Interview with Larry Gonick, Author/Artist of The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1 - Page 2

Why read it? Ask my sales director... The answer might be anything from  a) so you can ace your history class to z) comics bring history to life and dispel the idea that the past was staffed by stiffs. One reviewer said that comics are a perfect medium for "wedding fact to interpretation." What more can I say? Did I ever think...? Yes. I'm much too cautious to leave a potential tenure-track academic environment for a limbo depending on my own creativity. It was the idea that comics could do nonfiction that convinced me to take it up. Less creativity required!    

Are those complimentary quotes on your book legitimate? I assume they are but they are quite impressive. What’s it like to have Terry Jones of Monty Python, Steve Martin and Garry Trudeau praise your work?  

Book quotes are real. Feels like, "it's about time!" Feels like a constant stream of extravagant ego-pumping is the only thing standing between me and the Black Dog of Gloom.  

Is there any subject you think you couldn’t illustrate through a cartoon book?  

Geology. Astronomy. Or at least I wouldn't want to. Of course, I had my doubts about chemistry too, because I was afraid I might have to draw 200 pages of nothing but spheres. But the Cartoon Guide to Chemistry (2005, coauthored with Craig Criddle) turned out to have all kinds of pictures.  

What subjects have you written about so far?  

Almost entirely history and science. You can see the list of titles at my site.  

Am I alone in passing a class – chemistry – partially by using your book as a study guide?  

No.  

At one point in the book you criticize a school of thought and seem to single out specifically Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel – writing in the book, “Historians like the idea that disease caused most native deaths.” What prompted you to make that comment? Can you elaborate on it?  

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

Visit Scott Butki's author page — Scott Butki's Blog