A superhero koala and a priest being attacked by zombies are just two of the Australian comic characters on display at the National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra.

The striking Australian comic art has gone on show as part of a larger exhibition of comics in Asia.

Kokey Koala and his magic button was a popular addition to the display.

"It is such a fun one and because it features a koala and is so obviously Australian," NLA manager of overseas collections Julie Whiting said.

"Unlike the American superheros we thought this koala with his magic button was extremely cute.

"And the fact that all his super powers come from the button on his jacket was a lovely idea."

The tales of the plucky koala were drawn by former New Zealand comic artist Noel Cook who emigrated to Australia in the 1920s.

Library staff found it difficult to select which comics would go in the display case because of the wide variety.

"Many people may be surprised that an institution like the Library collects comics but they are certainly part of Australia's publishing history," Ms Whiting said.

"We put a great emphasis on collecting comics, and that includes contemporary ones and also filling gaps in our retrospective collections.

"There are some that reflect what was happening at the time, such during World War II, while others are purely for entertainment such as Ginger Meggs.

"Some are spinoffs of the popular American superhero style comics, or aimed as children with an education message and others are science fiction, fantasy or horror."

How superhero Kokey Koala fights the criminals in his regular comic series. ( Australian Comics Collection. NLA )

Drawing Australian comics is a labor of love: artist

Illustrator Alister Lockhart was delighted to see his work for a horror comic anthology included in the National Library's exhibition.

The Decay horror comic is published three times a year for an adult audience by DARK OZ Productions in South Australia. ( NLA: Australian Comics Collection )

His scary cover on a 2010 edition of adult comic Decay depicts a struggling priest being pulled through floorboards by zombie children.

"What I do when I start a comic is tell a story," Mr Lockhart said.

"The priest is being dragged down and the idea is that he has buried all these children beneath the floorboards in the rectory and they have come up to get him, and he is receiving his comeuppance.

"It was play on the whole issue of sexual misconduct in the church. It's quirky, topical and it has a horror theme. "

Mr Lockhart works fulltime as a design teacher in Sydney, and creates comic illustrations as a hobby.

"Doing comic pages is probably the hardest work that an artist can do, because it may have six to seven panels in it and each one of them is an illustration, or a poster in itself, and they have to work together fluidly," he said.

"So it is easily the hardest work, but also the worst paying, as I know of no single person in the Australian comics industry who is actually making money.

"I do it purely for the love of it."

Read a comic at the National Library

Staff at the National Library said anyone can read comics from the collection in the same way as catalogued books.

But generally people who access the comics are researchers looking at art development and social messages.

Ginger Meggs comics by Jimmy Bancks (1889-1952) remain a favourite among adults and children. ( NLA: Australian Comics Collection )

"Mostly the use of the [comic] collections is for research, rather than entertainment," Ms Whiting said.

"Certainly the John Ryan [comic] collection has been used by a number of researchers over the years who are looking into the history of Australian comics.

"And because we keep these resources forever, we are a great repository for this type of material for research purposes."

The Library has also begun archiving some comics which are being produced on websites to reduce publication and distribution costs.

"We have kept a record of several of those in the Pandora digital archive of online publications," Ms Whiting said.

"We are much more selective of what we can archive, but they certainly reflect the move by some to digital form only."