PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly
 Premiere issue of PS (June 1951). Art by Will Eisner. |
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| Categories | preventive maintenance |
|---|---|
| Frequency | monthly |
| Publisher | Department of the Army |
| First issue | June 1951 |
| Country |  United States |
| Based in | Redstone Arsenal, Alabama |
| ISSN | 0475-2953 |
PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly is a monthly United States Army magazine published since June 1951 to illustrate proper preventive maintenance methods with comic book-style art. (The magazine's title derives from its being a "postscript" to other, related publications.)
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[edit] History
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This section includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2010) |
As the US Army ramped up for its involvement in the war on the Korean peninsula, it realized that its soldiers were encountering problems with their equipment. The Army had experienced some degree of acceptance and success during WWII with the instructional publication Army Motors, for which Corporal Will Eisner, an established comic-book writer-artist-editor, had been appropriated to draw such characters as Private Joe Dope, Connie Rodd, and Sgt. Half-Mast McCanick. In 1951, the Army hired Eisner to create similar instructional material for its new publication, PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly.
Eisner was the publication's artistic director from its inception through the end of 1971. The magazine's artists have included Eisner, Murphy Anderson, Joe Kubert, Dan Spiegle, Scott Madsen, Malane Newman, Alfredo Alcala, and Mike Ploog[1]. As of 2010, Kubert is the art contractor for the magazine, having begun his PS work in 2001.
The magazine from its inception has been, written, researched, and edited by Department of the Army civilians. The home office of PS was located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, from April 1951 through January 1955, when it was moved to Raritan Arsenal, New Jersey. It was moved again in October 1962 to Fort Knox, Kentucky. It remained there until July 1973, when it moved to the Lexington-Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. In June 1993, it moved to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
In March 2011, the magazine is scheduled to publish its 700th issue.
[edit] Recurring characters
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010) |
The original characters that appeared in PS, were Private Joe Dope, Private Fosgnoff, MSG Bull Dozer, Percy the Skunk, SFC Windy Windsock, SFC Macon Sparks, SFC Pablo Hablo, Half-Mast, and Connie Rodd. Two remain as of 2010: Half-Mast, who was promoted to Master Sergeant, and Connie Rodd, both of whom have appeared in every issue.
Later characters that as of 2010 still appear are: Bonnie, an African-American civilian who appeared in 1970 to work with Connie; SFC Benjamin "Rotor" Blade, an aviation specialist; and the Online Warrior, a Logistics Management avatar.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, Connie and Bonnie were played up as "cheesecake" targeted at the mostly male GIs to help interest them in using PS. Following an increased presence of females in the Army since that time, and at the urging of Congresswoman Bella Abzug and Senator William Proxmire, the magazine updated the two characters in March 1980 to a more modest and professional form.
[edit] Notes
- ^ p. 156 Cooke, Jon B. & Adams, Neil Comic Book Artist Collection Mike Ploog Interview The Man Called Ploog 2000 TwoMorrows Publishing
[edit] Reference
- Eisner, Will, Eisner, Ann, Campell, Eddie, Schomaker, Peter J. PS Magazine: The Best of the Preventive Maintenance Monthly
PS Magazine Abrams ComicArts, 2011
