Table Of ContentMiningcomicsandcartoonsashistoricalsources,thisisaninnovative,theoret-
ically sophisticated study that crosses national and geographical boundaries. It
makesapioneeringcontributiontoprint,labour,genderandnewculturalhis-
toryandtheexpandingfieldofhumourstudies,throughacaptivatingseriesof
casestudiesfrombothWorldWars.
–BridgetGriffen-Foley,MacquarieUniversity,Australia
Thisstudy’sfocusonhomefrontandfront-linecomicsfromthetwoworldwars
brings welcome attention to texts generally ignored by scholars of history and
comic art alike. Its argument for the significance of these largely overlooked
comics as valuable source material opens the doors for further studies in these
twofieldsandbeyond.
–GeneKannenberg,Jr.,NorthwesternUniversityLibrary,USA
Thisbookestablishesthesignificanceofcomicsasaculturalrecord,withlesser-
known and forgotten titles giving important insights into everyday lives and
mentalities across the English-speaking world in times of war. Comics are an
excitingadditiontotherepertoireofsourcesthatinformcommemorativeactivi-
tiesinthetwenty-firstcenturyaswellashistoricalstudiesoftheperiod.
–SarahLloyd,Directorof EverydayLivesinWar,anAHRC-funded
FirstWorldWarEngagementCentre,UK
IfoundparticularvalueintheclosereadingsofcomicsofWilliamHaselden,more
obscureartistsfromtheleft-wingpressinAmericaandAustraliaandsoldierartists
fromthetrenchpapers.Theauthorstackleissuesofgenderrepresentation,and
certainlyKathleenO’Brien’sWandatheWarGirlcomicwarrantscloserattention.
–IanGordon,NationalUniversityofSingapore
PalgraveStudiesintheHistoryoftheMedia
SeriesEditors:ProfessorBillBell(CardiffUniversity),DrChandrikaKaul(DepartmentofModern
History,UniversityofStAndrews),ProfessorKennethOsgood(McBrideHonorsProgram,Colorado
SchoolofMines),DrAlexanderS.Wilkinson(CentrefortheHistoryoftheMedia,University
CollegeDublin)
PalgraveStudiesintheHistoryoftheMediapublishesoriginal,high-qualityresearchintothe
culturesofcommunicationfromthemiddleagestothepresentday.Theseriesexploresthe
varietyofsubjectsanddisciplinaryapproachesthatcharacterizethisvibrantfieldofenquiry.
Theserieswillhelpshapecurrentinterpretationsnotonlyofthemedia,inallitsforms,but
alsoofthepowerfulrelationshipbetweenthemediaandpolitics,society,andtheeconomy.
Advisory Board: Professor Carlos Barrera(University of Navarra, Spain), Professor Peter
Burke(EmmanuelCollege,Cambridge),ProfessorDenisCryle(CentralQueenslandUniver-
sity,Australia),ProfessorDavidCulbert(LouisianaStateUniversity,BatonRouge),Professor
Nicholas Cull (Center on Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California), Profes-
sorTomO’Malley(CentreforMediaHistory,UniversityofWales,Aberystwth),Professor
ChesterPach(OhioUniversity)
Titlesinclude:
JaneL.Chapman
GENDER,CITIZENSHIPANDNEWSPAPERS
HistoricalandTransnationalPerspectives
JaneChapman,AnnaHoyles,AndrewKerrandAdamSherif
COMICSANDTHEWORLDWARS
ACulturalRecord
ChandrikaKaul
MEDIAANDTHEBRITISHEMPIRE
MichaelKrysko
AMERICANRADIOINCHINA
InternationalEncounterswithTechnologyandCommunications,1919–41
ChristophHendrikMüller
WESTGERMANSAGAINSTTHEWEST
Anti-AmericanisminMediaandPublicOpinionintheFederalRepublicof
Germany,1949–68
JamesMussell
THENINETEENTH-CENTURYPRESSINTHEDIGITALAGE
NealM.Rosendorf
FRANCOSELLSSPAINTOAMERICA
Hollywood,TourismandPublicRelationsasPostwarSpanishSoftPower
JoelWiener
THEAMERICANIZATIONOFTHEBRITISHPRESS,1830s–1914
PalgraveStudiesintheHistoryoftheMedia
SeriesStandingOrderISBN978–0–230–23153–5hardcover
SeriesStandingOrderISBN978–0–230–23154–2paperback
(outsideNorthAmericaonly)
Youcanreceivefuturetitlesinthisseriesastheyarepublishedbyplacingastandingorder.Please
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address,thetitleoftheseriesandoneoftheISBNsquotedabove.
