Pvt. Joe Dope, the star (at least until pushed off the covers by the more appealing Connie Rodd) of PS: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly was created for the Army’s World War II comic Army Motors by Will Eisner, who took him to PS when he started that magazine in 1951.
He was a long running example of the comic book military misfit and all-around bad example such as Sad Sack and Beetle Bailey.
Dope’s area of inexpertness however was confined to the motor pool where he regularly forgot to keep the vehicles in his charge maintained, drove them too fast, and proved to be a notorious equipment hog.
Which is the reason he may have remained a privet from the Korean conflict all the way to the Vietnam War.
Dope was also the star of a center of the magazine’s double page full color foldout, suitable for pinning up on bulletin boards, called Joe’s Dope Sheet.
And while it kept that title for all 229 issues of PS, he was soon replaced on that by Sgt. Connie Rodd.
You can hardly blame them.
Transformation
Joe changed during the series, to a more handsome man, because of an explosion and plastic surgery. He also became better at maintenance, even if he still goofed of once in a while.
Creation
Joe was created by Will Eisner.
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