I have a bunch of old Life magazines at home that I’ve been browsing recently in search of inspiration. Whenever I find work that catches my eye, I mark it with a post-it note.
Here’s an example: An article written and illustrated by Bill Mauldin, the creator of the award-winning “Willie and Joe” cartoon chronicling the travails of a pair of American soldiers.
These particular drawings by the legendary cartoonist stopped me because of their journalistic nature. Turns out the magazine had sent him to cover a meeting of war veterans and he produced both the text and the artwork.
My collage of scans above only shows the illustrations but, guess what, to read the actual article and view the layout in all its glory, you don’t have to borrow my dusty copy of the magazine. You can simply go to the archives of Life Magazine on Google Books. Just type “Bill Mauldin Legion” in the search box, check the “Search all issues” box, and, voilà!
What a treasure trove that collection is! Next time, I think I won’t bother with the scanning.
