Thread: Zero Comic

Why are the Japanese pilots and engineers drawn with "round-eyes"?

And what is the context of these cartoons?

awesome humor

Originally Posted by Chogy

Why are the Japanese pilots and engineers drawn with "round-eyes"?

And what is the context of these cartoons?

The book is a humorous take on the history of the Zero fighter. The round-eyes are standard fair when it comes to Japanese Manga

hiro hito portrait protecting ship from kamikaze

BTW not Brewster stealth, I-16/I-161 fighters of the KMT air force....

Brilliant. Loved the sword wielding kamikaze.

Very funny and unique. A pleasing artistic style. He's managed to extract gentle humor out of carnage. Thanks for sharing this unusual stuff, Xin.

He's managed to extract gentle humor out of carnage.

I guess I'm in the minority, then. I acknowledge the brilliance of the cartoons, but I find it hard to find humor and joy in them. The opposing pilots despised each other and bloody death was the order of the day.

It's not quite like trying to draw cartoons on the holocost... but it's in that general direction.

I can't put my thumb on it. It's not like Bill Mauldin's work, which shows irony and grit. Instead, it's like Thomas the Tank Engine goes to war.

I see your point but I'm willing to bet that Kunihiko Hisa is not a combat veteran of WWII like Mauldin. I haven't been able to find any bio info on him--other than that he's illustrated some children's books on dinosaurs--but I'd guess he's rather young and quite distant in years from the actual events. Japanese humor, particularly as it relates to WWII, can seem pretty oddball to us Westerners. I don't think it's his intention to be disrespectful or insensitive, though some may find it so. A bit naive, perhaps, as your "Thomas the Tank Engine goes to War" reference aptly suggests.

I dunno some of them have pretty good analogies to real WWII events.

The Brit with the magnifying glass is spot on, the US and UK were convinced before Dec 7, 1941 that a plane like the Zero could not be built in Japan. The ones on medieval armor and shogunate armor also reflect both cultures Knight in the sky/Samuri in the sky faith in their pilots. I really like the ones with the Brit who had his roundel shot out, and the Wildcat shot to hell but still flying and the Japanese pilot resorting to a sword. Western fighters did take a hell of a lot of damage and keep flying.... often to the frustration of Japanese pilots were were trying to take on 4-8 heavy machine guns with as few as 2 medium weight machine guns.

The Zero even appeared in the now banned Bugs Bunny cartoons of WWII along with cartoon landing craft, cartoon US BB sails by and all of the things one would find in a banned cartoon except nudity or language but there is plenty more there for propaghanda purpose.