![]() On an aesthetic level, Jo and her Magic Cape represented a decisive shift in the evolution of Australian comic book art. Jo’s companion, the handsome American fighter pilot, Serge Shawn, reflected the glamorous status enjoyed by American servicemen stationed in Australia during the war. Jo, a curvaceous Broadway dancer whose cape endowed her with magical powers, was portrayed as the embodiment of Hollywood-styled beauty. Despite its Australian provenance, Jo and her Magic Cape mirrored wartime Australia’s growing fascination with American culture. In many respects, Jo anticipated Robyn Boyd’s famous denunciation of post-war Australia’s ‘culture of Austerica’ which he argued merely generated threadbare imitations of American popular culture. Yet the series’ cultural significance lies beyond its genre innovation, or the pioneering achievements of its female creator. ![]() Originally developed for Sydney’s Daily Mirror newspaper in 1945, Bertram transferred Jo to comic books towards the end of World War II, thereby giving Australia its first female superhero. Jo and her Magic Cape, created by Moira Bertram, was the triumphant exception to the rule. This paper further examines the role played by Australian fans of the Phantom – or “phans”, as they preferred to be called – in using print and online media to sustain public interest in the character, and thus entered into a symbiotic – and occasionally adversarial – relationship with The Phantom’s commercial gatekeepers.Īustralia’s wartime comic book industry, unlike its American counterpart, never fully embraced the costumed superhero. This paper will argue that the dissemination of The Phantom in Australia’s pre-war print media culture, particularly through women’s magazines, greatly influenced its public reception and cemented the character’s appeal amongst mainstream audiences. Although historically neglected in the United States, The Phantom comic strip enjoyed consistently greater popularity overseas – most notably in Australia, which today hosts the world’s oldest edition of The Phantom comic book. The Phantom is an American comic-strip character who, at the time of his debut in 1936, became the forerunner of the costumed superhero, but whose popularity was eclipsed by the subsequent appearance of Superman in 1938. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |