Breger, David, 1908-

Second lieutenant, United States Army.

Biographical/Historical Note

Second lieutenant, United States Army.

David Breger (1908-1970) was an American cartoonist who coined the phrase G.I. Joe and is most famous for his World War II comic strips.

Breger was born April 15, 1908 in Chicago and began drawing cartoons in high school. Breger briefly studied architectural engineering at the University of Illinois, but graduated from Northwestern with a degree in Psychology in 1931. Breger had trouble finding employment during the Great Depression and worked in his father's sausage factory before relocating to New York City in 1937 to pursue freelance work although he had no formal art training.

Breger was drafted into the Army and created the panel cartoon Private Breger which originally started in the Saturday Evening Post in 1941. When Yank also decided to publish this comic strip, Breger chose a new title, G.I. Joe and the strips began appearing under that name in June 1942. Meanwhile King Features took over syndication of the comic strip to readers in the United States in October 1942. After Breger reached the rank of lieutenant and was discharged following the war, Private Breger became Mister Breger and a Sunday strip was added. Mister Breger ran through the end of the 1960s.

Breger was one of the earliest members of the National Cartoonists Society and wrote several books including his influential reference work How to Draw and Sell Cartoons (1966) and But That's Unprintable! (1955), a book about taboos in magazine cartoons and newspaper comics. The E.S. Bird Library at Syracuse University sponsored an exhibition of Breger's cartoons in 1979, WWII and Private Breger (Feb. 28 - April 6, 1979).

Dave Breger died January 16, 1970.