine awareness comic books with a Senior Analyst working in PSYOP, he told me:

The genesis of the mining comics was a result of the singer Judy Collins being a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador of some sort, having a recording contract with Warner Elektra Atlantic (WEA), and being a friend of Bill Clinton. At the time WEA owned DC comics, so their characters could be used. So, between the White House, Judy Collins, and WEA, it was decided to do something for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which turned out to be the Superman comic book. The DC comic books were printed by DC, then shipped to Bosnia-

Herzegovina on military aircraft. Once the Bosnian comic got off the ground, DC did one for SOUTHCOM, featuring Wonder Woman and Superman.

Then the concept of a demining comic book for Africa came up. I was involved in the editing process, suggesting some changes in the graphics and story line. DC wanted to go with Superman. They ran the idea by the African analysts in the Strategic Studies Section. The analysts came back with the assessment that people who can fly are bad juju. So that ruled out Superman. Then DC, who owned the rights to Warner Brothers characters, proposed a Bugs Bunny based comic. Again, the answer came back that talking animals were enchanted by black magic, and therefore inappropriate. So, no African superhero or cartoon hero comic book. That was the end of the Africa project.

It is important to note that the Psychological Operations Task Force was doing its own line of mine awareness products featuring a character called Pepe Le Moko, a tracked automated robot. The Psychological Operations Task Force, or Implementation Force (IFOR), Information Campaign as it was called, continued to develop, and distribute its own mine awareness and de-mining products, in addition to disseminating the DC comic book.

Batman: Death of Innocents: the horror of landmines.

It appears that DC Comics might have been moved by the plight of the children in those nations where mines are still a hazard. About the same time that they published the landmine awareness comic book for the military, they also published a graphic novel by Dennis O’Neil in December 1996 entitled Batman: Death of Innocents: the horror of landmines. This story is meant to educate the American Public to the lunacy of landmines. A reviewer on Amazon stated in part:

In "Batman: Death of Innocents", the Dark Knight takes on the tragic horror of landmines and finds himself in the unusual position of being relatively helpless against the scale of the problem. That scale is highlighted in the forward by Senator Patrick Leahy and later Colonel David H. Hackworth, Jody Williams of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, and Jerry White of the Landmine Survivors Network. They tell of the tens of millions of landmines deployed around the world, often active for decades after their war is over.

The comic itself does not take a stand as “for” or “against” the morality of any given war, using instead the fictitious country of Kravia as the main ground for the story; it instead focuses on the horrendously indiscriminate killing of landmines against anything that moves, and that, as Col. Hackworth notes, “can't tell a tank from a tricycle.”

In the story itself, Batman is drawn into the conflagration of the Kravian civil war when a Wayne Enterprises employee in Kravia working on an irrigation project is killed when his car drives over a mine in the middle of the road…In Kravia we see the ruthlessness of both sides in this one particular civil war, and the deep goodness and quiet courage of those caught in the middle, including some people who risk everything to give aid to a child…. 

We should mention that in the comic, Senator Leahy wrote a two-page text article entitled “The Innocent Victims of Landmines”; Colonel Hackworth wrote a three-page article entitled “Landmines, the Indiscriminate Killers”; Jody Williams wrote a 4-Page article entitled “Landmines – We Must Ban Them Now” and Jerry White added a 3-page article entitled “Landmine Victims need Your help.”

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Comic Book

Comic books were also used as a nation-building tool in Afghanistan. The Coalition Bulletin, January 2008 mentions a “Train the Trainer” workshop where local teachers learned about a set of six comic books designed to teach children about their rights and duties as citizens of Afghanistan. Distribution of the comics in Kandahar City schools began on 10 December 2007, and the 16 teachers at the workshop were trained to show some 800 of their colleagues how to use them in class.

A donation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the comic books use the characters Yassin and Kaka Rawoof to introduce the basic concepts of the Constitution of Afghanistan. 45,000 copies of the comic books were delivered to representatives of all the schools in Kandahar City. Each pupil in grades 1, 2 and 3 received one comic each. At the same time, a radio and television campaign featuring Yassin and Kaka Rawoof was conducted.

Afghan Commando Comic Book

During the rebuilding stage of the Afghanistan War when the United States was trying to train the Afghan Army and Police Forces to do their duty in a democratic and efficient way, a number of items like leaflets, posters, dolls and comic books were prepared to enhance the image of these forces. Above is a Comic book that tells of the good deeds done by the Afghan Commandos.

Afghan children check out the Afghan Commando Comic book

The story begins with several Afghan children hurt by a terrorist bomb. The Commandos approach the village to look for the terrorists and protect the people. They ask the local villagers to inform on the Taliban members. They explain to the villagers that their identification will be kept confidential and the Commandos will act quickly on the information that is provided. The locals tell the troops that the Taliban is making bombs in a nearby village. The Commandos find out that the information is correct and thank the villagers. The soldiers raid the bomb house and catch two Taliban in the act. The Taliban are immediately arrested and put behind bars. The people rejoice and the villagers that informed on the terrorists are paid a reward. The villagers say:

Thank you, but the real reward is that you saved our village from the enemies.

We have to stop our criminal activities. I really miss my family. Me too.

If you have more information, share it with us. We will quickly act on it.

The First Graduating Class of Afghan Commandos

I spoke to one of the Information Operations (I/O) officers involved with the origin of this comic book. He told me:

I developed the Afghan comic book idea while working at Headquarters, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), in Kabul, 2008. Comic books did not exist as a concept there until my team did this. I still have all my original story lines which were to be two-part installment. The picture above (May 2008) is of the very first Commando class to graduate in 30 years from the Afghan army. These were the inspiration for the characters and the concept of the comic book.

