Yes, The History Channel actually put out some comic books. OK, more accurately, Silver Dragon Press appears to be the publisher, but The History Channel imprint is all over the cover, the book is based off a History Channel series, and the back of the book features ads for comic book versions of more History Channel properties like Swamp People and Top Gear.
But how was Mankind: The Story of All of Us‘ first volume?
Well, it was something. I wouldn’t call it bad or anything, but it reads as a survey of different historical milestones. The various stories here cover agriculture, bronze, the battle of Marathon and democracy, iron, Christianity and the Roman Empire, the Silk Road, and the Crusades.
Most of those stories are told from the point of view of a minor figure from history, rarely a name person. That changes as the book goes along, but largely holds true.
Look, I’m having a hard time saying much of anything about this. There’s no overarching narrative. There are no reoccurring characters. Heck, the creative team changes for each chapter. Marv Wolfman wrote the first one. If anything, the work is rather focused on Western Civilization. I read a history of the Islamic world once from the point of view of Islam, and the author went out of his way to say for most Muslims, the Crusades weren’t that big a deal given the vastness of their territory and the real threat being the Monguls coming from the other direction. Aside from the Silk Road chapter, there isn’t much focus on places like China save the occasional mention here and there, and anything involving the Americas gets even less attention.
Let’s say seven and a half out of ten Greek runners.
NEXT TIME: Comic Bento usually sends something from Marvel, and this time we’ve got X-Men: Days of Future Past, the original comic. And considering the original story was only two regular-sized individual issues, the trade comes with a few more stories to pad it out a bit.
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