The Four Color Media Monitor

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 Islamic terrorism, communism and LGBT ideology, yet what we have to hear about is, say, the ozone layer on the globe? Sorry, but climate crises and change is much too easy 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.

Labels: comic strips, Europe and Asia, msm propaganda, science