{"id":3884,"date":"2009-08-24T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2009-08-24T06:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=3884"},"modified":"2009-09-24T08:48:14","modified_gmt":"2009-09-24T08:48:14","slug":"speechless-world-history-without-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2009\/08\/24\/speechless-world-history-without-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Speechless – World History without Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Polyp<\/strong> (New Internationalist\/Friends of the Earth International)
\nISBN: 978-1-906523-19-0<\/p>\n

No one can contest the sheer naked power and immediacy of pictures; a sequential narrative can have all the force of a Perfect Storm. Hopefully this startlingly bold pictorial treatise from the enigmatic Polyp (www.polyp.org.uk<\/a>) will shake a few entrenched bastions and rattle some cages as it offers an alternative view of our progress as a species, using the monstrous tragedy of 9\/11 as a starting point before scrolling back the very beginning to show how it all went so wrong.<\/p>\n

In vivid primary colours the creator takes a jaundiced look at our 6 billion year relationship with the planet and the mistakes we keep on making, using wry, surreal wit, patient exasperation and not a little frantic desperation, as well as a bold cartoony style that blends a thousand childhood influences from Vaughn Bode to the Clangers, to whisper a warning and offer a few potentially last-minute suggestions.<\/p>\n

As it says on the cover this book eschews words in favour of a broad humorous parade of “dumb-show” and mime: a brave and marvellously effective technique that really pays off. And besides, as a species we’ve been talking a good fight for ages and we’re now at a stage where words simply aren’t enough any more…<\/p>\n

The old adage has it that history is written by the winners, but in this graphic exploration on how the world got into its current state we have a sharp, incisive and universal tome produced for those of us that have always demanded a recount. Buy this book. Give copies to your friends. But most of all read, inwardly digest and just do something…<\/p>\n