CustomerServicesDepartment,MacmillanDistributionLtd,Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire
RG216XS,England
Comics and the World
Wars
A Cultural Record
Jane Chapman, Anna Hoyles, Andrew Kerr and
Adam Sherif
UniversityofLincoln,UK
©JaneChapman,AnnaHoyles,AndrewKerrandAdamSherif2015
Foreword©KentWorcester2015
Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis
publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted
savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence
permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency,
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Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication
maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages.
Theauthorshaveassertedtheirrightstobeidentifiedastheauthorsofthis
workinaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Firstpublished2015by
PALGRAVEMACMILLAN
PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited,
registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,
HampshireRG216XS.
PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC,
175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010.
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andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld.
Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates,
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ISBN978–1–137–27371–0
Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully
managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing
processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe
countryoforigin.
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Chapman,Jane,1950–
Comicsandtheworldwars:aculturalrecord/JaneChapman,Anna
Hoyles,AndrewKerrandAdamSherif,UniversityofLincoln,UK.
pages cm.—(Palgravestudiesinthehistoryofmedia)
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN978–1–137–27371–0
1. WorldWar,1914–1918—Socialaspects. 2. WorldWar,
1939–1945—Socialaspects. 3. Comicbooks,strips,etc.—History—
20thcentury. 4. Comicbooks,strips,etc.—Historyandcriticism.
5. Popularculture—History—20thcentury. I. Hoyles,Anna,1978–
II. Kerr,Andrew,1986– III. Sherif,Adam. IV. Title.
D523.C4552015
940.3(cid:2)1—dc23 2015012850
Contents
ListofIllustrations vi
Foreword vii
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 AProposedTheoryandMethodfortheIncorporationof
ComicBooksasPrimarySources 15
3 HaseldenasPioneer:ReflectingorConstructingHome
FrontOpinion? 35
4 ProtoComicsasTrenchRecord:Anti-Heroism,
DisparagementHumourandCitizens’Journalism 56
5 TheRiseandFalloftheFirstWorldWarGullibleWorker
asaCounterculture 77
6 AdjustingtoTotalWar:USPropaganda,Commerceand
Audience 101
7 TheCulturalConstructionofWomen:Pin-Ups,Proactive
WomenandRepresentationinCombat 125
8 CollectiveCultureasDynamicRecord:TheDailyWorker,
1940–43 150
9 Conclusion 172
Notes 180
Bibliography 192
Index 208
v
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Thegullibleworker,HenryDubb,refusestolistentoa
socialistactivist 9
2.1 TheworldwarservesascontextforWonderWomanas
shesavesaUSAirForcepilotfrom‘certaindoom!’ 30
3.1 BigandLittleWillie–a1914referencetonationalism,
inspiredbyGermanicmedievalchivalry,iscontrasted
withtheAlliedvictoryin1918ledontheWesternFront
byMarshalFoch 39
3.2 Inthecontextoftotalwar,ColonelDug-Out’snewjob
titleisironicallypompousandmeaningless,illustrating
theMirror’seditorialstandpointofcriticisingthestagnant
natureofBritishbureaucracy 46
3.3 MissJoyFlapperton,symbolisingthe‘flapper’cultureand
thechangingroleforyoungwomen 52
4.1 ‘B.C.toArmageddon’ 62
4.2 ‘ByJove!TheverythingtotakebacktoBlighty!’ 70
5.1 HenryDubbprovidesasalutarylessonforreadersonthe
subjectofwarandcapitalism 85
5.2 WilliamMugillustratesthesocialistviewpointthatlifein
thenavyconsistsofinequalityandhardship 95
7.1 Wandaexemplifiesthenewroleforwomenthatemerged
duringtheSecondWorldWar 136
