No, Mel Brooks hasn't gotten around to follow up on his 1981 film History Of The World: Part 1. (Come on, Mel, what the hell are you waiting for?)
No, the important news is that Larry Gonick has finally finished his mammoth Cartoon History Of The Universe/Modern World.
Starting with the Big Bang, and working it's way up to present day, Gonick has chronicled, in cartoon form, the complete biography of our planet.
Intensely researched (the bibliographies are amazing), sometime argumentative, but always with a great sense of humor, Gonick has put together the rare "comic book" that's both fun and educational.
Inventive, incisive, and irrepressibly funny, Gonick likes to makes connections, and think about what things actually mean.
I've been reading this series since the early 80s, when it originally appeared in single issue comic book form from Rip-Off Press (thanks, Norm). These days it's all collected in trades, and are all in print.
So celebrate a true achievement in the medium, and put some knowledge in your noggin...try these books!!
Oh, and speaking of Mel Brooks...
No, the important news is that Larry Gonick has finally finished his mammoth Cartoon History Of The Universe/Modern World.
Starting with the Big Bang, and working it's way up to present day, Gonick has chronicled, in cartoon form, the complete biography of our planet.
Intensely researched (the bibliographies are amazing), sometime argumentative, but always with a great sense of humor, Gonick has put together the rare "comic book" that's both fun and educational.Inventive, incisive, and irrepressibly funny, Gonick likes to makes connections, and think about what things actually mean.
I've been reading this series since the early 80s, when it originally appeared in single issue comic book form from Rip-Off Press (thanks, Norm). These days it's all collected in trades, and are all in print.
So celebrate a true achievement in the medium, and put some knowledge in your noggin...try these books!!
Oh, and speaking of Mel Brooks...
I have the first two volumes and treasure them. There's also a separate cartoon history of the United States which is lots of fun (though I recall it only going up to Bush I). My issue with Vol. 3 is that Gonick vastly changes his style and its a bit off putting. Your thoughts on the change?
ReplyDeleteWell, I think he goes through quite a number of stylistic changes...after all, it's a 22-year project. Pull out your first volume, and check out the differences between chapter 6 & 7, which really threw me for a loop at the time. But you grow used to it, and the history/information/funny is just as good, so I survived...
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