Does We Really Need Another Comicbook About the “Climate Crisis”?

Physics World talks about a French comic focused on the climate crisis:

Comics are regarded as an artform in France, where they account for a quarter of all book sales. Nevertheless, the graphic novel World Without End: an Illustrated Guide to the Climate Crisis was a surprise French bestseller when it first came out in 2022. Taking the form of a Socratic dialogue between French climate expert Jean-Marc Jancovici and acclaimed comic artist Christophe Blain, it’s serious, scientific stuff.

Now translated into English by Edward Gauvin, the book follows the conventions of French-language comic strips or bandes dessinées. Jancovici is drawn with a small nose – denoting seriousness – while Blain’s larger nose signals humour. The first half explores energy and consumption, with the rest addressing the climate crisis and possible solutions.

Overall, this is a Trojan horse of a book: what appears to be a playful comic is packed with dense, academic content. Though marketed as a graphic novel, it reads more like illustrated notes from a series of sharp, provocative university lectures. It presents a frightening vision of the future and the humour doesn’t always land.

Well maybe that’s why this isn’t such a great choice for reading material, because it could lecturing the audience in a bad sense. Climate conditions are a petty issue compared to subjects like the rise of Islamic terrorism, marxism/communism, and forced LGBT ideology, yet what we have to read about is, say, the ozone layer on the globe? Sorry, but climate crises and climate change is much too lazy a subject.

I suppose I’ll have to give the artists some points for at least trying to convey it humorously, but if it’s more a political lecture than a genuine focus on a scientific topic, that’s why it won’t work well.

Originally published here.