image of person or book cover 2945421934025037496.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
Issue Details: First known date: 2021... 2021 Underground : Marsupial Outlaws and Other Rebels of Australia's War in Vietnam
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Led by an unconscientiously objecting wombat registered for military service during Australia's war in Vietnam, Underground digs tunnels through a chapter of Australian history that many have attempted to bury.'

'Why would a wombat be registered for war?

'It's 1965, and an old Tattersalls barrel starts rolling marbles to randomly conscript young Australian men to fight in the war in Vietnam. Melbourne housewife Jean McLean is outraged, as are her artist friends Clif and Marlene Pugh, who live in the country with their wombat, Hooper.

'Determined to wreck the system, Jean forms the Save Our Sons movement's Victorian branch, and she and her supporters take to the streets to protest. Meanwhile, in the small country town of Katunga, Bill Cantwell joins the Australian Army, and in Saigon, young Mai Ho is writing letters to South Vietnamese soldiers from her school desk. And when Hooper's call-up papers arrive, he mysteriously goes underground...

'As these stories intersect in unexpected ways and destinies entwine, a new world gradually emerges - a world in which bridges of understanding make more sense than war. This stunning graphic novel, full of empathy, courage and resistance, is based on true events.' (Publication summary)

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teachers' notes via publisher's website.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 2945421934025037496.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 272p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 3 August 2021
      ISBN: 9781760631475
Alternative title: Underground : Wombat renégat et autres opposants australiens à la guerre du Vietnam
Language: French
    • c
      France,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      La Boîte à Bulles ,
      2023 .
      image of person or book cover 1002399223755979543.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 272p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Published 4 January 2023.
      ISBN: 9782849534380, 2849534382

Works about this Work

y separately published work icon The Comics Question with Mirranda Burton Bernard Caleo (interviewer), 2022 25395398 2022 single work podcast interview

'The first episode in a new series on the Readings Podcast, which focuses on all things comics!

'In this episode, our own Bernard Caleo speaks to fellow comic artist Mirranda Burton about her graphic novel, Underground. Underground was the recent winner of the 2022 Readings Young Adult Prize.' 

On the Home Front : Picto-critical Eyes on the Vietnam War Bernard Caleo , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January–February no. 439 2022; (p. 24-25)

— Review of Underground : Marsupial Outlaws and Other Rebels of Australia's War in Vietnam Mirranda Burton , 2021 single work graphic novel
'Editorial cartoonists gamble their all on a same-day art, their work created, read, and discarded on the day of publication. The makers of graphic novel journalism use the language of cartooning, too, but in their case it’s a marathon, not a sprint: they spend years arranging thousands of images and tens of thousands of words across hundreds of pages in order to create their books. Two new graphic novels cast a picto-critical eye on the war in Vietnam and show how it came home to roost, bringing death and imprisonment to suburban streets in Australia and the United States.' 

 (Introduction)

On the Home Front : Picto-critical Eyes on the Vietnam War Bernard Caleo , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January–February no. 439 2022; (p. 24-25)

— Review of Underground : Marsupial Outlaws and Other Rebels of Australia's War in Vietnam Mirranda Burton , 2021 single work graphic novel
'Editorial cartoonists gamble their all on a same-day art, their work created, read, and discarded on the day of publication. The makers of graphic novel journalism use the language of cartooning, too, but in their case it’s a marathon, not a sprint: they spend years arranging thousands of images and tens of thousands of words across hundreds of pages in order to create their books. Two new graphic novels cast a picto-critical eye on the war in Vietnam and show how it came home to roost, bringing death and imprisonment to suburban streets in Australia and the United States.' 

 (Introduction)

y separately published work icon The Comics Question with Mirranda Burton Bernard Caleo (interviewer), 2022 25395398 2022 single work podcast interview

'The first episode in a new series on the Readings Podcast, which focuses on all things comics!

'In this episode, our own Bernard Caleo speaks to fellow comic artist Mirranda Burton about her graphic novel, Underground. Underground was the recent winner of the 2022 Readings Young Adult Prize.' 

Last amended 10 Oct 2024 15:52:34
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