Bing Coughlin

William Garnet "Bing" Coughlin

Born| (1905-10-07)October 7, 1905
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died| February 12, 2000(2000-02-12) (aged 94)
Springfield, Pennsylvania, United States
Area(s)| Cartoonist

Notable works

| "Herbie"
Awards| MBE

William Garnet "Bing" Coughlin (October 7, 1905 – February 12, 2000) was a Canadian World War II cartoonist. His mother remarried after his father's death, and the family moved to Philadelphia in 1923, where he enrolled in the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art. After graduation, he went into advertising art. Coughlin met and married his wife Margaret (Peg) White in 1929.

Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Coughlin returned to Canada to serve in the Canadian Army with the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards – also known as the "Plugs" or the "Piddly-Gees". As a sergeant, he participated in the invasion of Sicily and fought for four months in the Italian campaign. It was during this campaign that his cartoons began to appear in the soldiers' magazine, "The Maple Leaf." In 1944, the troops elected the popular artist as "Canadian Man of the Year."[1][2]

Like America's Bill Mauldin, whose military cartoons in the Stars and Stripes made him the unofficial voice of the ordinary "dogface", Bing Coughlin became the spokesman for the Canadian enlisted man. Featured as "This Army", his cartoons showed life as it was behind the lines and up at the front, always taking the view of the common soldier. As often as not, the officers were shown less sympathetically than the Germans. Mauldin created Willy & Joe. Coughlin's ubiquitous Canadian foot soldier was "Herbie". An unnamed French Canadian enlisted man with toque and mustache also appears with Herbie in many cartoons.

In 1946, the Governor General of Canada made Bing Coughlin a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his cartooning during the war.

Two volumes of "This Army" were published by "The Maple Leaf" in Rome, in 1944 and 1945. A year after the war, a new collection of "Bing" Coughlin's wartime cartoons was published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, Canada. Called simply "Herbie!" the 1946 edition was reprinted in 1959, on the 20th anniversary of the start of World War II. A modern collection of "Herbie" was published by Algrove Publishing, Almonte Ontario, in 2008.

In contrast to Bill Mauldin, Bing Coughlin stayed clear of politics. Mauldin continued a successful career as a newspaper political cartoonist after the war, while Coughlin returned to commercial art. For a number of years he worked for the Canadian National Exhibition, but in 1950 Coughlin returned to Philadelphia as a designer of exhibits.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hayes, Geoffrey (2018-01-08). Crerar's Lieutenants: Inventing the Canadian Junior Army Officer, 1939-45. UBC Press. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-0-7748-3486-5.
2. ^ Marsh, James H. (1999). The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia. p. 413\. ISBN 978-0-7710-2099-5.

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Canadian cartoonists

English|

| Editorial,
spot and gag|

| Living|

* Aislin (Terry Mosher)
* Michael de Adder
* Barry Blitt
* Sheree Bradford-Lea
* Gary Clement
* Fred Curatolo
* Andy Donato
* Brian Gable
* Nikahang Kowsar
* Graeme MacKay
* Bruce MacKinnon
* Shahid Mahmood
* Steve Nease
* Adrian Raeside
* Vic Roschkov Sr.
* Paul Szep
* Wyatt Tremblay

|

Deceased|

* Sid Barron
* John Wilson Bengough
* Blaine
* Roy Carless
* Bob Chambers
* William Garnet "Bing" Coughlin
* George Feyer
* Sam Hunter
* Duncan Macpherson
* Len Norris
* Roy Peterson
* Lou Skuce
* Charles Thorson
* Ting
* Ben Wicks
* Avrom Yanovsky

Strip|

| Living|

* Sandra Bell-Lundy
* J. D. Frazer
* Paul Gilligan
* Glen Hanson
* Lynn Johnston
* Terry Mosher
* Steve Nease
* Rina Piccolo
* Noreen Stevens
* Philip Street

|

Deceased|

* Walter Ball
* John Collins
* Wally Fawkes (Trog)
* Hal Foster
* Jimmy Frise
* Rand Holmes
* Sean Martin
* James Simpkins
* Jim Unger
* Doug Wright

Comics|

| Living|

* Adrian Alphona
* Ho Che Anderson
* Graham Annable
* Kaare Andrews
* Chris Bachalo
* Samm Barnes
* Kate Beaton
* Marc Bell
* Stanley Berneche
* Ian Boothby
* David Boswell
* Rupert Bottenberg
* Chester Brown
* John Byrne
* Howard Chackowicz
* Bernard Chang
* Svetlana Chmakova
* Michael Cho
* David Collier
* Katherine Collins
* Dave Cooper
* Willow Dawson
* Michael DeForge
* Stéphane Delaprée
* Julie Doucet
* Max Douglas
* Dale Eaglesham
* Alex Fellows
* Patrick Fillion
* David Finch
* Tom Fowler
* George Freeman
* Ed Furness
* Michel Gagné
* Gerhard
* Ralph Hamelmann
* Faith Erin Hicks
* Stuart Immonen
* Russ Jones
* Dave Lapp
* Julian Lawrence
* Jeff Lemire
* Troy Little
* Jay Malone
* Jason Marcy
* Derek McCulloch
* Todd McFarlane
* Grant Miehm
* Bernie Mireault
* Ryan North
* Bryan Lee O'Malley
* Arn Saba
* Michel Rabagliati
* Seth
* Dave Sim
* Leanne Shapton
* Ken Steacy
* Jay Stephens
* Jillian Tamaki
* Ty Templeton
* Colin Upton
* Henriette Valium
* Chip Zdarsky

|

Deceased|

* Jon St. Ables
* Leo Bachle (Les Barker)
* Harry Brunt
* Darwyn Cooke
* Gene Day
* Adrian Dingle
* Bruce McCall
* Owen McCarron
* Bus Griffiths
* Win Mortimer
* Joe Shuster
* Jack Sparling

French|

| Editorial,
spot and gag|

| Living|

* Bado (Guy Badeaux)
* Garnotte [fr]
* Serge Chapleau

|

Deceased|

* Henri Julien

Strip|

| Living|

* Delaf
* Annie Groovie

|

Deceased|

* Raoul Barré
* Albéric Bourgeois
* Albert Chartier

Comics|

| Living|

* Jimmy Beaulieu
* Guy Delisle
* Julie Doucet
* Michel Rabagliati
* Steve Requin
* Yves Rodier

|

Deceased|

* Geneviève Castrée

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