History ComicBook / GoldenEyesAndHerHeroBill

* DamselInDistress: The ambulance Golden Eyes is driving gets hit by shellfire, at which point she's captured by a German patrol and falls into clutches of the dastardly Hugo Von Schwatzenburg. Golden Eyes is able to send a covert message to Bill when she's taken prisoner, but she has no recourse to free herself and can only hold out hope that Bill or the allies can mount before her captors harm her. Until she briefly becomes a DamselOutOfDistress...

* EnforcedPlug: The serial was a PropagandaPiece written during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, and nowhere is that more evident than in Installment #3. The illustration depicts the beautiful Golden Eyes and faithful Uncle Sam hawking war bonds to support their beloved Bill and the American war effort overseas, while a the cherubic personification of her love and devotion looks on, wearing a Montana peaked-style Campaign hat and playing a set of military drums. The accompanying text speaks directly to readers and encourages to open their pocketbooks and contribute:

-> ''"In the amethyst twilight of a quiet church the two lovers and their war-dog keep a vigil as the knight did long ago when he fiercely desired that his arms be blest with victory and he himself return. This time no tears. These are three soldiers now."''

--> "-against the evening sky, went Bill, for once not hearing the every word of his men—for in his arms he carried Golden-Eyes—his girl—his pal—his little American with a "heart good as bread," her draggled finer blowing against his knees, the sweet feel of her again on his breast—above his heart. He clinched her tight, [[YouMustBeCold his blouse about her]]—tied by the arms under her chine, and knew the strange, wonderful savoir of Love and Victory mingled."

--> '''Uncle Sam''': I am only a dog who carries a little search-light on my back to help my Country and my true-loves—and cannot tell a story very well.

--> So these two rooted out their old life, with its shyness and convention-trappings, and fared forth in the Spring -- determined girl beside willing dog, gold-hair fluttering and dog-tail carried gaily banner-wise, to sell ''LIBERTY BONDS'' for the greater Uncle Sam. And this Golden Eyes says:
--> "Over there the man I love is giving his life. He has left everything and all her loves--perhaps never to see them again. He is walking with his head up and his eyes lifted to the same Flag we walk under--walking into smoke and gas and death so that you and I who stay at home may still walk under the mighty power of the Flag for a billion of years to come--and he is ''SMILING!'' If he--and a ''million like him''--can do that, can't ''YOU'' dip into your pocket and give your small bit--just money!--a piece of money?"

--> "'Uncle Sam' sallied around the corner of a flower pot, took one long stare and launched himself through the Spring air, just at the terrible minute that the man with the bristling blond hair tried to take her [Golden Eyes] in his arms. And over his heart, under his thrown back coat, through the white mane of "Uncle Sam," who was howling at this throat, an Iron Cross shone out!"

--> "Golden-Eyes didn’t mean to be a bride but [=ONCE=]! So she spent her heart out on the misty froth and silver of bride-white— “a [=REGULAR=] bride, by gosh!” breathed one of Bill’s dough-boys in reverent admiration—and she carried roses with shell pink and gold hearts that matched her cheeks and eyes."

--> "He [Hugo Von Schwatzenburg] would shoot her before the eyes of the American sentries of their lines three hundred yards away!... As the Hun raised his automatic, two mud-bespattered, glitter-eyed beings, Uncle Sam and Bill, fell upon him, a snarling dog and a roaring man, a man crying, '[[SettleItWithoutWeapons My bare hands for you!]]'"

--> "-on Golden-Eye's and Bill's breasts gleamed and glimmered a decoration apiece; in their eyes tears glittered, and their cheeks burned hotly with the pride of a kiss from a brave and gallant Frenchman sealed there. On Uncle Sam's army collar shimmered a silver plate with the color's of Bill's regiment, and a little story engraved there, telling modestly of his great deeds!"

---> "'Gone Away' flared the trumpets! -- and Bill’s spurred heel jingled on the step of the cab behind his bride -- 'Uncle Sam,' smiling a-tip-toe, clambered in -- the door crashed to -- and Bill’s deserted dough-boys each touched a breast pocket and thought of their own Girls. Back HOME![sic]"

---> "In the dark casket of the Hun captain's cave she glows—a jewel—a little rare thing of gold and scarlet decked out in siren-fashion, made gorgeous, her gold curls piled high, her throat laced with pearls, her feet in the silken shoes of loot—wrapped with the lace and fur of a fled and vanished French girl, her eyes glinting goldenly, her lips smiling; a poised, jeweled love-bird..."