The idea of a comic book was not received well by the officers at the Afghan Ministry of Defense (MOD). They did not like trying something new and unknown. A comic book did not exist in Afghanistan – how would the tribal elders react? So, I decided to do a demonstration to get him to buy in. School year had just ended, and my Afghan counterpart had a 10-year-old son. The kid could read and write four languages and just charming to boot. The last Indiana Jones “Crystal Skulls” movie had come out. It was immediately turned into a comic book and I saw it on the shelves at the Military Exchange in Bagram. I bought it and took it to my next visit to the MOD. I said to my counterpart there, “Would you do me the favor of giving this to your son tonight and when I come back next week tell me how he reacts to it.” It was a “Grand slam.” The next week there was no negativity at all. It was now, “How fast can you do this commando comic book?” He said his kid wouldn’t put it down or stop talking about it. Here is some of my 22-page original plot. [Author’s note – I just show a few lines].

GHOST - COMIC BOOK CONCEPT

BASED ON A FICTIONAL AFGHAN COMMANDO UNIT - SQUAD ALPHA

The purpose of this comic book is to educate about IED dangers, counter the message of the insurgents who try to recruit young rural males, enhance the image of the ANA and cause a change in the outlook of young males in rural areas.

The hope is to effect change in young male population by providing an alternative message, good role models who are tough, smart, courageous ANA commandos who hunt down insurgent cells. It will deal with many themes laying out Taliban intimidation, opium and other drug trafficking, corruption and brutality. The opening segment will portray graphic violence but beyond that the intended focus is on rendering Taliban members captured.

The main character is Ghost, a 23-year-old commando, who leads an elite special operations team. A thought for their slogan/patch: “Taliban Hunters, We own the night.”

Valiant

Sergeant Rich Bryan, an illustrator for the British 15th PSYOP Group has deployed twice to Afghanistan. During his second tour as part of Operation Herrick from July to December 2008 in Helmand Province, he started work on a comic book for the Afghans. The author says:

This is an ongoing project that I am working on targeting the Afghan youth. “Valiant” is an Afghan super hero. Indications from Afghan interpreters that I work with suggest it could be a winner. I still need to make a few cultural adjustments to it before it goes to press.

In the first panel the Afghan superhero punches a Taliban suicide bomber high into the sky where his vest explodes.

THE CAPTAIN PEACE COMIC BOOK

Leaflet AFD01aaHB1000.

Leaflet AF06CO1aaBB1001.

We don’t have a sample of this comic book to show our readers because at the time they were still classified and you could not keep any as souvenirs. However, we know the character of Captain Peace first appeared in aerial propaganda leaflets produced by A Company, 1st PSYOP battalion (Airborne), of the 4th PSYOP Group, supporting the Combined Joint Task Force 76 (CJTF76) in Afghanistan in 2005. By 2009 the character was the star of a very popular comic book.

The Captain Peace billboard

The character Captain Peace also starred in radio programs and was advertised on posters and billboards. The man depicted as Captain Peace in both was a Staff Sergeant in Task Force 41 that happened to look a bit like the cartoon, so he was used as a model. If any reader brought home a copy of the comic book I would love to see it.

BOSNIA

County Bumpkin meets Sarajevo Kids…and Wins them Over

Tolerance Poster used in Bosnia featured on back cover of Comic Book

After the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina the North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed a multinational peacekeeping Stabilization Force known as SFOR. The Stabilization Force mission was to deter hostilities and stabilize the peace, contribute to a secure environment by providing a continued military presence in their Area of Responsibility, target and coordinate SFOR support to key areas including primary civil implementation organizations, and progress towards a lasting consolidation of peace, without further need for NATO-led forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As part of their campaign to teach peace and tolerance to the former combatants, about 2003, SFOR published a miniature comic book called Growing Up. The comic was produced in English and two forms of Serbo-Croatian (Latinic and Cyrillic) so it had the added bonus of being a teaching aid for language. The 14-page comic was produced as both a stand-alone product and an insert to be placed in the German Army OPINFO battalion magazine Mirko, a monthly youth magazine designed to appeal to the teenage audience. Mirko publication began in June 1996 and production increased to 100,000 copies per edition in fall 1997. The magazine's sections were sports, the music pop-scene, computer and internet stories, the youth, exciting events and movies. There were posters in every issue showing international soccer-teams or famous pop-stars. Although not overtly evident, Mirko helped spread the word of a new understanding that would form the basis for the permanence of peace. Mirko, the title chosen for the publication, is a common male first name used in Bosnia as well as in Serbia. It contains the word MIR (peace).

The comic book tells the story of a young man named Damir from a tiny village called Brcko is sent to school in Sarajevo. Strangely, in a nation of many nationalities one would think that the tolerance would be between Bosnians and Serbs or Croats. Instead, it is between the boy from a small village and the other children from the big city. Damir says at one point:

The wealth of a country lies in its differences and its cultures and peoples. We are very lucky to live in such a country.

By the end of the comic Damir has made friends with the city kids and the lesson of local tolerance has been taught. Perhaps SFOR thought it best to start with small steps.

