Book Review: They Were Chosin: U.S. Marine Cartoonists in the Korean War

reviewed by James Willetts

 

 

Cord A. Scott. They Were Chosin:  U.S. Marine Cartoonists in the Korean War. Quantico, VA: Marine Corps University Press, 2025. 234 pp. Free epub and pdf. ISBN #:  979-8-9878492-0-0.  https://www.usmcu.edu/Outreach/Marine-Corps-University-Press/Books-by-topic/MCUP-Titles-A-Z/They-Were-Chosin/

 

     They Were Chosin, like Cord Scott’s previous work, The Mud and the Mirth, serves to highlight the cartoons produced by and about members of the U.S. Marine Corps. Published by the Marine Corps University Press, it blends reprinted material with visual analysis and histories of significant creators, offering insight and depth about the Marine Corps’ wartime publications. This time, Scott turns his attention to the illustrations from the Korean War, focusing in particular on Norval E. “Gene” Packwood’s Leatherhead:  The Story of Marine Corps Boot Camp and Leatherhead in Korea.

 

Available both in print and as a free epub and pdf from the Marine Corps Press, They Were Chosin showcases some of the material produced by, for, and about the Marines during wartime. This, alongside Leonard Rifas’ 2021 book, Korean War Comic Books, and Paul S Hirch’s, Pulp Empire, continues to serve as correctives to tendencies to ignore wartime comics after 1945, especially those of America’s “forgotten war.”

 

The majority of They Were Chosin concentrates on the art of Packwood, who produced two books about (and for) the Marine Corps in Korea. While Scott also addresses other cartoonists of the period, and comics about the war, these are largely relegated to footnotes. Yet, at the same time, Scott gives the reader little information about Packwood, instead, choosing to devote the vast majority of the book to reprints of his cartoons, particularly those from Leatherhead and Leatherhead in Korea.

 

The ultimate strength of Scott’s work is in the reproduction of this material. The book contains 134 images, which are printed clearly, and in high fidelity across 234 pages. A mixture of color and black-and-white illustrations, They Were Chosin demonstrates the admirable commitment by the USMCU to improving on The Mud and the Mirth, their first foray into comics scholarship. The cartoons in The Mud and the Mirth were often difficult to parse and read, owing in part to their reduced size and the placement of multiple cartoons and comic strips together, which meant that text in the cartoons was almost unreadable. By contrast, They Were Chosin is printed in an oversized 7x10 paperback format, and the full-page illustrations are much clearer. This adjustment is a marked improvement over the format of the first book.

 

At the same time, there are still some stylistic kinks to work out. The first is that, as an image-heavy book, chapters include only a minimal amount of analysis, with brief snippets of text intercut with large chunks of reproduced cartoons. Chapter Two (“Norval Packwood and the Creation of Leatherhead”) features only four pages of text to eighty-eight images, with text on pages 15, 16, 74, and 76. Likewise, Chapter Seven (“The Modern Era,” which references British cartoons about the Korean War) is only three pages long, includes two half-page illustrations, and contains barely enough text to fill a single page. This leaves scant room in these chapters for historical contextualization, biographical information about creators, or analysis. Perhaps the best option here would have been for this book to be released with fewer images alongside full reprints of Packwood’s Leatherhead:  The Story of Marine Corps Boot Camp and Leatherhead in Korea, allowing Scott room to dig deeper into these cartoons and their meaning. While the press makes clear that this is “not meant to be a definitive visual history of the Korean War,” further exploration and writing about these cartoons within this monograph seems necessary to avoid it being anything more than a brief primer. Scott’s brief history on the course of the war, intended for readers who may be unfamiliar with the broad strokes of the conflict, is an excellent example of his ability to blend military and cultural history and could easily have been expanded on to tell a more complete historical story of the Marine Corps in Korea. This is ultimately an area where The Mud and the Mirth set a standard that They Were Chosin fails to live up to.