---> "Devils they are—our dough-boys—to that army who ravished the children—the women—the fruit trees—of God! Saints they are to little children, and the old, and dogs like me!"

* PurpleProse: Exuberantly so.
--> "At the rearing slope of a shell hole, where the roots of a stricken tree, stone and wrecked, earth made a wild heap, they lifted their stealthy lengths, and looked over the crest..... and the moon looked down for a quiet moment and saw—the statue—still, frozen figures of a listening girl and dog, a slim girl and a collie-dog."
** A JustifiedTrope, in that it was the style back then.
** Though even the chapter told [[ADayInTheLimelight from the point of view of a dog]] is told eloquently:
---> '''Uncle Sam''': And at last in the first, faint gray and rose of the dawn, in the blue-gray ghostly mist of the woods with the faint pink shining through loop-holes, in a smother of snow, we found him.

--> "Golden-Eyes kneels beside, this once clad in the angelic white of the great Cross she serves instead of her ambulance boots and breeches."

--> "The cannon that was their alter spoke again in a voice of thunder -- after months of silence -- and its tongue of fire licked again its grey muzzle lifted to a quiet sky. Bill’s company band blared out a stirring, silvery cataract of music -- the “Gone Away” of a bride and groom! Love was there. The sun, golden and splendid like pale champagne --was there. Bill’s boys were there -- their swords a glittering trellis overhead -- bright points striking fire as they touched in the sun."

* WeddingFinale: The penultimate installment covers the joyous wedding of Golden Eyes and Bill as the war ends.

* StockCostumeTraits: While she spends more time in her practical ambulance driver's uniform (which included trousers, sturdy boots, leg wrappings, and a decidedly androgynous belted jacket), Golden Eyes does wear the iconic white smock and cap of the red cross nurse on several occasions.

* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: When Golden Eyes is captured by Hugo Von Schwatzenburg, he takes her back to the German field camp (though the camp is remarked to be within sight of the front line). She realizes she has to way to escape without being recaptured or killed in the attempt. Even when her captor gets knocked out she has no way to make it back to the allied side, and her only hope for rescue is to hope the allies can capture the German field camp before Von Schwatzenburg wakes up.

* HospitalHottie: Golden Eyes is a cutie, especially in her nurse uniforms (she gets more than one!). Author/ artist Brinkley manages to make field hospitals look like Paris fashion week with Golden Eyes' slim figure and tendency towards encountering DramaticWind wherever she goes.

* KeepTheHomeFiresBurning: The first three installments could count as this, as Golden Eyes filling the role of MyGirlBackHome who takes to selling war bonds and knitting socks for Bill while he's away. But by the time she discovers a German spy in her garden she's ready to ship out and serve overseas.

* ParasolOfPrettiness: One appears in [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/3.php#anchor installment 3]], when Golden Eyes is in her garden, detaining a German spy.

* PimpedOutDress: Golden Eyes gets to wear several throughout the story. Of note are the dress she wears while detaining a German spy in her garden, the pilfered French finery the German officer dresses her up in during the brief GoGoEnslavement arc, and her wedding dress.
--> "In the dark casket of the Hun captain's cave she glows—a jewel—a little rare thing of gold and scarlet decked out in siren-fashion, made gorgeous, her gold curls piled high, her throat laced with pearls, her feet in the silken shoes of loot—wrapped with the lace and fur of a fled and vanished French girl, her eyes glinting goldenly, her lips smiling; a poised, jeweled love-bird..."

* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: When Golden Eyes is captured by a German officer, he takes her back to the German field camp (though the camp is remarked to be within sight of the front line).

* PropagandaPiece: The comic was written during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, and was explicitly conceived and deployed as a propaganda piece to engender and promote domestic support for the war effort overseas. Enlisting the talents of the incredibly popular illustrator Creator/NellBrinkley and utilizing the "adventure-serial" format, the piece works on a number of levels to valorize American forces, legitimize American involvement in the conflict across the sea [[labelnote:America didn't officially enter the conflict until 1917.]] Keep in mind that when the war broke out in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared that the United States would maintain a policy of nonintervention. Many Americans supported this position -- America had no vital interests at stake and no part in the web of political alliances that kicked off the conflict. The attitude that the conflict was a "European problem" for European powers to sort out was fairly entrenched; it was only the sinking of a passenger ship with American citizens onboard by a German submarine ''and'' the alliance Germany proposed to Mexico that spurred that United States into joining the conflict three years after it had begun.[[/labelnote]], and demonize the opposition.

