A detailed and enthusiastic history of video games, from its roots to the modern era, with great visual accompaniment. At points, it was a bit too dense for someone not well versed or looking to immerse themself in video game design and jargon, but if you know a hard-core fan they'd enjoy it.

I think this was informative, and visually appealing... and I think it would be very suitable in a high school or public library.

However, I do have a few problems. I think my main problem stems from the naming. I'm not sure this should be called a "comic book story". While it does wag the comic book trappings of art and text surrounded by panels and blocks, it doesn't do anything with them. This would be much better described as an "illustrated micro-history", rather than a "comic book"...and I certainly wouldn't label this as "story".

I'm going to blame the text. The text was overly dense and wordy. There were so many times when I had to stop reading to reread a single sentence to make sense of it, "Why did you say it that way? Why did you mention that? What do you mean?" Speech bubbles were almost non-existent. And, the art was used for nothing more than to colourfully illustrate the captions. Without the art, the book would be unchanged. This didn't feel like two creators working together, but an artist being given the task of trying to illustrate an already fully formed work.

I guess, this problem outlines another that I have, in that I'm not sure who exactly this book was written for? As a casual micro-history, it doesn't have enough personal anecdote or story to keep a reader interested. As a reference book, it doesn't have enough content for any serious research. As a work for teens, the writing is too dense and dry. As a work for adults, the writing is too full of slang, and obscure references. I think this is pitching at a VERY niche audience. Someone over 20 (me), has history playing vintage video games of the 70s/80s (me), and also reads comics (me). But then again... it really wasn't for me.

I don't think this was a bad book, by any means. And, I am certain there is an audience out there for it. I'm just, I guess, more surprised that I am not that audience.

There were things in the book I did like. I really liked the inclusion of iconic video game characters randomly appearing in background scenes... but, I also found it sometimes muddied the timeline.

I also really liked and related to the explanation of the gaming systems: Nintendo intended for children, Sega Genesis geared to teens, and Playstation marketed to 20-somethings, as that followed almost exactly my own personal history, and really gives weight to why these game systems have been major markers in my life.

I'm conflicted.

A very comprehensive history of video games, from it's inception to present day, accompanied by fitting graphical design. Perhaps too dense and rich on technical details for casual fans, but a must read for anyone who wants to know the full, detailed history.

'The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution' by Jonathan Hennessey with art by Jack McGowan is a graphic novel history.

The story starts with pre-electronic forms of entertainment and the development of computer technology. Along the way are the big names that created the games and companies. People, milestone games, and consoles are featured. Games like Space War, Pong, Halo and Angry Birds are among the many featured.

I enjoyed the story of video games. I didn't really enjoy the art. It's got an overly rough style that I didn't really like. I did like that familiar video game characters make cameos on the pages, but the art was just not my favorite.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Ten Speed Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

If you recognize the hardware on the cover of this book, you're going to have a good time. This is not a casual look at video game history, but rather an in-depth examination of electronics & TV technological development in the 2nd half of the 20th century leading up to and including video games. This is not Sega vs. Atari, vs. Nintendo. It's super-comprehensive.

Thank you to Jonathan Hennessey, Jack Mcgowan, Ten Speed Press, and NetGalley for allowing me the extreme pleasure of access to an advanced reader copy of “The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution” for an honest review.

This was a dense, but well laid out documentary in comics about the history of video games. I would recommend it to those who love both of those things, and would be excited to see them cross, and reflect upon each other from their different media formats, but it did not end up being the sort of thing I liked very much.

I found myself losing steam several times, which lead to several accounts of putting it down and picking it up, putting it down and picking it up. I like the idea, but somehow it just didn’t grab me very well. I’m uncertain just who it is written for, and how I’d known what kinds of students in my classroom, or people in my life, to recommend it for.

There was a lot of information dumped onto the reader which I didn't mind since most of it was clear to me as an computer scientist but for a good introduction/ gateway to games and game tech, it is not helpful. Even as a person in STEM I didn't learn much from it, so I'm kind of conflicted about what the target audience should be for this book. The pacing was a little bit odd but I understand why it was this way.

I am a big fan of video games, ever since I was three years old and my dad bought a Nintendo 64 and a Gameboy. The first games I played were Pokemon Snap and Leafgreen (this is what motivated me to learn to read).

I am also a big fan of comics and graphic novels. Normally, I stick to Marvel/DC type comics, but this was on Blogging for Books, and I thought it looked too cool to not request.

And I was not disappointed. The artwork is supercool. The art is really well done, with the panels easy to follow, and the artwork of various games really well depicted.

Despite being nonfiction, the format made it so it didn’t get bogged down in details and thus never got to the point of some nonfiction books where they get boring no matter how interesting the subject is. Everything is well explained, and I thought it was super interesting. You don’t need a vast knowledge of video games to enjoy it (I certainly don’t know much beyond Nintendo) but its certainly nice to recognize events/people/games in the book.