Major Robert Jablonski (Ret.) was the Media Director for SFOR in Bosnia Herzegovina. He told me about how the comic book came into being:

“GROWING UP” was a “Campaign Roundtable” plan primarily targeting Juveniles 12 to 15 years old and secondarily teenagers 16 to 19 years old. Some of the major themes in the book were: acceptance of differences through reconciliation provides hope for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s long-term prosperity; violence is not a legitimate means of solving problems, solve differences by peaceful means and peace will bring prosperity; and the rule of law applies to everyone.

“Roundtable” was an ongoing program aimed at lessening Interethnic rivalries from the War. “Growing Up” was written and illustrated by Senad Mavric, a staff artist in the PSYOP Section. Our thought was to indirectly address the Ethic problems by allowing the characters to deal with other problems. This was a long-term project and due to the long lead time and the difficulty of changes later we first got the story approved with no illustrations. We went out and shot photographs of actual locations in Sarajevo to get the look and feel right. The product was storyboarded and then drawn and colored in watercolor. Part of the story-boarding was also to get the thought bubbles the right size so we could lay out pages correctly. It was scanned into Photoshop, and then the hand-drawn text in English and Serbo-Croatian (Latinic Font and Cyrillic Font) was manipulated to fit. The story was originally written in Serbo-Croatian and had already been translated into English so that part was already done. We also had to contract for its printing and insertion into Mirko and this process took approximately 6 weeks. The whole process took about 4 months.

The “Peace and Tolerance” PSYOP product on the back page was previously used and was one of our main Tolerance images. Notice the subtle difference between the two characters: white head and black body; black head and white body. You can see part of the poster hanging on Damir’s wall in the comic along with “Smile” which was on a city light sign in the background of one of the Panels. We had extra copies printed separately from Mirko and PSYOP teams from all of the Multinational Divisions distributed them to schools as a primary point and any other collections of youth. Schools used both Mirko and Growing Up as reading material as they had English and Serbo-Croatian versions to practice with.

Cambodia

   

Phousera Ing is an Artist and teacher at the Sorbonne, born in Phnom Penh in 1961. He has done pen and ink sketches of his early childhood in Cambodia during the Vietnam War that have been published in numerous newspapers such as the Cambodia Daily in 2016. He is currently working on an over 300-word graphic novel on Cambodian history from 1967 to 1975 entitled Bitter Cucumbers: the Birth of a Tragedy, to be published in the near future. The title is from a 14th century legend about a king who was accidently killed in his cucumber garden by his armed Gardener who mistook him for a thief. The story can also be read as a critique of King Sihanouk of Cambodia. He used some material from my Cambodia article in this comic book.

Land Mine Awareness

Although not nearly as fancy as the big commercial comic books, smaller versions were prepared for use by Army teams around the world. The booklet above is entitled “Land Mine Awareness program” and was prepared for use in Cambodia. It is smaller than the usual booklets at just 4.25 x 5.50-inches and identifies explosives and explains how to avoid them. The pages above identify four weapons that might be found on the ground and depict a youth pulling back another boy that is about to touch a weapon on the ground.

COLUMBIA

Capitan Omega

This PSYOP super-hero was never published as a comic as far as I know. In 2011, I heard from a United States Army Sergeant assigned to a Military Information Support Team (MIST) in Columbia. He supported Joint Task Force Omega and as part of his PSYOP campaign wanted to prepare a comic book. He had a design for his hero but was unsure how to go ahead and produce a comic book. I helped as best I could, but I have no contacts within the comic book industry. I recommended that he contact the 4th PSYOP Group for publication support.

Joint Task Force Omega (Fuerza de tarea conjunta Omega) involves the Army, Navy and Air Force of Colombia in support of “Plan Consolidation,” assembled with the main purpose of capturing the leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

I do note that there is an American comic book hero named “Captain Omega,” but the PSYOP soldier used the Spanish title Capitan.  

VENEZUELA

 

The Adventures of PeteJ

Captain Evan Phelps was a PSYOP officer at Ft. Bragg in the mid-1990s. As the commander of a Military Information Support Team (MIST) in Venezuela he helped produce a comic book using local printers independently of the 4th PSYOP Group. He still had some of the sketches, storyboard, and a final version of the anti-drug comic and was happy to share it with our readers.

His team principally consisted of Sergeant First Class Brad King and Staff Sergeant Fred Marble. They hammered out the anti-drug story in one evening. The propaganda comic was initially prepared for the Venezuelan National Guard in an attempt to slow or stop the transportation of drugs and the use of human "mules." The hero of that story was “Miguel.” The National Guard preferred "off the shelf" products and balked at the comic book prepared by the team. The team then contacted the Civil Defense Police within the Ministry of Justice. They were excited about the project, so the storyline was adapted to better meet the needs of the police and the comic book was published and disseminated. The comic was a great success and afterwards the National Guard was more willing to work with the team.

In the comic, young PeteJ graduates from the police academy, and soon meets a young girl named Rose. She is tempted by a dope pusher and succumbs to his urging that she swallow rubber capsules filled with drugs to smuggle them inside her stomach. She is next seen at an airport about to smuggle the drugs into Miami. There are drug-sniffing dogs in the airport and her pusher sees them and flees, leaving Rose to her fate. She panics and suddenly one or more of the rubber capsules breaks open in her stomach causing her death. PeteJ attends her funeral and vows to get justice for Rose.

The pusher is next seen selling drugs to children, which threatens the youth of the country. Peter is assigned to the case and watches the movements of the pusher. The drug boss shows up at the pusher's home and the police raid the place. A heroic policeman in full uniform tells the reader that drugs can be eliminated and there is a phone number to be called by a citizen that wants to help law enforcement. The drug boss tries to shoot it out and is killed. The pusher suddenly sees the errors of his ways. He weeps as he is arrested. We are told that a new comic adventure is coming and the last few panels feature patriotic images and anti-drug comments.