The product of prolific illustrator and cartoonist Creator/NellBrinkley, ''"Golden Eyes" and Her Hero "Bill"'' is a serial comic that concerns the adventures of a girl known as Golden Eyes during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Running from March 1918 through February 1919, the serial was published in the form of 20 full-color, one-page illustrations for the cover of The American Weekly (a popular Sunday newspaper supplement). The series was renamed ''"Golden Eyes" and Her Hero "Bill" Over There'' after only a handful of installments (to reflect that the narrative had shifted to France) and would keep the new name for the remaining 15 covers.

Can be read [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/1.php#anchor here]] in its entirety, with a mostly accurate transcription of the text beneath each cover.

* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Bill, an actual soldier, is only ever depicted in his helmet ''once'' throughout the series' run, and that's when he's storming the German trenches to rescue Golden Eyes. Other members of the allied force are [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/5.php#anchor intermittently]] [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/6.php#anchor depicted]] [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/7.php#anchor in their helmets]], while the villainous German officer who captures Golden Eyes is [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/8.php#anchor introduced]] wearing a [[UsefulNotes/PrussiansInPickelhauben prominent picklehaube]] and wears a hat for the majority of his other appearances.

* DamselInDistress: The ambulance Golden Eyes is driving gets hit by shellfire, at which point she's captured by a German patrol. She's able to send a message to Bill, but she's only able to hope that Bill can rescue her. Until she becomes the DamselOutOfDistress...
* DamselOutOfDistress: Golden Eyes gets a brief stint as this when the Hugo Von Schwatzenburg gets knocked out trying to make a grab at her. She takes the opportunity to rifle through his pockets for the official German communiques he's carrying, and sends them off to Bill and the allies via Uncle Sam. But she falls back into the DamselInDistress trope because she's unable to sneak out of the German camp and isn't willing to kill Hugo Von Schwatzenburg while he's unconscious. As soon as Von Schwatzenburg is up again, he's ready to shoot her in front of the incoming American forces.

* KeepTheHomeFiresBurning: The first three installments could count as this, as Golden Eyes takes to selling war bonds and knitting socks for Bill while he's away. But by the time she discovers a German spy in her garden she's ready to ship out and serve overseas.

* MyGirlBackHome: PlayedStraight at first when Bill goes off to war, leaving Golden Eyes behind to care for his dog and KeepTheHomeFiresBurning. {{Subverted}} when Golden Eyes joins the Red Cross a few installments later. She ships out to Europe to work as a medic on the frontlines of the war, winding up in just as much danger as Bill when the Germans [[ShootTheMedicFirst shell her ambulance]].

* OrphanageOfLove: After selling off the jewelry and gifts the french have given her, Golden Eyes finds she has "enough and more in [her] small fist to provide for around hundred French babies—orphaned by War!" The next paragraph sees her at a "beautiful chateau," far from the front lines, surrounded by happy children who call her "petite maman." It's unclear whether or not Golden Eyes founded the orphanage or if she's just a generous benefactor, as the war orphans are never mentioned again in the story.

* PropagandaPiece: The comic was written during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and explicitly conceived and deployed as a propaganda piece to engender and promote domestic support for the war effort overseas. From enlisting the talents of the incredibly popular illustrator Creator/NellBrinkley and utilizing the "adventure-serial" format, the piece works on a number of levels to valorize American forces, legitimize American involvement in the conflict across the sea [[labelnote:America didn't officially enter the conflict until 1917.]] Keep in mind that when the war broke out in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared that the United States would maintain a policy of nonintervention. Many Americans supported this position -- America had no vital interests at stake and no part in the web of political alliances that kicked off the conflict. The attitude that the conflict was a "European problem" for European powers to sort out was fairly entrenched; it was only the sinking of a passenger ship with American citizens onboard by a German submarine ''and'' the alliance Germany proposed to Mexico that spurred that United States into joining the conflict three years after it had begun.[[/labelnote]], and demonizing the opposition.
** The serial's heroine is a beautiful, kindhearted, all-American girl who who enlists as an ambulance driver to follow her sweetheart Bill. For his part Bill is a noble, handsome soldier who fights because it's his patriotic duty to do so. The heroine and hero [[HeroesLoveDogs even have]] a HeroicDog, "Uncle Sam," who aids them on their adventures.
** By contrast, their opposition are the self-serving, corrupt, and cartoonishly evil forces from Germany.

