# How did Bazooka Joe lose his eye? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490 "2005-06-08T18:59:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/1 "2005-06-08T18:59:34Z")
For those not familiar with the classic gum [http://www.topps.com/Confectionery/Bazooka/joe.html](http://www.topps.com/Confectionery/Bazooka/joe.html) My own theory is that Bazooka Joe lost in in WWII (prior to 1947 when his name was Sergeant Krautkill McJaphater). ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/2 "2005-06-08T19:00:57Z")
Yes. He was using a bazooka and it backfired. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/3 "2005-06-08T19:06:59Z")
Bazookas always backfire. Maybe he was the loader and didn’t duck. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/4 "2005-06-08T19:07:18Z")
I thought he just wore the eyepatch to look cool. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/5 "2005-06-08T19:12:12Z")
I think \*\*carnivorousplant[/b[ has it right. He lost his eye looking into the back of a bazooka being fired and his friends have called him “Bazooka Joe” ever since to remind him what a dumbass he is. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/6 "2005-06-08T19:20:54Z")
Cecil’s (rather short) column on the subject: [How did Bazooka Joe lose his right eye?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a961122c.html) ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/7 "2005-06-08T19:23:24Z")
I’m suprised that you guys didn’t know this, but Bazooka Joe lost his eye while blowing a bubble with his gum. He had one of the largest bubbles ever recorded going when one of his friends decided it would be funny to pop the bubble to cover Joe in goo. Just when the friend came up to poke the bubble with his index finger, Joe lost the bubble and the friend inadvertantly poked Joe’s eye out. Damn shame… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/8 "2005-06-08T19:24:48Z")
That’s damned boring. I was hoping for something involving Mrs. Joe’s garter belt. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/9 "2005-06-08T19:26:45Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > Cecil’s (rather short) column on the subject: [How did Bazooka Joe lose his right eye?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a961122c.html) Wow, Cecil really does know everything! And **Odinoneeye** (who should know) had it right. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/10 "2005-06-08T19:39:44Z")
I always assumed it was a leftover from the ill-fated “Scurvy Sea Dog Bubble Gum” with “Cannonball Pirate Joe.” ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/11 "2005-06-08T20:04:13Z")
I always assumed he shot it out with his Red Ryder Air Rifle. I guess I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/12 "2005-06-08T22:25:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That’s damned boring. I was hoping for something involving Mrs. Joe’s garter belt. Weird masturbation accident. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/13 "2005-06-09T04:56:47Z")
I like to think it went something like this… MORT: Joe, I have to ask you a simple question. If you answer it simply and correctly, we’re cool. If you make one of your typical lame-ass joke answers, I will stick a white hot metal needle in your eye. Now then, how do I get to Carnegie Hall? JOE: Practice! MORT: I WARNED, you!!! Joe: Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggh! MORT: Don’t worry- save up 30 of your comic strips, and you can send away for a neat eye patch. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/14 "2005-06-09T05:14:34Z")
Mai Tai cocktail umbrella in the eye during the invasion of Grenada. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/15 "2005-06-09T12:10:08Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Now then, how do I get to Carnegie Hall? Certainly a thoughtfull and creative answer, but does it not imply that Bazooka Joe is a cab driver, in which case his moniker would be “Cabbie Joe”, or “Joe the Hack”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/16 "2005-06-09T13:29:40Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > Cecil’s (rather short) column on the subject: [How did Bazooka Joe lose his right eye?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a961122c.html) How 'bout that. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/17 "2005-06-09T13:35:09Z")
I’m convinced it was a knife fight woth Mort. Why do you think Mort has the collar around his mouth? He’s horribly disfigured under there. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/18 "2005-06-09T13:48:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Weird masturbation accident. Naah, it’s just that Joe’s idea was “to do it until he needed glasses”, not realizing that the loss mechanism wasn’t gradual deterioration, but “one at a time”. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-bazooka-joe-lose-his-eye/307490/19 "2005-06-09T13:48:58Z")
**Pud** , from the “other” bubblegum comics, gouged it out so he could skull-fuck him.