Work

Handmade histories: an analysis of Australian comics procured from zine fairs, comics fairs and market days and published in 2022

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: What kinds of comics were sold and procured from Australia's zine fairs, comics fairs and market days in 2022? The research team for Folio, a comics oral history project, visited Australian zine fairs, comics fairs and market days between February and October 2022 at a time when many such marketplaces had resumed trade for the first time after 2 years of COVID lockdowns. The research team identified 144 comics that were clearly identifiable as being published in 2022, and then investigated this cross-section of Australia's comics life in 2022, finding a frequent focus on COVID; mental health, disability and chronic illness; online life; place; and climate disaster. Beyond the documentation of these comics and themes from an important but easily-missed quadrant of Australian comics publishing, the research team considers this comics environment – with its links to other publishing cultures, its incorporation of anomalies – for its research potential.

Source: Media International Australia

DOI: 10.1177/1329878x241299145

Authors: Ronnie Scott, Elizabeth MacFarlane, Gabriel Clark, Meg O’Shea, Patrick Grant

Institutions: RMIT University, The University of Melbourne, University of Technology Sydney

Language: English

Topic: Comics and Graphic Narratives

Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650

Funder: Australian Research Council