Close to the Surface: Staged Messaging in Australian Government-Commissioned Comics

Abstract

When we think of what makes up Australian comics, we rarely think of comics that have been produced for educational, social or informational purpose under government commission, which could be through institutions or grants-and yet this body of work forms not only a large part of the comics made in Australia, but a useful and challenging lens through which to understand the operations of Australian comics. Spurred by archival research in the NLA, and then applying this lens to comics found there, the researchers asked: what is the relationship between value, audience and form in contemporary Australian government-commissioned comics? What can educational comics produced under government warr..