* AnimalEspionage: Uncle Sam--he ferries Hugo Von Schwatzenburg's papers to the allied forces after Golden Eyes pilfers them off his unconscious body, and accompanies her when she discovers that Germans are planning a sneak attack on the American side.

* DadTheVeteran: Bill becomes one at the end of the story - a decorated veteran, nonetheless. Golden Eyes is the RareFemaleExample of this trope, as she is ''also'' a decorated veteran.
* DamselInDistress: The ambulance Golden Eyes is driving gets hit by shellfire, at which point she's captured by a German patrol. She's able to send a message to Bill, but by that point she's only able to hope that Bill can rescue her. Until she becomes the DamselOutOfDistress...
* DamselOutOfDistress: Golden Eyes gets a brief stint as this when the Hugo Von Schwatzenburg gets knocked out trying to grab her. She takes the opportunity to rifle through his pockets for the official German communiques he's carrying and send them off to Bill via Uncle Sam. But she falls back into the DamselInDistress trope because she's unable to sneak out of the German camp and isn't willing to kill Hugo Von Schwatzenburg while he's unconscious - as soon as he's up again he's ready to shoot her in front of the incoming American forces.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Uncle Sam narrates the chapter in which Golden Eyes rescues an injured Bill:

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Golden Eyes, Bill, and Uncle Sam - between the three of them, one or more has ended up in an ambulance on the wrong end of a shelling, captured by German soldiers, [[GoGoEnslavement Go-Go-Enslaved]] by said Germans, shot at, nearly executed for espionage, shot in the leg, missing in no-man's land, nearly freezing to death, and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs nearly freezing to death while shot in the leg in no-man's land]]. But it's all okay, because by the last installment they've all three settled down in a beautiful cottage in France with a healthy dose of BabiesEverAfter to top it off.

--> The cannon that was their alter spoke again in a voice of thunder -- after months of silence -- and its tongue of fire licked again its grey muzzle lifted to a quiet sky. Bill’s company band blared out a stirring, silvery cataract of music -- the “Gone Away” of a bride and groom! Love was there. The sun, golden and splendid like pale champagne --was there. Bill’s boys were there -- their swords a glittering trellis overhead -- bright points striking fire as they touched in the sun.

* SettleItWithoutWeapons: Bill actually shouts "My bare hands for you!" when he and Uncle Sam reach Hugo Von Schwatzenburg JustInTime to prevent him from shooting Golden Eyes.

* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: When Golden Eyes is captured by a German officer, he takes her back to the German field camp, though it's remarked to be within sight of the front line.

* WartimeWedding: As the war ends, Golden Eyes and Bill officially say "I do." Bill's even in his Dress Uniform, with spurs and a sword.

* WeddingDay: The penultimate installment has Golden Eyes and Bill tying the knot as the war ends.

As the serial begins, Golden Eyes must bid her sweetheart Bill farewell when he is deployed to France to fight the Germans. He leaves his faithful dog "Uncle Sam" in her care, and while girl and dog try to [[KeepTheHomeFiresBurning do their part for the allies from home]] they're spurred into action by the discovery of a German spy in Golden Eyes' own backyard. Golden Eyes, with Uncle Sam at her side, enlists as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross, and they are briefly reunited with Bill in France before duty separates them again. The three are reunited and separated several times throughout the course of the war, and end up rescuing each other from capture and injury alike as they fight for the allies - and for their future.

The most concentrated dose of this characterization arrives later in Von Schwatzenburg's [=POV=] installment, immediately following the revelation that Golden Eyes has stolen his top secret communiques and ferried them off to the American side after he was knocked unconscious trying to force himself upon her. The revelations that firstly, his military authority has been utterly decimated by the theft of his communiques; secondly, that his "manhood" (bolstered by all the pilfered finery of France) was not enough to utterly enthrall the supposedly shallow, servile female he has captured; and thirdly, that his complete and utter downfall is due to a ''woman'' -- all these factors combine to drive him to the point of "fury and fear." But what really breaks him is that he's forced to view Golden Eyes as an agent of her own will. It's only after he's had his misogynistic world view challenged to totally that he's able to overcome his infatuation with her beauty (and his false conception of Golden Eyes as a totem of simpering feminine helplessness) that he can truly appreciate the threat she poses. As the narration puts it, "—the poor counterfeit love he had felt for Golden Eye's dear beauty was swallowed in the rage of defeat; and before his eyes she glimmered—the enemy woman!"\\

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/golden_eyes_and_her_hero_bill_cover_06.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Love in a time of war...]]