 

The “Miguel” Comic for the National Guard

We seldom get to see early versions of a propaganda comic book. I wrote an entire article just on wartime and wargame training leaflets because they are rare and seldom seen by civilians. In this case, Captain Phelps sent me some of the sheets of the first version that told of young Miguel who graduates from the military academy and fights drug smugglers as a member of the military. The story is almost identical, just the uniforms and some text are different. For those that want to see what the original drawings of the draft comic book look like, enjoy.

Coloring Books for the Venezuelan National Guard

  

Miguelito, Norita and their friends

Captain Phelps told me the MIST team also helped Venezuela in the production of patriotic and nation-building coloring books. The two we depict feature typical school boy Miguelito and his friend Norita. They were designed to promote the children’s esteem in their society. There were so many various police forces that the competition between them was fierce and the Guardia Nacional de Venezuela was always eager to keep their place at the top as the friend to all Venezuelans. In the comic above, the two children play various sports in school and are happy. They are approached by a drug dealer but instead of sampling his wares they go home and tell their parents. The pusher is arrested and the children live happily ever after in a drug free environment.

A POSSIBLE “BLACK” COMIC
BOOK FOR GRENADA

 

Grenada – Rescued from Rape and Torture

There was a rumor of an American “black” operation during the 1983 invasion of Grenada. According to that rumor, the Central Intelligence Agency prepared and airdropped a pro-American anti-Communist comic book over the Island in an attempt to explain why the Americans had come. The following is what we have discovered about this operation.

A private comic book entrepreneur named Malcolm Ater founded Malcolm Ater Productions in New York City in July 1946. By 1950, Malcolm Ater Productions was called Commercial Comics Inc., now based in Washington DC. Ater seems to have specialized in political comics, producing them for Senator Scott Lucas, Connecticut Governor Chester Bowles, Senator Brien McMahon, Congressman Al Loveland and Arkansas Governor Sid McMath. Perhaps because of his independent stature and his location in the nation’s capital, the CIA “might” have used him to produce a 14-page comic book for Grenada. Because this was a black operation, neither the CIA nor Commercial Comics appears anywhere in the book. It is alleged that Ater was paid $35,000 by the CIA for his work on the project.

The cover of the comic depicts Grenadians being murdered by communists, and then freed by Americans, and finally the joyous celebration of the Grenadian people for the American troops. The inside front cover states that the comic is a product of the Victims of International Communist Emissaries (V.O.I.C.E.) and the introduction is signed by A. C. Langdon, 1984. The story tells of Grenadian citizens held hostage in their own homes and later freed by the Americans, and features Antonio Langdon who was held a prisoner in a communist prison for four and one-half years. Langdon tells American reporters how the communists took over power in Grenada. The book ends with the American rescue and gives an address where Langdon can be reached. 

The problem with this being a black CIA operation is that the invasion was in 1983 and the book clearly is dated 1984. In addition, it depicts the end of the invasion when that could not be known if the book was dropped during the invasion. This is clearly a privately produced post-invasion comic book. There seems no way this could be a black operation, but if anyone found these comic books on Grenada during or shortly after the invasion I would like to hear from them.

A West Indian bibliography says:

A U.S. government-backed propaganda comic by a US citizen living in Grenada; claims to have been shot and tortured by the communist forces.

So, it is possible that the comic book was partially paid for by the CIA a year after the attack to explain the U.S. invasion to Grenadians after the fact. However, it would seem impossible for this to be a comic book designed before the invasion as part of the intelligence preparation of the battle field. I suspect that the individual who had been held by Grenada simply wanted a payday and wrote the comic book for profit.

Wikipedia seems to buy the story and says:

Upon completion of the book, Ater, also head of the company, met his CIA connection in a Washington, D.C. taxicab, where he exchanged the art boards for a suitcase full of cash. The comic, described as "heavy-handed propaganda" by Randy Duncan in The Power of Comics, was airdropped over Grenada prior to the American Invasion of Grenada. The purpose of the Rescued from Rape and Slavery comic was to “justify the American intervention in the country, by describing the rise of communist forces there and how their presence demands military intervention.”

One PSYOP Trooper told me that he saw several of the comics in a box in the 1st PSYOP Battalion Operational Detachment on Smoke Bomb Hill at Ft. Bragg. The box was nearly empty and an officer told him that they were brought back from Grenada by Operational Detachment personnel. If they were brought back from the invasion that means that the 1984 date was a deception meant to show that this was a post war comic and not propaganda dropped prior to the invasion. Very confusing!

Atomic Spy Cases

The March 1950 Avon Press comic book Atomic Spy Cases was advertised as “tales of espionage and atomic secrets from the dawn of the Cold War.” There were seven stories inside the 32-page, ten cents comic book including one called “Donovan of Central Intelligence.” General Wild Bill Donovan was of course the leader of the WWII Office of Strategic Services.

Donovan of Central Intelligence

The comic would be of little interest except that the CIA classified it until 15 December 2004. The Donovan seven-page story claims to tell the true story of his mission to smuggle WWII German missile plans out of an unnamed Middle Eastern country. Why was it classified? Did it give something away?

Page 7 of the Donovan Story

In the story Donovan has his head shaved and the missile plans drawn on his bare scalp. He then wears a wig to smuggle the plans out of the country. He also shows how to remove the hinge pins from a door to escape from a locked room and how to set afire the fumes of a moving car. Did the CIA use such methods at one time? What did they want to keep secret? We shall never know, but it is interesting to wonder about it. 

