Skip to content
1981
Volume 1, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2045-5852
  • E-ISSN: 2045-5860

Abstract

This article analyses from a gendered perspective aspects of form and cultural record relating to Wanda the War Girl (1943–1951), by artist Kath O’Brien – a Second World War strip for the (Sydney) Sunday Telegraph that was said to have been more popular with both adults and children than Superman. This was one of the first local comics to reflect a female point of view, combined with some vernacular characteristics, and the series is significant historically because the Second World War was also the first occasion on which Australian servicewomen existed. The welldressed adventuress and spy exemplified a new attitude towards women. Although she was a sexually provocative pin-up, Wanda the War Girl presented a form of female representation necessitated by the Second World War, which differed from earlier styles. The female character was powerful and productive: her bravery and attraction derived from her presence in male spheres. It is argued that by providing an interesting mosaic of 1940s attitudes, creator O’Brien’s support for the war effort has become a valid cultural record of the period.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/ajpc.1.2.153_1
2011-09-08
2024-12-05
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/ajpc.1.2.153_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Australia; comics; cultural record; gender; representation; Wanda the War Girl
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error