The product of prolific illustrator and cartoonist Creator/NellBrinkley, ''"Golden Eyes" and Her Hero "Bill"'' is a serial comic that concerns the adventures of a girl known as Golden Eyes during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Running from March 1918 through February 1919, the serial was published in the form of 20 full-color, one-page illustrations for the cover of The American Weekly. The series was renamed ''"Golden Eyes" and Her Hero "Bill" Over There'' after only a handful of installments (to reflect that the narrative had shifted to France) and would keep the new name for the remaining 15 covers.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Golden Eyes, almost to the point of being an AllLovingHero - she's shown to be a friend to children and animals, faithful to Bill, and reluctant even to harm the German officer who captures and menaces her.

* WhatBeautifulEyes: The heroine - so much so that Brinkley seems to have forgotten to give her a name besides Golden Eyes.

The serial is notable for its proactive heroine, patriotic underpinnings, and distinct Brinkley art style (which blended elements of ArtDeco and UsefulNotes/ArtNouveau into elegant, sumptuous illustrations that embodied the ideals of feminine beauty in the 1910s).

Can be read [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/1.php#anchor here]] in its entirety, with a transcription of the text beneath each cover.

** After Golden Eyes' ambulance is shelled, she crawls out of the wreckage with her uniform tattered - being that this is a work from the 1910's the damage is limited to one knee of her pants and the shoulders & sleeves of her shirt.
** When Hugo Von Schwatzenburg attempts to force himself upon Golden Eyes in the German field camp, the pilfered fancy dress [[GoGoEnslavement he had forced her to wear]] earlier gets torn up in the scuffle and her [[RippingOffTheStringOfPearls pearl necklaces]] are torn off.

* {{Demonization}}: Brinkley painted the Germans as generally savage, violent, and sneaky among other unflattering traits - the only named German in the serial is a raging misogynist, as detailed under PoliticallyIncorrectVillain below.

* EvilDetectingDog: Uncle Sam is able to detect that one of Golden Eyes' admirers is a German spy just by looking at him:
--> "'Uncle Sam' sallied around the corner of a flower pot, took one long stare and launched himself through the Spring air, just at the terrible minute that the man with the bristling blond hair tried to take her in his arms. And over his heart, under his thrown back coat, through the white mane of "Uncle Sam," who was howling at this throat, an Iron Cross shone out!"

* HospitalHottie: Golden Eyes is quite a cutie, especially in her nurse uniforms (she gets more than one!).

* IdiotBall: The German spy in Golden Eyes' garden is easily identified because he's wearing an Iron Cross under his coat. This is a man whose job is to disguise himself and collect intelligence covertly, and he's openly wearing military medal from the nation that the United States is actively fighting a war against.

* JustInTime: Bill's rescue of Golden Eyes from the German field camp:

* OrphanageOfLove: After selling off the jewelry and gifts the french have given her, Golden Eyes finds she has "enough and more in [her] small fist to provide for around hundred French babies—orphaned by War!" The next paragraph finds her at a "beautiful chateau," far from the front lines, surrounded by happy children who call her "petite maman." It's unclear whether or not Golden Eyes founded the orphanage or if she's just a generous benefactor, as the war orphans are never mentioned again in the story.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The defining aspect of the only named villain, Hugo Von Schwatzenburg, has got to be his misogyny. Within moments of seeing a battered and frightened Golden Eyes lost in the woods, he formulates a plan to capture and seduce her, believing that she'll instantly fall in love with him and "worship his 'SUPER'-mannishness" [sic]. The most concentrated dose of this characterization arrives in Von Schwatzenburg's [=POV=] installment, immediately following the revelation that Golden Eyes has stolen his communiques and ferried them off to the American side- he descends into a frothing rage and describes the Americans as "the hated who 'honored their women and did not understand that they were servants and slaves and dolls!'"

* RippingOffTheStringOfPearls: Set up in [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/large/11.jpg Installment 6]] post re-name, when Golden Eyes is made to dress herself in stolen French finery after her capture by Hugo Von Schwatzenburg -- this includes several long strands of pearls. The trope is out in full force by [[http://cartoons.osu.edu/digital_albums/nellbrinkley/large/12.jpg Installment 7]], when Von Schwatzenburg has gotten knocked out while trying to force himself on Golden Eyes. Her clothes get torn up in the scuffle, and the illustration shows her necklaces have snapped and scattered pearls at her feet and across Von Schwatzenburg's unconscious form.