THE COLD WAR

It is alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency produced a comic book called The Freedom Fighter’s Manual in 1983 that instructed Nicaraguan citizens how to fight against the Communist rulers of their country and sabotage their economy. The preface claimed that it was:

A practical guide to liberating Nicaragua from oppression and misery by paralyzing the military-industrial complex of the traitorous Marxist state without having to use special tools and with minimal risk for the combatant.

The text is the above panel says:

Paint anti-Sandinista slogans.

Long Live the Pope.

Patriotic Nicaraguans. Paint your cries and complaints against the pro-Russian FSLN on the wall and other places so that everyone can see your reaction against Communism in the country.

U.S. Navy Propaganda against Postwar Japan

Cover

When the U.S. Navy wished to station the atomic aircraft carrier George Washington in Yokosuka Japan, they knew there would be intense pressure from Japanese leftists to block the visit. The U.S. Naval Forces, Public Affairs Office Japan, decided to get ahead of the problem and produced 27,000 copies of this Japanese-style comic book (Manga) that tells of an ordinary seaman’s life on the aircraft carrier, “CVN 73.” the manga was also made available online.

Pages 24-25

The main character in the story is a young man of mixed Japanese-American heritage. The text is all English, but every now and then you see some symbols that look suspiciously Japanese. The comic was meant to reassure the Japanese and explain how necessary and how safe such a visit was. Everything worked out well in the comic book and apparently in real life too. 

THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Lei Feng

Communist China has printed millions of very reasonably priced comic books for its people to instill pride, patriotism and knowledge of history (as they see it). They are simply written and people of every age apparently enjoy reading the comics both for entertainment and education. The prices vary from about five cents to fifteen cents. A general description of the comics can be found in Gino Nebiolo’s The People’s Comic Book, Anchor Press, NY, 1973. He says about the comics and in particular, Lei Feng:

The People’s Art Institute of Shanghai prints 16 million comics a year, and that of Peking 30 million. The first edition of Lei Feng was about 317,000 copies, which successive editions brought up to two million [Note: These are 1973 totals]

Red Chinese comic books can be purchased today. There are many listed on EBay and other Internet sites. The original 1965 China Film Publishers (Peking) version of Lei Feng opens with a comment by Mao Zedong:

Learn from Lei Feng. Out great leader Chairman Mao has written this inscription calling upon everyone to learn from Lei Feng.We should follow the Party and Chairman Mao’s instruction and learn from Lei Feng. We should give our whole bodies and minds to the tasks of proletarian revolution and be rustless screws in the socialist revolution and in socialist construction.

The general plot of the comic book depicts how every aspect of Lei Feng’s life is bettered by his following of Mao’s teachings. Feng is in the people’s Army, assigned to the motor pool. At the end of the day while other soldiers go about their business, he tightens screws on his truck. He picks up nuts and bolts along the road in case he has to repair his truck, thus saving the citizens the cost of parts. He hears that the Nationalists might attack mainland China and volunteers for combat, but it told by his commissar that Mao says that the driver is as important as the fighter. On his way to sick call he stops and loads bricks, later walks 7 miles out of his way to help an old woman and child return home. His entire life is one of unselfishness and sacrifice. He dies at the end from a terrible accident as a comrade backing up a truck knocks over a pole that kills Feng and everyone who knew him or heard of his actions vows to work harder and longer for socialism and China. What I found amazing was not that Feng was a model socialist; after all, he is the star of the story. What was surprising is that every person he met also immediately accepted his values. They all immediately vow to work harder and more unselfishly to build socialism. In the Chinese Communist comic book, there are no skeptics. 

Xiao Li or Little Li

In April 2016, as part of its campaign to raise awareness about “national security,” China’s Ministry of State Security produced a poster warning the people about the supposed intelligence risks that come with getting romantically involved with foreigners. The poster consisted of two pages and 18 panels in which a young Chinese woman meets a westerner who romances her and convinces her to let him read notes from her job as a member of the International Propaganda Department. She foolishly agrees and is later arrested for her misdeeds.

COMIC BOOKS AS PART OF
THE WAR ON TERROR

The Thunder Team

The first Iraqi Freedom comic books were prepared as part of the war on terror campaign created in collaborative effort with the US Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, which did the initial character and plot development. They are based on the new Iraqi government military and police security forces. The initiative for the comic-book project came from the US Department of Defense's Central Command, which is responsible for US security interests in 25 Middle Eastern and Arab nations. It was hoped that the comics would help engender respect among children for the national police force and the new Iraqi Army. The British Broadcasting Company reported in 2005 that the U.S. Army's Fourth PSYOP Group at Fort Bragg in North Carolina has done initial character and plot development and will produce the series based on the security forces, military and police, in the near future of the Middle East. None of the comic books bear a code, but if they did we would expect it to be the military designation "CB."

