The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution

A lot of interesting facts and stories are to be had here, but one must excavate them from the cruddy art and writing in this borderline one-star book. A stronger editorial hand was needed to address the huge problems with structure, consistency, pacing and quality.

My favorite moments of awfulness:

* The author cites Moore's law frequently throughout the book but never fully defines it.

* The author writes, "What in shorthand we refer to as 'the Sixties' was a complicated time. Urges to simplify and reduce them to a thumbnail sketch ought to be resisted," as an introduction to his simplified thumbnail sketch of the Sixties.

* The author decides to refer to all video game programmers and hardware engineers as hackers for a few dozen pages show more as he declares, "The technology was conceived and intended only for military, scientific, government, and industry use. So video games are themselves a 'hack!'"

* In a book with 99.9% original art, the artist recycles two panels for completely inexplicable reasons. See the angry woman in a car on pages 33 and 40 and the unnamed video game character (?) on pages 64 and 66.

* After spending about 160 pages covering 60 years, the last 20 years are dismissed in a mere ten pages. I guess there haven't been a lot of advances in video games since 2000 beyond Minecraft and Angry Birds. Go figure. show less

A pretty dense information dump of a graphic novel. I'm a sucker for narrative and when narrative is lacking, as it is here, I have trouble focusing. Just page after page of this guy (and I mean guy in the literal sense, since the history of video games, at least in this iteration, is very dong-owning-focused. Obviously Hennessey and Mcgowan can't rewrite history to include more women, but as a woman who's been playing video games since 1987, it kind of sucks that the history is so masculine) made this game and then this guy made this other game. Also, no mention of Nethack, which I guess is okay when there are cameos by The King of the Cosmos and his son. I think I've been spoiled by Halt and Catch Fire when it comes to technology show more histories. I want plot and females and stories I can identify with, not just a timeline recounting of what happened when that (inadvertently) makes me feel that I'm always going to be excluded from one of my hobbies. Where are Cameron and Donna when I need them? Mutiny 4 evs!

The Comic Book Story of Video Games by Jonathan Hennessey and Jack Mcgowan went on sale October 3, 2017.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

The book is presented in a retro comic art style (think Jack Kirby or newspaper comic strips) with semi-chronological order. I say semi because it takes priority of concepts and people over time frames. So be prepared to jump back and forth in time. The book focuses on the story of technological development behind video games (consoles, computers, corporate wars), not on video game titles over time. Some games are mentioned but not analyzed and definitely not the main focus.

Technology in general has always fascinated me, but more so, what kind of people are behind all the technological inventions that are now part of my everyday life. Well, I loved this book because it narrates just that, the human side of how things came to be in the show more evolution of video games; their desires, influences and choices. It is packed with historical facts about the early days of video games; all the way from the creation of the cathode ray tube (CTR) to Minecraft.

I think the drawing style adds up to the nostalgia feeling, something older generations would surely appreciate. Which takes me to the next point: if you belong to generation X (born 60's to early 80's) or don't mind figuring things out as you go, start reading without further ado. If you were born later than that, there are high chances you will miss some jokes and historical references (Do you know what I am talking about if I mention free AOL cds? no? then you fit this category). You can still understand the main idea from each panel, but you will be missing out part of the fun.

This is an enjoyable read, something that could suit a coffee table or be a good gift for gamers who don't know how their hobby came to be. This is not a reference book or historical source so i wouldn't recommend it for learning as the main purpose or else you might get disappointed (and confused). If you want to enjoy reading this book, take your time to look at the illustrations, research further, reflect and be ready to hunt for some game related easter eggs!. I got my eARC from Netgalley show less

Is there anyone left who doesn’t believe that video games are a legitimate form of entertainment? Advances in graphics and animation, and a focus on storytelling and character development have made video games a truly creative and unique medium. Yet, it seems to be easy for some to dismiss video games as time wasters, or simple orgies of violence, and overlook the artistry involved in their creation.

From the electric innovations of the 19th century, to the sanity consuming Angry Birds and Minecraft, The Comic Book Story of Video Games provides a complex and entertaining look at how we arrived where we are today. Told in an immensely fun graphic novel format, the book sails through the early days of oscilloscopes and simple gameplay, show more through the silicon valley book, the rise of arcade games and home consoles, the birth and death of Atari, the ridiculously long-lasting success of Nintendo, and the fierce battles in the console wars.

Graphic novels are a great way to present a nonfiction story. They allow the drier, less flashy bits to be glossed over in a few images, letting the “meat” of the story shine through. Though by necessity less in-depth than a full-length book, they nevertheless provide an accessible and detailed way to tell a story. I would love for more nonfiction to be presented this way.
Most in the gaming world will find this book fascinating. The book is sprinkled with enough gaming Easter eggs to delight gamers, but even more casual gamers (or nongamers) will find this story incredibly interesting.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. show less

THE COMIC BOOK STORY OF VIDEO GAMES by Jonathan Hennessey and Jack McGowan looks at the history of video games and how their origins kept spilling out of computing innovations over the years. The artwork is classic comic book, fun and informative without being over stylized. The graphic novel I found to be a great way to educate interested parties on video game origins, with Hennessey and McGowan balancing detailed research, fascinating anecdotes, and some hilarious tongue and cheek moments that made for a entertaining read.
A great gift for video game historians and enthusiasts, I plan to buy several copies THE COMIC BOOK STORY OF VIDEO GAMES as gifts for my gamer friends.
Thank you to Ten Speed Press, Jonathan Hennessey and Jack show more McGowan, and Netgalley for a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review! show less

This graphic novel describes everything you need to know about the world of video games and how it has evolved over time.

Full review to come!