8.1 ‘TheFrontLine’(finalpanelmissing),illustratingthe
scarcityofonionsand,intheopinionoftheDailyWorker,
theinequalitiesoffooddistribution 161
9.1 HenryDubbexhibitshis‘incorrect’political
consciousnessbyopposingwomen’ssuffrage 177
Tables
4.1 Broadthemesofcontent 61
6.1 Percentagesofmenandwomenwhousespecificproducts
theyseeadvertisedinnewspapercomics 104
vi
Foreword
In recent years, there has been a surge of scholarly interest in graphic
narrative. To a significant extent, this new wave of comics scholarship
reflectstheconcernsofresearchersinliterarystudies,mediastudiesand
cultural studies – the contemporary-minded wing of the humanities,
broadlyspeaking.AsComicsandtheWorldWarsmakesabundantlyclear,
however, comics and cartoons offer a rich socio-cultural resource for
historians interested in the intersection of cultural expression, polit-
ical communication and key junctures and crises over the past two
centuries.
The focus of this volume, of course, is on graphic narrative and the
twoworldwars.Indifferentways,eachofthebook’schapterspresents
a compelling case for incorporating the study of comics and cartoons
intotheprofessionaltoolkitofthemodernhistorian.Theauthorsdraw
on ideas and concepts developed by prominent writers on historical
methods to help reconsider and expand the palette of primary source
materials;indoingsotheyengageinadialoguewithaNewCulturalHis-
torythathasalreadyprovokedseriousrethinkingacrossthehumanities
on a range of topics and issues. Even as the book’s authors investi-
gate from a methodological standpoint the uses of comics as historical
sources, they provide numerous examples of ways in which individual
wartimecomicsreflectedandtosomeextentshapedthesocialcontexts
withinwhichtheywerecreated,disseminatedandconsumed.Takenas
awhole,thebook’schaptersprovideafreshwayofthinkingaboutwhat
historiansandothersoftendescribeas‘theculturalrecord’andtheways
inwhichcomics andcartoonsconstituteaneglectedbutsalientaspect
ofthisrecord.
While the present study opens up new lines of enquiry for scholars
interested in the cultural and social history of the First and Sec-
ond World Wars, it also raises useful questions for researchers in the
fledgling and interdisciplinary field of ‘comics studies’. It is worth
emphasising the rapidity of the field’s growth and maturation: while
at the end of the twentieth century the number of serious books on
comics could fill a bookshelf, the more recent outpouring of mono-
graphs, biographies, edited collections and theoretical investigations
could easily furnish a couple of large bookcases. And yet, while the
term ‘comics’ encompasses a diverse array of formats, practices and
vii
viii Foreword
genres, comics scholarship has mostly fixated on a narrow subset of
themes,creatorsanderas.Thenewscholarshiptendstoprivilegeauto-
biography and adventure stories above humour and parody; US above
non-USAnglophonecomics;andcomicbooksandgraphicnovelsabove
newspaper and magazine cartooning. Most importantly, from the per-
spectiveofthepresentstudy,thefieldexhibitsamuchstrongersenseof
engagement with contemporary rather than historical cartooning. The
literature on nineteenth-century cartooning is much smaller than the
literature on twentieth-century cartooning, and the literature on late
twentieth-century cartooning is far larger than the literature on early
twentieth-century cartooning. There are exceptions to these general
trends;adeterminedresearchercanfindmaterialondelightfullyobscure
corners of cartooning history and culture. It nevertheless remains the
case that a select number of present-minded topics and approaches
receivefarmoreconsiderationthanothers.
Thepresentvolumeisthusanoutlierfromthestandpointofthestate
of the field. At the moment, there is very little being published on the
kind of short bursts of graphic humour explored in chapters 3 and 5,
or the type of combative political cartooning profiled in Chapter 8.
