Draft:MSG Half-Mast McCanick

Master Sergeant (MSG) Half-Mast McCanick is a fictional, two-dimensional character associated with the U.S. Army’s PS: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, more commonly known as PS Magazine. MSG McCanick—uniquely referred to by his first name as MSG Half-Mast—was the creation of Will Eisner, an already well-known cartoonist who was drafted into the Army during World War II and subsequently contracted by the Army Ordnance Corps to create and illustrate PS Magazine.

Army Motors
MSG Half-Mast first appeared in the May 1942 issue of Army Motors, a precursor publication to PS Magazine to which Eisner—who had been drafted in early 1942—contributed artwork. From the beginning, Half-Mast served as the face of an advice column (previously letters to the editor), titled Sgt. “Half-Mast” McCanick’s Question Dept. He was quickly joined in other sections of the magazine by other characters, most notably Corporal Connie Rodd and Private Joe Dope, as Eisner’s editorial duties with the Army Motors grew. The last edition of Army Motors appeared in September 1945, coinciding with the end of WWII. By then Eisner had been promoted to warrant officer and shortly thereafter left service to return to his civilian career as a sequential artist primarily known for his comic strip The Spirit.

PS Magazine
Based in part on his experience with Army Motors, his passion for sequential art and the belief it could dramatically enhance learning and retention of knowledge, Eisner formed American Visuals Corporation in 1948 to produce illustrations for government and corporate clients. As the Korean War loomed and the Army faced challenges with its vehicle and equipment fleets, the Army sought to revive Army Motors. Instead, Eisner convinced them to launch a fully illustrated pocket-sized publication he called PS: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, which launched in June 1951. On the inside front cover, a letter from the editors titled “Reporting for Duty” reads: You are now holding in your hand the first issue of “P.S. Magazine”—the magazine of maintenance for trucks and tanks, the nuts-and-bolts digest for anything on wheels or tracks. If you were lucky enough to have worked with or operated vehicles in World War II, you will remember a little clambake called “Army Motors.” “P.S.” is the successor to “Army Motors,” the magazine of fixes and facts, on trucks and tanks. Do you hear strange music in your transfer case? Are you ashamed to face the neighbors because your M46 tank makes little puddles of oil upon the ground? “P.S.” will give you the answers, and what to do about it.

Not that we have all the answers! It’s just that we are fixed to get you the answers. We are surrounded by people who designed your trucks and tanks and invented all the little gadgets that are on them. We have with us such old timers as Sgt. Half-Mast McCanick, the original answer man. Half-Mast is close enough to the manufacturers’ engineers to spit on them. And often does. Send Half-Mast your maintenance problems, your truck and tank troubles. Anybody can write to Half-Mast, in channels or not. Be you high brass, or low brass, or no brass at all, Half-Mast will get you the answers. Although referred to as Sgt. Half-Mast, his upper arm and hat insignia have always been that of an E-8 Master Sgt.

Through the Years
At the outset, Eisner depicted Half-Mast as wizened, portly, grandfatherly and bespeckled, with a massive chin that took up half his face. Over the years, he slimmed down and then became slightly more youthful—one might say, more befitting his rank and profession.