sam wallman is a comics-journalist, cartoonist and labour activist based in narrm / melbourne australia, mostly on wurundjeri country.
his drawings have been published in places like the guardian, the new york times, the age, the abc and sbs.
sam is a committed unionist, having worked as an organiser for the united workers union, and a delegate on the shop floor prior to that. he has drawn for hundreds of trade unions and worker organisations around the world, and currently works out of a studio in the melbourne trades hall, the oldest union building in the world.
in 2016 he visited the united states to draw everyday people's responses to the presidential election for australian, italian and american media outlets.
he was previously art editor and a contributing editor for overland journal. he has edited and published some books, including 'fluid prejudice', an anthology of comics and cartoons focussing on marginalised australian histories, and 'if we all spat at once they'd drown: drawings about class'.
three of his pieces of long-form comics-journalism have been nominated for walkley journalism awards, including 'winding up the window: the end of the australian auto industry' and 'a guard's story: at work in our detention centres', which won the 2014 human rights award in the media category.
sam has presented work at the melbourne writers festival, the sydney opera house, dark mofo, the tasmania museum and art gallery, sydney trades hall, the national gallery of victoria and italy's internazionale journalism festival.
he has produced animated work for the victorian AIDS council, the australian council of trade unions, the workers museum, mental health organisations, and la trobe university's department of gender, sexuality and diversity. he has drawn for progressive think-tanks like the lowy institute and the center for economic and policy research in the US, and organisations like the australian museum, the international labour organization and the united nations. his artwork has been featured in campaigns led by Naomi Klein, Bernie Sanders and Owen Jones.
his first book-length comic, ‘Our Members Be Unlimited: A Comic about Workers and their Unions’, was recently published by Scribe.
the majority of his work is funded by supporters on patreon. you can pledge $2 a month here if you like.
