The Cartoon Guide to U.S. History

Larry Gonick’s "The Cartoon Guide to U.S. History" is a two-issue series from Barnes & Noble Books that launched in 1987, using his signature witty, cartoon-panel style to survey American history. As both writer and artist, Gonick distills complex historical events into accessible, humorous comics, making the series a distinctive entry in the educational comic genre. It matters as an early example of a long-running trend of using sequential art to teach nonfiction, blending entertainment with scholarship in a format that remains engaging decades later.