Will Eisner.

At the outset of World War II, Will Eisner was already renowned as the creator of the comic book, The Spirit, a masked crime fighter popular in newspapers. Eisner was drafted as a warrant officer into the Army Ordnance Corps and sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground where he put his talents to work putting together training manuals that featured his character, Joe Dope. In comic strips and four-color posters distributed to barracks, mess halls and so on, Dope served as an example of what not to do.

As Ordnance editor Leo A. Codd wrote, "Millions of our soldiers learned quickly--and for keeps--that you should not drive expensive tanks without oil, or pick your teeth with a gyrostabilizer...

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