Larry Gonick, the greatest non-fiction cartoonist!

In My Humble Opinion
1

He’s one of the few author/illustrators that I always look for and buy. I love his supreme masterwork, “The Cartoon History of the Universe” (both books), and the “Cartoon History of the United States” is also great.

His “Cartoon Guides” have tapered off a little bit, the ones on “Statistics” and “The Environment” and “Sex” were enjoyable and informative, but not as good as “Genetics” and “The Computer” and Physics", which were excellent for explaining complex topics to the layman in a humorous way.

As a fourth-grade teacher, I really got a lot of good ideas from Gonick, because explaining things in a simple way is my business, and he really knows how to do it.

I also like Joe Sacco’s war zone reports, and the “Big Book” series from DC/Paradox Press. I also like “WorldWar3” magazine (when it ever comes out), and I particularly like some of the artists who have come out of WW3, like Peter Kuper and his spray-paint style, and Eric Drooker, a true radical who wields a mean woodcut-print style. He inspired me to do my own block prints.

Let’s face it, I’m crazy about the (admittedly small) genre of non-fiction cartooning. Only trouble is, I finish them too fast. :frowning:

During California’s Prop. 187 campaign, I drew some pro-immigrant cartoons and sent them to Gonick, and he sent me a sympathetic letter back. I also enclosed a note: “I hope you live to be over 100, and I hope you come out with a new book every year!” (But it hasn’t worked out that way, he’s even lowered his output.) :frowning: I can’t help it, I love this man’s work and I’m a little greedy for more!

So, any more Gonick fans out there?? Anybody know when Book 3 of “Cartoon History of the Universe” is coming out?? I read his interview last year in the Comics Buyers Guide, and he was still aiming to finish it – LAST YEAR. :frowning:

(In the same CBG interview, he noted that only two copies of the “Cartoon History” CD-ROM had been sold the previous year. Well, I was the one who bought both of them, and it wasn’t easy finding them.)

Larry Gonick and Matt Groening are the only two cartoonists I know of who are keeping the spirit of the 60’s and 70’s alive. I don’t know if Gilbert Shelton still draws. And (gasp!) I don’t like R. Crumb very much.

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I agree, He’s hella cool.

Look how hella cool he is:
http://mkatz.web.wesleyan.edu/cciv243/cciv243.gonickwomen.html

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I only have the first ‘History of the World’ book, but it’s awesome and I’d love to read the second one, should I ever find a copy.

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The first “HotU” book is black, the second one is red but they’re similar in design, I THINK they should both still be in print?? Try Amazon – I can still see both of them in my local bookstores.

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I bought the first Cartoon History of the Universe at one of those bargain book places in an outlet mall for four dollars. Some of the best money I’ve ever spent. The entire book was witty and, most importantly, informative.

Never mind the simply genius idea of explaining history in a comic book format. Why don’t we get more of these? I blame the proliferation of superheros, but I blame everything bad about the comic book medium on the proliferation of superheros. The OP named most of the other books that take up this mantle, but they are very few and far between. Jack Chick is right in one thing, comics are a very accessible medium, and should be used in far more creative ways. Right-wing Christian paranoia is only one of its many uses.

But lest I go on and on about that, the quick overview with a fairly sarcastic and bemused observer is another great way to experience history. Gonick just has a natural wit that shines through on the page. “Kettle of stew sounds pretty sexy right now.” Is he still doing cartoons for that science magazine?

The only qualms I have, at least in the first history of the universe, is the incredible lapse in artistic quality of the last chapter. Also, the second book didn’t seem to be as easily digested as the first. But that may have something to do with the fact that it had a lot to do with Chinese political history, an incredibly deep experience, but very, very complicated.

I look it at it thiswise. They may not be the most in-depth of books, but if more children were exposed to this, history may not be the misunderstood study it is today. Truly, it’s not only a topic for middle-aged armchair historians drawling on and on about the Civil War.

At the very least it gave me lots of fodder to make fun of a rival high school whose mascot was the Spartans. If only Gonick would give up the pretense of an actual life and spend more time producing more volumes.

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Gonick hasn’t worked for Discover magazine for a few years now, but he is doing cartoons for Muse, a kids’ magazine.

In his CBG interview, Gonick himself admitted his mistake in changing artistic styles for the “All About Athens” chapter. He used pen-and-ink instead of applying the ink with a brush. (And he got a lot of complaints!) It was an experiment that will not be repeated.

I really liked all the Chinese stuff. It was something I didn’t know about before, and Gonick educated me about it and made it live for me. Which, I guess, is the point of all his books!

:slight_smile: Right on. Let’s make him our slave!

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Third volume is coming, but when???

Check out back issues of The Cartoon journal for a Gonick interview.

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I got both “The Cartoon History of the Universe” (Vol II), and the “Cartoon History of the United States” at a used bookstore. I love them!

Nobody’s mentioned Scott Mccloud. His “Understanding Comics” and “Reinventing Comics” are great.

A few years ago my brother had a few books from the “… For Beginners” series. He had “Marx For Beginners” and “Freud For Beginners”. They take a complex subject and explain it in comic style. I have “Mafia For Beginners”. They’re very good at making such subjects accessible, and the style of art is a fascinating mix of pen and ink, brush and collage. I don’t remember who wrote them, but I think it was several different people.

And what about “Maus” by Art Spiegelman? He did win a Pulitzer Prize…

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I haven’t read a lot of his stuff, but Larry Gonick is an old family friend. Haven’t seen him in ages, since we moved to the suburbs. I’ll have to tell my dad about this thread - he’ll get a kick out of it.

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Larry Gonick’s interview was indeed in The Comics Journal, not the Comics Buyers Guide. Thanks Bosda.

Right on! to Maus and the Beginners series. The Beginners books started with Rius, aka Eduardo del Rio, a Mexican cartoonist whose political comic books, Los Supermachos and Los Agachados, practically invented the non-fiction cartooning genre that has been so good for Gonick.

Lately the Beginners series has received some competition from the Introducing series, which featured a biography of Franz Kafka drawn by R. Crumb! The only Crumb comics I ever enjoyed!

And let’s not forget Stan Mack, late of the Village Voice, who produced a cartoon history of the Revolutionary War and a cartoon history of the Jews. His style is not as satirically hip as Gonick’s, but he’s amusing nonetheless.

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Yes!!! Larry Gonick and Scott McCloud rock!! :slight_smile: And the Beginners series is pretty good too.

Anyone know when the third volume of CHotU is scheduled to come out? I hate how volume two breaks off and leave the reader in suspense…

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He also invented Garbage Pail Kids.

-Myron

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Not only I but all the other posters to this thread desperately want to know when Volume 3 is coming out…but still no answer!

[wheedle mode on] Say, Kyla, since you’re an old family friend…why don’t you ask Larry? [/wheedle mode off]

Don’t make me use begging mode!:wink:

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C’mon, everybody!
All together now…

We want Volume 3!
We want Volume 3!
We want Volume 3!