Australian, Canadian and New Zealand-based cartooning receive far
more scrutiny in these pages than is customary, and in general there
is not a lot of comics-related research that criss-crosses national and
regionalboundariesinthewaythatthisvolumedoes.Theuseofcomics
and cartoons as historical sources, a methodological issue that is care-
fullyaddressedinChapter2,hasnottodatereceivedsustainedattention
elsewhere, nor have the ways in which modern states have mobilised
cartoon imagery for propagandistic purposes, which Chapter 6 investi-
gates. Furthermore, the book’s highlighted cartoonists – George Baker,
Bruce Bairnsfather, George Dunstan (‘Zif’), Hugh Farmer, Jimmy Friel
(‘Gabriel’), Fred Guardineer, William Haselden, Syd Miller, Kathleen
O’Brien, Ernest Riebe, Dan Russell, Ryan Walker, the anonymous Hob-
Nob and so on – are pretty much invisible from the vantage point of
contemporaryscholarship.Allofthisshouldserveasareminderofhow
littlewereallyknowaboutcartooninginthetwentiethcentury,letalone
the nineteenth, despite appreciable advances in scholarly knowledge
andinfrastructure.
Not surprisingly, wartime cartooning has received minimal atten-
tioninthesecondaryliterature.Whiletherearereprintresources,such
as Matgamna (2014), Minear (2001), Schiffrin (2009) and Yoe (2009),
scholarlycommentaryonthesubjectisnotexactlyabundant.Areview
of the literature reveals a much greater level of investment in comics
Foreword ix
about past wars, and graphic reportage about wars in remote settings,
than comics generated within the crucible of interstate violence. Yet
neither comics about historical warfare nor graphic narratives about
present-day conflicts that are written and drawn by journalists should
be grouped under the ‘wartime comics’ label. By definition, wartime
comicsarecomicsincubatedwithinparticularcontextsandtimeframes.
Whetherissuedbygovernmentagencies,for-profitcompaniesorpolit-
ical organisations, these kinds of visual narratives are rooted in, and
necessarily reflective of, particular times and places. To write about
wartimecomicsisthereforetoconfronttheproblemofconnectingwhat
isdepictedonthepagetowhatwashappeningontheground.Thissug-
geststhatthestudyofwartimecomicsspeakstothecorepreoccupations
of professional historians in a way that the study of comics about war
does not. Contemporary non-fiction comics about war in other times
andplacesadmittedlyconstituteakindofculturalrecord,inthesense
that they are suggestive of the context within which they were cre-
ated.Buttheresearcherwhosetsouttoproduceanessayonnon-fiction
comicsabout,say,ancientwarfareispresumablymorelikelytousethat
opportunitytotalkaboutsuchmattersasaesthetics,formaldevicesand
storytelling strategies, rather than what the comics might reveal about
fighting in the ancient world, or what their pages disclose about our
ownculturalmoment.Thereare,wecanassume,morestraightforward
waystodocumentandinvestigatethecontemporaryculturalrecord.
While the phrase ‘wartime comics’ denotes a quite specific set of
meanings, and should not be conflated with the broader nexus of war
and comics, the more familiar term ‘war comics’ should also be dis-
entangled from similar-sounding phraseology. If wartime comics can
be defined as comics directly produced under wartime conditions, war
comics can be defined as comic books, comic strips and reprint col-
lections that invoke and recycle stereotypical battlefield scenarios for
youngadultaudiences.Warcomics,likehorrorcomics,romancecomics
and superhero comics, constitute a genre, whereas wartime comics
can incorporate a variety of genres, from kids’ comics and humour
comics to political comics and government propaganda. War comics
tend to be romantic in their treatment of military conflict, with an
emphasis on good guys versus bad guys, and tidy story resolutions,
and they are almost always temporally disconnected from the histori-
calperiodsthattheyportray.Overtheyears,forexample,the‘bigtwo’
US comics companies, DC and Marvel, published such generic titles
as G.I. Combat (1952–87), Our Fighting Forces (1954–78) and Sgt. Fury
andHisHowlingCommandos(1963–81),whileBritishpublishersbrought