Daniel A. Castro adds in his 2007 Naval Postgraduate School thesis: Do Psychological Operations Benefit from the use of Host Nation Media:

The JPOTF decided to go for a target audience that was younger by developing the Thunder Team Comic Book. Thanks to a great staff both U.S. and Iraqi, a quality paper source, and a reliable print contract, the Thunder Team Comic was an instant hit. This was evident from the Tactical PSYOP Teams (TPTs) requesting more be made due to the instant following that the comic book created. The overall theme of the comic book involved the Thunder Team elite unit from the Iraqi Police (IP) and the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) that would fight and defeat the evil terrorists in Iraq; a good guy- bad guy story. The plots always involved a terrorists trying to kill or harm innocent civilians only to be thwarted by the ever vigilant and powerful Thunder Team. In addition to the popularity with the youth of Iraq, the comic book became very popular among the Iraqi Security Forces who loved seeing themselves in a superhero role. The result was the JPOTF benefiting from having multiple target audiences respond to the comic book that enforced the themes of legitimacy of the Iraqi government as well as capturing or killing the insurgents and terrorists.

Harper’s Magazine reported in June 2005 on an advertisement posted in March 2005 on the Federal Business Opportunities website by the U.S. Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Harper’s said in part:

In order to achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East, the youth need to be reached. One effective means of influencing youth is through the use of comic books. A series of comic books provides the opportunity for youth to learn lessons, develop role models, and improve their education.

The Contractor shall provide development of an original comic-book series. Knowledge of Arabic language and culture, law enforcement, and small-unit military operations is desired. The series will be based on the security forces, military, and police, and set in the near future in the Middle East.

A designated representative of the U.S. Army will provide thematic guidance, cultural expertise, and oversight to the Contractor. This will be a collaborative effort with representatives of the U.S. Army who have already done initial character and plot development.

The Sixth Brigade

 

At a later date it was apparently decided to use the civilian Lincoln Group as the manager or contractor to publish the comic books. In 2008 the United States Air Force advertised a solicitation for volumes 16 to 27 of “The Sixth Brigade.” The dollar value of the contract for 12 issues is not to exceed $2,400,000. Lincoln Group would supervise the design, production and distribution of 12 issues of 60,000 comic books per issue for a total of 720,000 comic books. The comic would highlight the professionalism of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) and enhance the public perception of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) as a capable, well-trained, and professional fighting force.

A U.S. Army training guide explains the “Sixth Brigade” philosophy as follows:

The Sixth Brigade are the elite soldiers of Iraqi Special Forces. They fight insurgents and evil leaders to support Iraqi nationalism. Their superpowers are based on teamwork that conquests terrorism. They show that fighting for Iraq as a soldier defines honor and patriotism.

The Falcons

Another U.S comic book for Iraq was printed in about the same 2008 to 2009 Time-frame. This comic was entitled The Falcons. Most of the covers use the image of the falcon in some form. Sometimes they are seen attacking a villain: other times they are peacefully on the arm of a man or woman; sometimes they are seen as a shadow over the landscape; and even as an automobile hood ornament.

In the issue above a terrorist group called the New Day Movement has sent a chemical weapon into the country. The Iraqi Government counters with an anti-Terrorism Task Force called The Falcons. There are numerous lessons and codes of morality in the comic. We might consider it a bit “preachy,” but perhaps a return to the old rules of conduct was what the readers needed.

A Lesson about Following too Close to a Convoy

In the early pages the reader is shown that even those Iraqis that left the nation under Saddam can be trusted and later told never to follow a government convoy too closely because the gunners might open fire. It attempts to teach a truer Islam. The Falcons discover a body that was used to test a chemical poison called VX. While trying to recruit a hesitant agent they observe a terrorist street bombing. A person is seen photographing the bombing and taken prisoner. The prisoner resists but the Falcons explain that Mohammed never wanted to kill innocent women and children. They explain that no real religious leader has issued a Fatwa that allows the killings. The comic ends “to be continued” with the small team deciding to recruit more members.

The first series of the Falcon Comic seems to have been Twelve Copies

The Symbol of the Heroic Falcon Team

The comic also explains that there will soon be a computer game called “The Falcon Team,” where children can apparently fight terrorists. The back of the comic has a symbol of the Falcons and the text:

Iraq – Peace and Justice

In March 2005, Kalev I. Sepp mentioned the Iraqi 36th Commando before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations. He stated that they had been continuously trained for the past year by U.S. Army 5th Special Forces and were considered an elite combat unit. The 36th is mostly made up of Kurdish troops. The comic books depicted here were distributed to Iraqi children by members of the commando unit. Notice that the books show the new Iraqi government police and military as super-heroes. That same sort of image was occasionally used on Coalition propaganda leaflets such as the one we depict below.

Leaflet 3010

One propaganda leaflet that depicts a member of the new Iraqi Army as a lone super hero is coded 3010. The insignia of the new army is at the upper left and on the chest of the soldier. He is pictured fighting terrorists with the text at bottom:

Real Iraqi Heroes

This is an interesting leaflet because there is some argument about the concept of a lone superhero for the Muslim people. A 28 September 2007 Stars and Stripes article by Allison Batdorff entitled “Field Marketing in Fallujah” says in part:

Getting into the Iraqi male mind-set requires a shift in focus for the average American. For instance, you wouldn’t self-aggrandize when recruiting Iraqi men to join the local police force. The lone-hero-with-badge-and- gun appeal wouldn’t work here. You would talk about how joining the Iraqi Security Forces would reflect honor on their families, tribes and community. The concept of honor is paramount, instead of emphasizing the individual; it’s the collective that counts.

If Allison Batdorff’s view is correct, we must wonder how the average Iraqi child views the comic book heroes. On the other hand, the comic books might actually change the cultural attitudes of the children. Only time will tell.

On the other hand, it is possible that the U.S. Army understands the problem and has already moved to correct the concept of the one-man superhero. One Army publication mentions the concept of the Sixth Brigade Comic book and says:

The unit is made up of elite soldiers of Iraqi Special Forces. They fight insurgents and evil leaders to support Iraqi nationalism. Their superpowers are based on teamwork that defeats terrorism and shows that fighting for Iraq as a soldier defines honor and patriotism.

