2008 Woodie Awards
Comic enlivens world history
Gonick educates in "Modern World"
David Lev
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: A&E
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Do you know who Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca is? This less than successful Spanish explorer set out from Mexico for Florida, but got shipwrecked on the Texas coast.
Once he had recovered, he and the three other survivors did the only logical thing - they went inland and wandered around the American Southwest pretending to be traveling doctors.
Where did I get this bizarre anecdote? Why, from 'The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1." This is the latest book in cartoonist Larry Gonick's Cartoon Guides series.
This books use cartoons and humor to explain such potentially dry subjects as world history, physics, genetics and statistics.
This particular book, which is a sequel of sorts to "The Cartoon History of the Universe Volume 3," focuses on the period of time from "Columbus to the U.S. Constitution," according to its subtitle. This is a rather broad span of time, and the book covers such diverse topics as the rise of the Hapsburg Empire, the start of Protestantism, the advance of colonization (especially the colonization of America) and the foundation of the Dutch Republic.
Each of these dry historical events comes alive with Gonick's commentary and hysterical drawings.
The cartoons are genuinely funny. Christopher Columbus, Vasco De Gama, King Carlos V, William of Orange and other historical figures all have their various personalities exaggerated to such an extent that they are inherently hilarious.
Gonick also has a talent for extremely funny narration, such as where he speculates on what a movie based on the story of the Peruvian silver mining town of Potosi would look like: "Gangs of New York in the Old West at high altitude, on cocaine, with mercury poisoning."
There are also many nudges at current events, with Gonick referring to sixteenth and seventeenth century battles using terminology like "shock and awe." President Bush even makes a very brief cameo.
Although I would not use it as your only source for a history paper, "The Cartoon History of the Modern World" does actually have academic legitimacy, as shown by its lengthy bibliography.
Once he had recovered, he and the three other survivors did the only logical thing - they went inland and wandered around the American Southwest pretending to be traveling doctors.
Where did I get this bizarre anecdote? Why, from 'The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1." This is the latest book in cartoonist Larry Gonick's Cartoon Guides series.
This books use cartoons and humor to explain such potentially dry subjects as world history, physics, genetics and statistics.
This particular book, which is a sequel of sorts to "The Cartoon History of the Universe Volume 3," focuses on the period of time from "Columbus to the U.S. Constitution," according to its subtitle. This is a rather broad span of time, and the book covers such diverse topics as the rise of the Hapsburg Empire, the start of Protestantism, the advance of colonization (especially the colonization of America) and the foundation of the Dutch Republic.
Each of these dry historical events comes alive with Gonick's commentary and hysterical drawings.
The cartoons are genuinely funny. Christopher Columbus, Vasco De Gama, King Carlos V, William of Orange and other historical figures all have their various personalities exaggerated to such an extent that they are inherently hilarious.
Gonick also has a talent for extremely funny narration, such as where he speculates on what a movie based on the story of the Peruvian silver mining town of Potosi would look like: "Gangs of New York in the Old West at high altitude, on cocaine, with mercury poisoning."
There are also many nudges at current events, with Gonick referring to sixteenth and seventeenth century battles using terminology like "shock and awe." President Bush even makes a very brief cameo.
Although I would not use it as your only source for a history paper, "The Cartoon History of the Modern World" does actually have academic legitimacy, as shown by its lengthy bibliography.
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