How to Survive the End of the World
A Graphic Exploration of How to (Maybe) Avoid Extinction
Since 99.9 percent of all species that have lived are extinct, it’s bound to be our turn eventually, right? So what’s most likely to kill us? A well-timed asteroid? Some new robot overlords? With wit and dry humor, debut graphic novelist Katy Doughty blends science and history to explore our chances of surviving disasters such as plagues, global warming, and alien invasion. Drawing on interviews with experts in fields like infectious diseases, AI, and interplanetary exploration, she combines cutting-edge research with compelling visuals: mugshots of the deadliest microbes, graphs of the winners and losers of mass extinction events, and a whole lot of dinosaur drawings. For apocalypse aficionados, the morbidly curious, and the just plain curious, this is your antidote to existential dread—a timely, imaginative, and ultimately hopeful take on humankind’s ability to survive the odds.
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“The author has distilled an impressive amount of research into a lucid, matter-of-fact narrative—and, counterintuitive though it may seem, there’s a pervasive optimism running through the doom and gloom, a conviction that no matter what goes down, humanity is special enough that something of us will survive. The attractive illustrations in highly saturated colors illuminate the content through both imaginative whimsy and helpful diagrams. Brilliant; at once terrifying and fascinating.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
“For such a dire topic, the tone is engaging and hardly doom-and-gloom, blending a huge variety of topics with a charming gallows humor. . . . The end won’t be pretty, but Doughty makes it pretty darn amusing.”
BookPage, starred review
“[Doughty’s] approach to these huge issues is endlessly inviting… Doughty is an excellent narrator, lending historical perspective while distilling swarms of information into comprehensible nuggets. Although these are serious topics treated seriously, she throws in plenty of humor, such as explaining that one can eat a small amount of plutonium and not get sick," adding a footnote advising, "Please don't." It's a wildly entertaining approach….How to Survive the End of the World is a not-to-be-missed treat that will leave readers wiser-and inspired to stop doomscrolling and start acting. This is exactly the compendium that many readers have been yearning for.”
COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology
Edited by Kendra Boileau and Rich Johnson
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. When we weren’t sheltering in place, we were advised to wear masks, wash our hands, and practice social distancing. We watched in horror as medical personnel worked around the clock to care for the sick and dying. Businesses were shuttered, travel stopped, workers were furloughed, and markets dropped. And people continued to die.
Amid all this uncertainty, writers and artists from around the world continued to create comics, commenting directly on how individuals, societies, governments, and markets reacted to the worldwide crisis. COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology collects more than sixty such short comics from a diverse set of creators, including indie powerhouses, mainstream artists, Ignatz and Eisner Award winners, and media cartoonists. In narrative styles ranging from realistic to fantastic, they tell stories about adjusting to working from home, homeschooling their kids, missing birthdays and weddings, and being afraid just to leave the house. They probe the failures of government leaders and the social safety net. They dig into the racial bias and systemic inequities that this pandemic helped bring to light. We see what it’s like to get the virus and live to tell about it, or to stand by helplessly as a loved one passes.
At times heartbreaking and at others hopeful and humorous, these comics express the anger, anxiety, fear, and bewilderment we feel in the era of COVID-19. Above all, they highlight the power of art and community to help us make sense of a world in crisis, reminding us that we are truly all in this together.
The comics in this collection have been generously donated by their creators. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this volume are being donated by the publisher to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) in support of comics shops, bookstores, and their employees who have been adversely affected by the pandemic.
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“In a diverse, impassioned book, these quick responders illustrate the impact of the pandemic with work of lasting value.”
Publishers Weekly
“Impassioned and impressive. . . . Captures the anxiety, courage, and surreality of the current era with a visceral quality that lingers.”