A COMIC BOOK HISTORY OF THE BIG BANG AND BEYOND

The story of our universe in cartoons, from theorized beginnings to the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

Focused mainly on “Our Humble Home”—“hard and rocky on the outside…and hot and gooey inside”—the tour begins with a (big) Bang and nods to competing Big Bounce and Multiverse origin theories. Claybourne then sweeps in turn past the formations of stars, our solar system, and the fiery Hadean Eon to the appearance of life and its subsequent proliferation along various evolutionary branches. The author recounts a big story at breakneck speed, packing loads of specifics into infodumps, particularly about prehistoric life—“How did pterosaurs (p)take off?”—and wedging in enough zingers to keep things lively. “Thank goodness that’s over!” comments a ratlike early mammal after surviving the climactic, catastrophic aftermath of the asteroid collision that did away with the dinosaurs and set the stage for the Cenozoic (modern) Era. “But that’s another story!” the author concludes. Between a hunky Homo erectus rocking leopard-skin shorts and a modern dude in blue jeans, Ferreira’s illustrations feature a racially diverse cast of human bystanders and scientists.

A broad, breezy overview.