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'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)
Notes
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
y
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
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 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
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 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
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.'
Awards
- 2022 shortlisted Book Links Award for Historical Fiction
- 2022 joint winner Comic Arts Awards of Australia — Bronze Award
- 2022 winner Readings Prizes — The Readings Young Adult Book Prize
- 2022 CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Notable Book — Eve Pownall Award