I serendipitously discovered “Government Issue: Comics for the People, 1940s-2000s” at the local library, and it’s a great compilation and dissertation on how government has used comics to better communicate with the general public.
Published in 2011, “Government Issue” highlights comics on topics ranging from military recruitment to employment, public health and safety to parks and recreation. Some were developed originally by the respective federal and local governments, while others were done in collaboration with popular comic publishers.
For public communications and engagement enthusiasts, “Government Issue” is a great coffee table book and perhaps point of inspiration for government leaders to re-think how to better communicate with constituents.
As author Richard Graham writes in the introduction:
"Official government comics reached their intended audiences by a variety of means, and the intended audience was the American people: comics as civics lessons. The government understood that comics, as a form of popular culture, have the capacity to simplify even the most crucial civic issues and shape public opinion."
“Government Issue” is available at Amazon.