The Docs

In 2010, as the US military neared the end of a decade of war, the U.S. Naval Health Research Center produced a 200-page graphic novel called “The Docs” as a communication tool to help Navy Corpsmen with the stresses of combat deployments. The graphic novel portrays four expeditionary Corpsmen from both active duty and Reserve components, who are deployed with Marine Corps and Seabee units and are serving in Iraq at the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

ISIS

In 2015, the terrorist organization ISIS became very powerful in Syria and parts of Iraq. They made great use of social media and did an excellent job of recruiting young Muslims. The United States and its allies prepared propaganda against ISIS including leaflets with cartoons and other materials. Here, Coloring Book Comics (CBC) offers “ISIS: A Comic Culture of Evil - A true to life graphic coloring book.” Their ad says:

We speak truth to power with conviction. We speak for those who have been silenced as the world allows terroristic behavior to continue. We call attention for those who do not have a voice and for those who are enslaved in silence and mortal combat against the horrific actions of terrorism.

Through Jihad, The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – ISIS - wishes to create a worldwide Caliphate and establish a global Islamic government to be run by Muslims. This neoclassic 36-page Comic Book on ISIS is real, factual, accurate, and shows the hideous reality of their radical, Islamic, Muslim, Terrorist World. This book has been referred to as a variant in the Comic Book industry. We show the truth as it exists in detail. We ask: Why and how does ISIS recruit? What will government leaders do? What will the political class do? What will leaders of faith do? What will you do should they come for you? ISIS is a real State with real consequences.

Terrorism is a human attitude designed to destroy other humans and to create a decline in society. The mindset of a terrorist is medieval. It is used to coerce, retaliate against and intimidate others. Some consider terrorism as a means to change political behavior in creating a state of fear and submission through murderous actions and deeds. The systematic terrorist wishes death upon those who support free speech, freedom of the press or people that support human rights. Through murderous jihad, hatred, evil deeds and death, terrorists think they can over-rule and destroy all who disagree with them. The radical terror Islamists ISIS will murder today, any Jews, Christians, Muslims or anyone they view as a threat to their Caliphate existence.

COMIC BOOKS TO BOLSTER BROTHERHOOD

The 99 – Islamic Superheroes

In 2007, a new comic book was born that featured Muslim superheroes. The 99, featuring 99 characters based on the 99 attributes of Allah, focuses on the positive aspects of the religion and presenting a peaceful, tolerant, multicultural version of Islam to the rest of the world. The powers of The 99 come from 99 Noor Stones created by the Guardians of Wisdom. The Noor Stones contain knowledge from the great libraries that were destroyed when Baghdad fell to the forces of Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan.

Some of the mysterious 99 are Dr. Ramzi Razem, a psychologist and leader of The 99; Batina the Hidden, a Muslim woman from Yemen who wears a burqa; Jabbar the Powerful from Saudi Arabia; Samda the Invulnerable, a small eight-year-old girl who can create an impenetrable force field; Hadya the Guide from London, a human GPS tracker; Mumita the Destroyer who has exceptional speed, strength and agility and Wonder Worm, a man born with the powers of a newt.

We mention this comic because it has “crossed over,” and in 2010 will be seen in the United States as part of DC Comics and also a television cartoon show. DC Comics has scheduled six special crossover issues in which The 99 will fight crime alongside the Justice League of America, the superhero team that includes Superman and Batman.

There is no overt religion in The 99. No one's religion is ever mentioned although the heroes are clearly Muslim. However, DC Comics has been accused of “Muslim pandering” and “treachery” for producing what might be considered a pro-Muslim comic while the United States is fighting a war on terrorism. At the same time, President Barack Obama praised the comic and its founder for capturing the imagination of young people with superheroes who embody the teachings and tolerance of Islam.

Sumayyah Meehan from the Muslim Media Network commented on the comics:

All the characters in "The 99" are the epitome of kindness, generosity, wisdom and honesty, which are core Islamic values. Al-Mutawa uses “The 99” to spread a message of peace that the world really needs to hear. The comic is named after the 99 attributes of Allah. Each superhero has one of Allah’s attributes and the superhero exemplifies how best to embody and use such an attribute.

Note: Although we cannot be sure this is the same comic book, as early as 2005 there was a demand for such a comic book by the 4th PSYOP Group. An advertisement on the US government's Federal Business Opportunities website invited applications for someone to develop an “original comic book series.”

The series provides the opportunity for youth to learn lessons, develop role models and improve their education. It is a collaborative effort with the US Army, which says it has already done initial character and plot development ... based on the security forces, military and police, in the near future in the Middle East and is being produced by US Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. To achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East, the youth need to be reached. The initiative came from the US Department of Defense's Central Command. The successful applicant will ideally need to have experience of law enforcement and small unit military operations, along with knowledge of Arab language and cultures.

MAURITANIA

Mauritania flag

I do not have an example of this comic book but hope that one or our military readers will send in an image of the cover.

In 2009, American Military Information Support Teams (MIST) in Mauritania produced a comic book as part of their attempt to fight terrorism. The pandemic of terrorism aided by crime, trafficking, and murdering was a serious concern facing a peaceful and tolerant Muslim society. The publication would make the argument that terrorists have robbed the communities of their chance at economic prosperity within the international community.

