From Captain Invincible to Cleverman: the weird and wild history of Australian superheroes

They're big business ... in Hollywood. But did you know Australia also has a small but rich seam of compelling and bizarre superhero movies?

The phrase nobody makes superhero movies like Australia" has, I dare say, never before been written. Our humble government-subsidised film and TV industry is no more than a lemonade stand in the shadow of Hollywood's arena spectacular, unable to compete budget-wise with the deep pockets of Tinseltown or produce bombast on the scale of American studios.

But scratch the surface of Australian film and TV history and you will find a small but rich vein of super strange locally made superhero productions with their own - forgive me - true blue je ne sais quoi. Their eclecticism and off-kilter energy provides a refreshing counterpoint to the risk-averse kind falling off the Hollywood assembly line.