Sam Viviano makes his living drawing cartoons. But last month he was drawing smiles as well, from U.S. troops around the world.
The Mad magazine illustrator and art director was one of 10 cartoonists who traveled to Germany, Kuwait, and an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia last month to entertain soldiers the way they know best — by drawing funny pictures. Hailing from across America, the group also included T. Lewis, who draws newspaper strip “Over the Hedge”; Bill Janocha, who works on “Beetle Bailey”; illustrator/firefighter Paul Combs, and six other members of the National Cartoonists Society.
The NCS has a tradition of entertaining American troops in cooperation with the USO going back to World War II. Since that tradition was revived in 2008, well-known cartoonists such as Garry Trudeau (“Doonesbury”), Mike Peters ("Mother Goose and Grimm”) and Jeff Keane (“The Family Circus”) have trekked across the globe to visit U.S. troops, sketchpads in hand.