Drawing from his first encounter with a government-issued comic as a child in the late 1970s (a maintenance manual for the Gama Goat jeep), Mr. Graham recalls how reading that comic book not only alleviated his boredom on that specific day, but decades later led to his discovering how that comic represented what has become a governmental publishing tradition.
government issue comics people
The importance of victory gardens, civic defense during a nuclear attack, and military recruitment are just some of the issues about which the government produced comics. When the Social Security Administration was formed, comics were used to tell the general public why it was important to get a social security card and to know their rights and benefits.
The result is painfully funny, and it is no surprise that a majority of these comics were one-offs; however, some comics were popular and reissued. The FDA published Dennis the Menace Takes a Poke at Poison in 1961 and reprinted it in 1981.
Government-issued comics are generally free, and if there is a cost, the money goes to whatever cause or department the comic endorses. Mr. Graham does say that the fed offers their comics online for free to educators; however, the average citizen is hardly likely to bother. As a result, the comics that were once given away at banks, hospitals, and a variety of other places are a rarity today.
Government comics include informational material produced in comic book-format by governments and their affiliated bodies. These works fulfill a wide variety of purposes often seen in government publications, primarily educating the public about government programs or lifestyle choices the government wants to encourage. Richard L. Graham examines and dissects the United States' government comics in Government Issue: Comics for the People, 1940s-2000s.[1]
In 1942, the Advertising Research Foundation conducted a study which found that "for adults, the most widely read non-advertising feature in newspapers was the comic strip."[2] In an effort to boost public support for ongoing foreign policies, the government looked to this study, and tried to persuade and suggest themes and ideas of soldiers and America as a whole, for artists to include in their weekly publications. Government officials understood that comics "have the capacity to simplify even the most crucial civic issues and shape public opinion." Not being satisfied with the images found in local papers and national magazines, the government went a step farther and began publishing their own comics. The intentions behind these publications were to "reinforce the government's expectations about the preferred cultural identity of the country." When examining government issued comics, it is important to realize that they give us an idea of the government's "idealized or assumed 'American experience'."[3] The themes and ideas found within the comics written and distributed by the government"express the government's attempts to recognize and address the nation's attitudes and concerns."[4]
These comics were mainly printed by federal agencies, but the government also commissioned works printed by Marvel, Harvey, and DC Comics.[5] Some of the more well known artists within the comic world were also an integral part of creating and popularizing government issued comics. Will Eisner, an army veteran, created the character "Joe Dope", and contributed to the creation of PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, which published illustrated pamphlets to complement other army publications. Before he was Dr. Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel also wrote and drew for the government. After becoming a captain in the army, Geisel worked in the animation branch, "where he wrote episodes of Private Snafu, a series of cartoon shorts for soldiers." Alongwith Munro Leaf, Geisel created an illustrated pamphlet for the army, which addressed the problems of malaria. Another famous artist commissioned by the government was Walt Disney. While Walt Disney Studios in California "became extensive 'war plants', housing mountains of munitions", artists were also developing characters for the comic Winter Draws On, a manual of sorts, for the United States Army Air Forces.[6]
In other words, the bulk of the material contained in this book is deadly dreary and rote, to put it mildly, featuring numerous pages of (notably white and middle class) people framed at waist level, facing each other and droning on about this or that subject. Some of the comics even fail to excel at even a basic competence, exhibiting sub-par art and storytelling skills. The two-page sampling of Abstinence Comix seems to have been drawn by a 13-year-old (which, actually, might explain a lot about the choice of subject matter).
From falling furniture to forest fires, the U.S. government works daily to get out information to consumers and citizens on the best ways to be safe and prepared. In a society with overwhelming amounts of media, however, how do you get information on these topics to the people who need it most? You make it go viral.
Government agencies have been working for decades to bring information to consumers through standard venues such as press releases, newspapers, radio and television stories and public service announcements (PSAs). They have also been working for decades to bring information to people through pop culture. Did you know that many government agencies have published comic books?
Do you have a favorite government PSA and how did it reach you? Tell us more in the comments! And visit us in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room to explore more of these comics and memes.
This does not mean that all sexual expression can be censored, however. Only a narrow range of "obscene" material can be suppressed; a term like "pornography" has no legal meaning . Nevertheless, even the relatively narrow obscenity exception serves as a vehicle for abuse by government authorities as well as pressure groups who want to impose their personal moral views on other people.
Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups. Censorship by the government is unconstitutional.
The US federal government has been producing comics directly or indirectly ever since 1918, when the short-lived Bureau of Cartoons was used to encourage American cartoonists to create propaganda during the First World War. Still, few people seem to be aware of this unique and fascinating resource.
Government comics were the topic of a poster I presented at the 2019 Federal Depository Library Conference in Arlington, Virginia on October 22 of this year. It turned out that not only are nearly all non-document librarians unaware that government comics exist, even many document librarians have either never heard of government comics, or are unaware of just how many government comics there are in their collections.
Government comics are truly a hidden collection in most libraries, and my goal in creating this poster was to raise awareness of government comics and to suggest methods for a library to enhance its local collection and encourage patrons to use them.
After an interval this summer and a couple of postponements due to scheduling conflicts, the Comics Studies Reading Group started back up in November with a discussion of Diary of a Teenage Girl by Phoebe Gloeckner.Our conversation was pretty wide-ranging, but touched on issues of teenage sexuality, sexual abuse, diaries & confessional writing, the interplay between text and image, memory and authorial voice, teaching difficult subject matter, and creating comics.
Since early 1996, the footlights have burned for the return of the troupe's leader, comedian Par Par Lay, and fellow comic and cousin Lu Zaw. That was the year the pair were arrested for doing what they did best - making people laugh. At an Independence Day party hosted by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the two told jokes comparing government co-operative workers with thieves. The military government saw nothing funny about it and handed them seven-year prison sentences for spreading "false news, knowing beforehand that it is untrue."
It seems like people want to complain about what government does or does not do, but they do not regularly attend meetings and do not sign up for public commenting at those meetings. What local government does is your business.
The Valdosta Daily Times encourages its readers to go beyond commenting on social media threads and attend the open public meetings. Filling the halls of government always sends a strong message to the people we have elected and who are appointed to head up boards, commissions and authorities.
Question: Questions from RI-SOL ILC Dushanbe Deaf School #10 students: What does a public diplomat do? What benefit can public diplomacy bring to government and people? Could you please tell about briefly about public diplomacy? --Question from Tajikistan
Thank you so much for taking time to reflect on those issues and discuss them with us. By the way, let me tell you that I am personally grateful to the U.S. government forever, for taking me to experience the HHH program. --Question from Mali
4) Our government has been leading the way in speaking up for freedom and transition to Democracy in Burma. President Bush has addressed the situation in Burma on many occasions, including his recent speech to the United Nations. Our First Lady Laura Bush has taken a special interest in this issue and has eloquently supported Democracy in Burma, as has Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. As President Bush most recently pointed out, Burmese authorities claim they want reconciliation, but they need to match their words with actions. A good way to start would be to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations access to political prisoners; to allow Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained leaders to communicate with one another. Ultimately, reconciliation requires that the Burmese authorities release ALL political prisoners and begin negotiations with the democratic opposition under the auspices of the UN 2ff7e9595c
Comments