Gonick Does the Modern World

This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on November 14, 2006 Sign up now!

by Kate Culkin, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 11/14/2006

Larry Gonick, the man who first managed to package first-rate comics, serious history and humor aplenty in the same book, is back with a new work. In January, HarperCollins is publishing Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Volume 1, continuing the epic project he began in the previously published three-volume Cartoon History of the Universe. The book, published by HarperCollins's design and art imprint Collins, covers the period between Columbus's voyage and the creation of the U.S. Constitution with Gonick's typical mix of historical insight, lively art and dry wit.

In a phone interview with PW Comics Week, Gonick explained that he conceived of the history of the universe project because he is incapable of writing fiction. He also thought, "I can do this for the rest of my life—there is an endless supply of material." Gonick began self-publishing his unusual and well-researched historical works in the late 1970s as periodical comic books, which were later collected into two trade paperback editions published by Doubleday and a third volume published by W.W. Norton.

It turns out that he is finishing his supposed life's work. The second and final volume of the new Cartoon History of the Modern World, scheduled to appear in approximately two years, will also be published by Collins and will cover the past two centuries. Gonick says that many historians avoid writing about the present because they think they cannot get enough perspective, but he said, "I prefer a current political slant. I'm not afraid to make political commentary." While daunted by the thought of completing a project he originally envisioned as his life's work, he swears this is it; there will be not be a third Modern World volume.

Gonick's history books are fun, but they also represent extensive research, and the forthcoming book includes an annotated bibliography and an index. Gonick said he "follows my nose" in the library and on the Internet. Completing three drafts before whittling the story down to a manageable size, he highlights little-known historical and social connections and prides himself on telling history from a non-Eurocentric perspective. In fact, in the second volume of Modern World, he points out the importance of the relationship between South America and China in the development of a global economy—particularly the movement of silver through the Philippines—and says it will be especially enlightening to readers. As for the art, he draws each page with brush and ink, then scans the pages into InDesign for layouts. He's even created a font based on his handwriting for lettering.

Gonick is driven by a passion to tell the history of the world in an engaging manner. "I think one of the great barriers to reading history is this sense that we're just studying stiffs," said Gonick. "I believe people should know more about history. Know-nothingism disgusts me." His approach to writing history has changed over the years. "While I was originally looking to expose the beginning of class conflict, war and general unfairness," he said, "I now have come to accept that people cannot live without organization," while he remains sympathetic to those hurt by that organization. Gonick also dismissed the argument that history is not about dates. "You need to learn the dates so you understand the order in which things happened," he said, "and it makes it easier to learn the dates if you tell the story well."

HarperCollins has a long relationship with Gonick, having published a separate line of popular cartoon science and computer guides for more than two decades. HC also decided not to tell the modern history in new volumes of the Cartoon History of the Universe, but created the new title Cartoon History of the Modern World. "We made the decision to attract the readers of the Universe series and new readers, too—to break a little with the earlier series," said Gonick's editor, Collins senior editor Matthew Benjamin.

Benjamin estimates Gonick has hundreds of thousands of books in print and thus a built-in fan base. The Cartoon History of the Modern World will have a 25,000-copy initial printing and will be marketed to teachers and librarians as well as comic fans. Benjamin believes Jared Diamond's blockbuster Guns, Germs and Steel (Norton, 2005) has opened up an audience of people interested in global history, and students will likely use the volume to supplement their textbooks. Gonick will appear at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con.

Although he covers serious subject, Gonick prefers the term "comics" over "graphic novels" and rejects the gravity he sees in many new publications. "Since comics have been accepted by the mainstream publishing world," he said, "[it seems like] they must be regarded as literature and everything must be dark and serious." And while he admires many of these new serious works, he explained, "I come from the tradition of comics as fun and light," adding of the new form, "I can't to do that and I don't want to do that."