Inked: Australian Cartoons

Book excerpt: Cartoons can give us a pictorial history of Australia in a series ofcartoon 'time capsules'; they often hold a mirror up to Australian society.This book shows how cartoonists helped develop a visual vocabulary forAustralian life and culture--whether it is 'The Little Boy from Manly', alarrikin digger or Tony Abbott's red speedos. Inked:Australian Cartoons presents a selection ofthought-provoking cartoons from the National Library of Australia's extensivearchive, covering topics from the First Fleet to the present day. The bookshows readers the breadth of Australia's cartooning history, from historic subjectssuch as convict life, the goldfields, early royal visits and Ashes cricketstests, through the cartoon greats such as WillDyson, Bruce Petty, Michael Leunig, to contemporary cartoons by significant artists such as David Pope, JonKudelka, Judy Horacek, Cathy Wilcox and David Rowe. Inked shows how the role of cartoonists has shifted from illustrator tocommentator, skilfully capturing the controversial topics of the day. AuthorGuy Hansen shows how whether it be post-war politics and the demise of theLabor government, capital punishment, the Vietnam War, Indigenous affairs or changingrelationships with Britain and Asia, nothing has escaped our skilledcartoonists' satirical pens.