Additional arguments included:

We must come together as a people. Extremism does not work to profit our families and heritage, but only make us turn on one another and ourselves. Terrorism has used our holy religion, Islam, as a facade to mask their criminal actions and behaviors.

The publication would use the following symbols if possible:

The Mauritanian flag. The upturned crescent and star, symbols of both Mauritania and Islam. A shadowy figure, symbol of a “suspicious” character to aide in the alert process. A picture or symbol of a terrorist attack and additional visual means to convey extremism.

The plan was to produce one comic book. It was to incorporate all the themes combined together. Comic books had already shown great popularity in Mauritania among the youth and had been proven to be effective media in a variety of programs ranging from AIDS awareness to Mine Risk Education, and Malaria Prevention. The comic books were designed to be disseminated at schools to emphasize full comprehension of the program.

The Insurgents strike back

 

Captain Iraq

In a wonderful turnaround, in 2008, a comic book was produced in Iraq, allegedly “Approved by the Iraqi Resistance.” The comic, entitled Captain Iraq depicts the superhero crashing through the window of the White House and delivering a kick to the chest of President George Bush. The back shows Captain Iraq flying out of the White House holding President Bush while American soldiers and helicopters fire at him. The image is in fact not a comic book, but a political parody of a comic book by a Brazilian who did not “copyright” it, but instead “copyleft” it. The book imitates “Captain America” who fought the Nazis in WWII. Notice that Captain Iraq’s uniform bears the three stars which represented the Ba’ath Party motto, Wahda, Hurriyah and Ishtirakiyah (Unity, Freedom and Socialism). During Saddam’s reign the words Allaahu Akbar (God is Great) was written between the stars and the rumor was that the words on the flag were in Saddam's own handwriting. The version of the flag shown on the superhero’s uniform was in style from 2004 to 2008 when the words were changed from Saddam's alleged handwriting to traditional stylized Kufic script.

     

Iraqi resistance fighters defeat Superman

  

Support of Palestinian Territories and defeating the Americans in Iraq were also popular subjects

The artist, Brazilian cartoonist and activist Carlos Latuff also drew comics depicting Iraqi resistance fighters defeating not only American soldiers but also Superman. Mr. Latuff tends to draw scenes of suffering in places like the Palestinian Territories, Iraq, and the slums of Latin America. He has touched on issues like Apartheid in South Africa, the plight of Native Americans in the U.S. and the oppression of Tibetans in China. More recently he released series of cartoons about Iraqi journalist Muntazer Al-Zaidi who threw his shoe at President Bush.

Newssheets for Kids

The 315th Tactical PSYOP Company reached Baghdad in May 2003. By July it was publishing the newspaper Baghdad Now. In January 2004, the PSYOP Company began publishing the comic book newssheet Baghdad Kids. The magazine was prepared in both English and Arabic and distributed free in an attempt to attract children while conveying both news and Coalition policies.

The magazine is mentioned in an article entitled “Can Do infantrymen distribute shoes to Sadr kids,” Army News Service, 2 April 2008. Specialist Ben Brody writes:

“We’re trying to get the kids of Sadr City some new shoes, and hand out copies of Baghdad Kids,” said Specialist. Brandon Wise, 307th Psychological Operations Company, Team 1033, a Missouri Reserve unit. “It’s a fun magazine for kids – it’s got stuff about dinosaurs, outer space, the Olympics – things kids like. It’s got some important safety and hygiene messages too, like ‘remember to brush your teeth’ and ‘don’t point toy guns at Soldiers.’” Wise, of Greenville, Ill., and Staff Sgt. Travis C. Butler, also of the 307th, handed out bags of school supplies, coloring books and issues of Baghdad Kids.

“It’s really important for us to make a good impression on these kids before they grow up,” Butler, of St. Clair, Mo., said. “The kids are the future of Iraq, and fostering a better relationship now will make for better relationships later.”

COLORING BOOKS

 

Besides comic books, coloring books were also printed and distributed to Iraqi children as part of the American PSYOP effort. The 4th Psychological Operations Group printed and distributed 250,000 copies of a children's coloring book developed to educate Iraqi children on the dangers of unexploded ordnance. The coloring book, drawn by Corporal Edwardo Vargas, features a baby camel. The front depicts a bombed home. On page three of the coloring book the inside of the house is shown and we note two hand grenades at each side of the entrance with a pull-string between them and two mines on the floor. The title of the book is:

The adventures of the young camel

The young camel finds a destroyed building

The back depicts a puzzle for children to solve and the text:

Help the Young Camel and his Brother Find their Camel Parents

The Distribution of Coloring Books in Iraq

These coloring books are a wonderful way to teach children about the danger of mines and explosives. During the American occupation of Iraq a number of different books were prepared and distributed. In the photograph above Sergeant Rick Abner, with the 350th PSYOP Company out of Portland, Oregon, attached to Taskforce 1-27 Infantry hands out coloring books to Hawija children during Operation Wolfhound Power in November 2004.

There were also occasional problems with coloring books. U.S. Army Reserve Major Thomas Bergman was activated in December of 1995 for a tour in Bosnia as the PSYOP Support Element Commander attached to the 18th Military Police Brigade at Camp Comanche, near Eagle Base. He says:

Mine awareness among children was a big priority and we were pressed to arrange visits to schools and distribute mine awareness coloring books which we had never received. When they did arrive, (with crayons), the coloring books were printed on glossy paper rendering them useless to be colored on!  I literally had a pallet of coloring books that had to be destroyed. Needless to say, the MP Brigade Commander was not impressed. 

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS