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This article explores the representation of Germany and the Germans in the pages of the Melbourne Punch (1855–1925). Grounding its imagery in contemporary racial stereotyping of Germans, Melbourne Punch commented in muted terms on German immigration and the events of 1870–71 but reacted with alarm at the sudden arrival of the Kaiserreich as an expanding imperial power in the Asia-Pacific in 1884–85. The consolidation of this presence in the 1890s, combined with the simultaneous threat posed to Australia’s security via Germany’s challenge to the Royal Navy, raised antagonism to extremes (more so than in comparable British publications like the London Punch). The fear of Prussian military culture threatening Australia’s liberal-British society was expressed palpably in ordinary weekly numbers, as well as in dedicated special issues of 1898 and 1909, which featured Germanophobic invasion stories, anticipating – but never approaching – the hatred towards the ‘Hun’ during the Great War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stan Cross's "For gorsake, stop laughing: this is serious!" (Smith's Weekly, 1933) is the symbol and bellwether of the Australian cartooning tradition. It is often lionised as a national treasure, but its archival history has been perilous in a way that shows a lack of care amounting almost to national negligence. The original of this most famous cartoon of the Depression era was lost for 80 years before being rediscovered in 2014, and this article notes for the first time that Trove Newspapers lacks a record of its initial publication. We use this troubled material history of one significant cartoon to raise a range of issues about the quality and purpose of collecting and presenting Australian cartoons as a resource for Australian studies in fields ranging from media and humour studies to cultural and political history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article surveys the depiction of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph in British cartoons across the entirety of his almost 68-year reign. Cited are the observation that the depictions fall largely into a similar pattern, but are characterized by more simplistic, forthright opinions, how the vagaries of Great Power politics were factored in the emperor-king's representation, and the role that the cultural connections to the Habsburg lands played in the depictions.