Comics Should Be Educational

[Johnny Triangles]

I got into Action Philosophers and I really enjoyed it. I got all the issues except for the very last one and it spurred me to get into philosophy. Since then I've read about 20 philosophy books and counting.

Next I got into the Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower (hard to believe that Image was once the company known most for SPawn, Youngblood and Shadowhawk), and the series has got me really interested in Ancient Greece. I've started Robert Fagles Iliad translation and I've been picking up ancient plays based on the Trojan War. I also plan to get The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides.

Brownsville had a great bibliography that gave a great insight into the Jewish immigrant mobster experience in the early 20th century. I didn't really delve into it too deeply, but I plan to eventually.

What I wanted to know was if there were any other educational comic books out there that anyone can recommend, especially if they have good bibliographies that can give more detail on the subjects.

[Kid Omega]

LOUIS REIL
FROM HELL
BUDDHA
BLACK ORDER BRIGADE
Treasury of Victorian Murder

[Aaron King]

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards, a story of Cope and Marsh, the first "paleontologists"
Schizo #4 by Ivan Brunetti, containing some great one-page biographies of various writers, artists, and philosophers

[Reptisaurus!]

It's definitely aimed at kids, but The Sandwalk Adventures was good fun.

[Tony Bang]

Before EC started Mad and the horror books they were Educational Comics.
They published biographies of famous people from history and science. Their biggest seller was Picture Stories of The Bible.

[Ryan Day]

Definitely Louis Riel. I'm sure anyone who was educated in Canada had the Red River Rebellion inflicted on them many times, and it always bored the crap out of me. Chester Brown's book is fantastic, though, and really kept me interested. There's a decent bibliography, a huge section of footnotes, and even an index. It's pretty cool, and it looks great.

[rick]

I'm a big fan of comic histories.

For example all of those amazing John Sevrin military stories in the old EC, Two-Fisted Tales. Or more recently Larry Gonick and his ongoing Cartoon History of the Universe which have reached the 18th century and their 30th year of publication while still being fun, interesting and entertaining reads.

Of a more serious nature there are about a dozen different books in Jack Jacksons history of Texas, but my favorite is still Comanche Moon.

As a side note, it's pretty interesting to me that so many underground artists like Gonick, Jackson along with Spain and Gilbert Shelton have done the majority of American historical comics that are out there.

[stealthwise]

Definitely Louis Riel. I'm sure anyone who was educated in Canada had the Red River Rebellion inflicted on them many times, and it always bored the crap out of me. Chester Brown's book is fantastic, though, and really kept me interested. There's a decent bibliography, a huge section of footnotes, and even an index. It's pretty cool, and it looks great.

I grew up in BC, and we never learned a thing about it, so I think that the actual impact of "undoing the lies" taught to us didn't really come through. I found the book interesting, but not mindblowing, although it's really quite good.

[Aaron Kashtan]

It's definitely aimed at kids, but The Sandwalk Adventures was good fun.

I haven't read this, but Clan Apis, by the same creator, was excellent.

Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe might be the perfect educational comic. Jim Ottaviani's comics on the history of science are also very good. And From Hell will teach you quite a lot about the Victorian era.

[The Batman]

Louis Riel is a really good book. So far Eric Shanower is doing an amazing job with Age of Bronze. Another book worth checking out is Kyle Baker's Nat Turner. Assuming of course the final two issues come out.

[i_mmmchocolate]

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi-- it's about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution

Deogratias Tale Of Rwanda by J.P. Stassen-- it's about the 1994 Rwandan genocide

[i_mmmchocolate]

Ah, and looking at my bookcase, I forgot to mention Bannock, Beans, and Black Tea by John Gallant and Seth-- it's a memoir about growing up poor on Prince Edward Island during the Depression.

[will_butler]

Stagger Lee was phenomenal. Some of the Concrete books (especially The Human Dilemma and Think Like a Mountain) are fantastic at working information on their topics at hand into the story. Dan Clowes' series of fanzines The Imp are utterly fascinating, and about as enlightening on their subjects (Jack T. Chick and Historietas, especially) as you could possibly hope for. 300 isn't all that historically accurate, but it'll definitely spur you on in learning more about Thermopylae. And Punisher MAX taught me that you have to place severed fingers in a bag before you place them on ice lest you destroy the nerve endings and are unable to have them reattached.

Will

[dancj]

Most of my knowledge of ancient history comes from Asterix (and is therefore completely innacurate).

Paradox Press's Big Books are quite good.

[Roquefort Raider]

Deogratias Tale Of Rwanda[/B] by J.P. Stassen-- it's about the 1994 Rwandan genocide

That was a truly moving book. But then all of Stassen's books are brilliant.

For those who have an interest in reading French comics, publisher Jacques Glénat has been producing historical books for more than 30 years; more than fifty series set anywhere from ancient Egypt to recent history (with a heavy emphasis on the European XVth-XVIIIth centuries).