If it weren't for World War II, there would never have been an Australian comic-book industry. When the Australian government banned the importation of American comic books in July 1940 as a wartime economy measure, local publishers were given a captive market hungry for cheap, exciting reading matter.
Ironically enough, Australian publishers, unlike their American counterparts, did not always use comics to promote war propaganda, or even publish titles with an overtly military theme. Perhaps Australia's real-life military threats were so great during the early stages of the war, especially after Japan entered the conflict in 1941, that most comic-book readers preferred escapist entertainment to grim war stories. |
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It wasn't long before war comics caught on with the first generation of 'baby boom' children, just as Australia was fighting the new Cold War against Communist forces in Korea and Malaya throughout the 1950s. |
Australian comics revisited World War II with such characters as The Phantom Commando and Billy Battle, while Don Christy of the RAN defended our shores against the 'Red Menace'.
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Local series such as the Silhouette War Stories Library emulated popular imported British comics of the late 1950s, by featuring full-length stories aimed at older readers, which emphasised gritty action over juvenile heroics. |
War comics fell out of favour with local readers during the 1960s, which may be partly attributed to widespread anti-war sentiments that arose from Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War.
Illustrations
Top Maurice BRAMLEY (writer and artist, born 1910), The Phantom Commando No 8, Sydney, Horwitz Publications, 1962
Bottom John DIXON (cover artist, born 1929), The Phantom Commando No 3, Sydney, Horwitz Publications, 1959
Right Maurice BRAMLEY (writer and artist, born 1910), The Phantom Commando No 8, Page 21, Sydney, Horwitz Publications, 1962 (detail)