 

Ultimately, the lack of broader analysis holds They Were Chosin back from being an essential history of the Korean War’s military comics, limiting its reach. Instead, it seems to set up future works on the illustrations produced by, about, and for the Marines during the early Cold War. While it will invariably be an important read for anyone interested in the comics of the Korean War, it feels like a missed opportunity to write the definitive account of the Marine Corps’ comics during the period, and tell a larger and more substantive tale.

 

A version of this review will appear in print in IJOCA 27-2. 

 

Exhibition Review: The 15th National Comic Art Exhibition of China

 reviewed by Xu Ying, assistant editor, International Journal of Comic Art

The 15^th National Comic Art Exhibition of China. Beijing, China:  Capital Library, April 16-20, 2025.

      This exhibition was sponsored by China Artists’ Association and Tongxiang Municipal People’s Government and was co-organized by the Art Center of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Cartoon Art Committee of China Artists Association, Publicity Department of Tongxiang Municipal Party Committee, the Bureau of Culture and Broadcast, Television, Film, Tourism and Sport of Tongxiang Municipal, and the Tongxiang Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

Fig. 1. Capital Library in Beijing.

 

Fig. 2. The Opening Ceremony Stage.

This national exhibition organizers received a total of 3,681 works from all over China, a new record for the number of cartoon works in an exhibition. The China Artists’ Association organized experts from various parts of China for serious initial evaluation and re-evaluation of works. The judges narrowed the number of works to 190, with a wide range of themes, rich contents, and diverse creative methods and forms of expression, all in line with the rules, characteristics, and distinct spirit of comic art creation. The works reflect the overall level and prosperous appearance of comic art creation in China today.

 

Fig. 3. “Do Boldly What Is Righteous.” Chen Tao.

Fig. 4. “Occupy a Seat.” Yang Xiaopei.

 

Fig. 5. “Admire the Eyes.” Zeng Yi.

Fig. 6. “@Gene.” Yu Shouyang.

 

Fig. 7. “Pry to Move the Earth.” Fu Xiaoning.

Fig. 8. “The First Day of School.” Chen Gang.

 

Fig. 9. “Mother’s Love.” Chen Hongyan.

Fig. 10. “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” He Ying.

 

Fig. 11. “The Worry of the Ragman.” Gao Riying.

Fig. 12. “The Future Society.” Ning Deping.

 

Fig. 13. “Vast Prison.” Zhou Lin.

Fig. 14. “You’re Also Stuck.” Qi Jiaona.

 

Fig. 15. “Standard Answer.” Bao Meizhen.

 

The origin of Tongxiang’s association with comic art emanated from Feng Zikai, the first artist to use the word “manhua” in a publication in China in 1925. His artistic spirit influenced generations, with “comic art culture” becoming the name card and cultural brand of Tongxiang. Since 2002, the Municipal Government of Tongxiang, co-operating with China Artists’ Association, has held 14 cartoon exhibitions, about one every two years. Before 2025, it was called “Zikai Cup” Cartoon Exhibition; it changed to the National Comic Art Exhibition.

At this year’s exhibition, the director of the Publicity Department of Tongxiang Municipal Party Committee, Mo Zhonghai, gave a welcoming speech, assuring that Tongxiang will continue to do its best as one of the organizers and will make this comic art exhibition a grand event, that showcases comic art achievements and promotes cultural exchange. Liu Manhua, director of the Cartoon Art Committee, said that the 2025 exhibition represents the highest standard of contemporaneity, thoughtfulness, and artistry of Chinese comic art:  “It is a record of time, a record of the changes of Chinese society, a record of the developing history of Chinese comic art, and is also a review of the creative level of Chinese cartoonists.” Sun Yuanwei, who presented an award speech, based on his own experience of comic art creation, expressed respect for the predecessors of comic art. Many cartoonists from different cities attended the opening ceremony. This exhibition will continue displaying in other cities later on.