'Masters of the Gags': cartoonist visions of war and peace, 1941-1945©

Despite their communicative power, cartoonists have often been viewed as the detached outsiders of the newsroom. This paper contributes to the relatively new area of research into cartooning as a significant, enduring aspect of journalism. It is the first study to focus on the caricaturists’ editorial clout in visualising post-imperial communities while defying isolationist politics during the Australian-US alliance in World War II. This case study fills gaps in the research by revealing the wartime caricaturists’ forgotten role in strengthening Australia’s international alliances. Overseas, such illustrators represented a wide range of politically aligned publications including the liberal PM’s Dr Seuss, the Saturday Evening Post’s Norman Rockwell, and the conservative London tabloid, the Daily Express’s Sidney Strube. In Australia, newsroom humorists included Bohemian artists Norman Lindsay and George Finey, the Bulletin’s John Frith, the Daily Telegraph’s Will Mahony, The Sun’s Stuart Peterson, and Kate O’Brien, creator of the Wanda the War Girl comic strip. A new analysis of this often overlooked archival material shows how the cartoonists initiated journalistic techniques to engage public support for Australia’s increasingly assertive, independent foreign policies. This humour strategy aided the Australian Prime Minister John Curtin in winning public confidence in his leadership of the nation’s war. The newsroom artists mostly benefited from the government’s relaxation of censorship rules, contributing to a flourishing era of Australian cartooning. Their images signified a symbolic geography that transcended imperial divisions and involved more diverse voices in participating in international affairs. This lost conception of cartooning as a journalism profession can provide fresh insights into tracing the industry’s developments. The paper indicates that the hidden value of cartoonists is deserving of higher status and just rewards.