Germ Warfare: A Very Graphic History: The Evolution of Biological Warfare

Name: Germ Warfare: A Very Graphic History
Author: Max Brooks

Trey Campbell

5 years ago

Germ Warfare: A Very Graphic History

Author(s): Max Brooks

Artist(s): J. Nino Galenzoga

Colorist(s): Joel Santiago and Patricia Beja

Letterer: Erly Stages Studios

Publisher: Erly Stages Studios

Genre: School, Slice of Life

Published Date: 04/27/2019

By Trey Campbell

on May 16, 2019

Recap

Germs. They are too small to see with the naked eye, but they have killed more human beings than all the wars in history. Before humans even knew that germs caused disease, they knew disease could be a weapon of war. “Germ Warfare” traces the long, brutal story of those microscopic weapons. From the infected arrows of Bronze Age archers, to the plague factories of World War 2, up through the biological arms race of the Cold War into our modern age of genetically manipulated terrorism. This graphic history is both a lesson from the past and a warning for the future. It reminds us never to take public health for granted, because we never know when, or how, the next pandemic will rise.

Review

When I first heard of this book, I was instantly interested. Admittedly, my interest was solely due to the it being written by Max Brooks (World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide) but as I researched, the publisher, Erly Stages Studio, became very interesting to me. Erly Stages Studio specializes in educational materials, often in the form of video games or comic books; this book was a great example of the latter.

Commissioned by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Biodefense, the story is written in a very formal style, reading much like a textbook despite the comic book format. It lays out information in a clear and consise way, making it great for verbal/linguistic learners but also has the added element of illustration throughout, making the information easier for visual learners to process and retain. This book would make for a great high school biology lesson or introductory reading for a class on biological warfare.

The art is not anything that would catch my eye for most comic titles but I feel it did a great job providing a clear visual representation of the information provided, thus making the information more enjoyable and easier to remember. From informative graphs and diagrams to graphic imagery of horrible historic events, the art excels at making the events in the book easier to understand and remember.

This isnt a book I would suggest to your average comic reader but it is a fun and informative read for anyone interested in the history of germ warfare as well as fans of Brooks’ writing style. This is an interesting twist of informative literature that I would love to see become commonplace.