If you have an interest in video games on the meta level, this is a really great read.

If you have ever enjoyed video games, especially if you are a game nerd or a novice, this book is for you. It starts from the beginning of video games and goes down to the present. It has a lot of information jam-packed into it, but it is so worth it. It may even remind you of games you have forgotten. But I do recommend it as the history of the games is just plain fascinating.

The Comic Book Story of Video Games Tells the History of Video Games with Graphic-Novel Style
By Joshua Anderson, October 3, 2017

For me and many who follow Twin Cities Geek, video games have been a part of life from an early age. I recall how one day—shortly after my dad introduced me to Star Wars—I came downstairs to find him running our new Nintendo Entertainment System. The familiar Star Wars theme was playing on our television, albeit in a synthesized form rendered by the NES cartridge and accompanied by an 8-bit version of the film’s opening crawl. Thus, in a short span of time my dad had ignited two of my life’s greatest passions: Star Wars and video games.

And yet, while I think back on the charmingly quaint graphics and sound of that game, people older than me can remember games so technologically primitive that they would make Star Wars for NES look state of the art by comparison. Games may have come a long way in the last few decades, but their history goes back generations prior.

The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution, written by Jonathan Hennessey and illustrated by Jack McGowan, offers a look at this history. It begins with man’s first attempts to use light to produce images, continuing through the development of the technologies that allowed the viewer to influence those images, and finally ending up in the era of video games as we know them today. It’s a history lesson in comic-book form, with artful depictions of the famous scientists, tinkerers, and entrepreneurs who moved the video game through its developmental stages.

Putting aside the graphic element, as well as my great interest in the subject matter, the one thing I found most successful about the writing itself is how it places titles that every gamer is familiar with—like Sonic the Hedgehog, Pokémon, and Final Fantasy—into the larger context of gaming history, which is not as common knowledge. It’s exciting to discover them after whatever historical preamble lead up to them. In a similar vein, video-game characters ranging from the well-known to the obscure are sprinkled about the panels, and I enjoyed trying my hand at recognizing them (frankly, I embarrassed myself with how many I couldn’t place).

Where once video games (and those who played them) had a stigma attached to them borne out of humanity’s natural fear of the new and the unfamiliar, they have now become so prevalent in society that they are a primary source of entertainment. But while video games continue to advance, and we are fast approaching an age when they will be nearly indistinguishable from reality, at the same time it can be easy to take for granted everything they have managed to achieve already. I recommend The Comic Book Story of Video Games as an opportunity to step back and appreciate the people and inventions that helped to bring these games into our world.

The Comic Book Story of Video Games is available on October 3.

If you want to grasp the span of video games from beginning to now, Jonathan Hennessey and company has provided you the means. This is a graphic history so you see illustrations of the various personalities, hardware and software involved. Since I read a ARC, I cannot comment on the index, but from my own knowledge, this book does a very credible job of covering the video game industry. This would be a place to start looking for ideas and then dig into other resources for more details to flesh out research on this topic. Well done!

There is a LOT of information to digest in this. The first third of the book is a history of technology throughout the 20th century, even going into such detail as how a CRT monitor works and the like. It's probably another third of the book before we enter the console era of video games. This would actually fit well in a STEM curriculum. If you're looking for more of the ins and outs of the industry, I'd suggest something like Console Wars.

When Hennessey set out to explore the evolution of video games he doesn't mess around. Games, commercial entertainment, computers, it all gets explained. There are a lot of stages touched on, at least briefly, so there is a lot of information packed into these pages. Perhaps to much information. Serious potential for overload here. Visually its rather dense and cluttered. This is not a book to pick up for casual entertainment. If you're seriously into video games history, though, this might be the book for you.

This was a good book, but it was more expansive than I had expected. A third of the book is devoted to the technological advances that led to the creation of video games. Though interested, I wish these pages had either been condensed or foregone so that more information about the video games themselves.

“The Comic Book Story of Video Games” is definitely not light reading, but it is entertaining and full of information. I believe I learned something new on almost every page. This is perfect for kids interested in engineering and technology, as well as adults. It could also fit easily into a STEM curriculum. Highly recommended for all of us video game nerds out there!

For most of us, particularly those born in the 1960s or later, video games have always been, and likely still are, a part of our lives. I remember days spent at the arcade, the thrill of getting our very own Atari 2600, and the countless hours spent on successive generations of games through the years. Jonathan Hennessey and Jack McGowan have lived that history as well, and now tell it in their The Comic Book Story of Video Games.

With classic comic book art and a deep sense of history and context, Hennessey and McGowan take us back to the earliest days of the computer. Of course the history of computers is intricately entwined with the history of video games. The bulk of the book focuses on the earlier days of computing and video games, highlighting some of the individual pioneers. It continues all the way through current home systems and mobile phone games.

Don't let the comic book format fool you. This is serious history. I enjoyed the historical tidbits, quotes from the key players, and the nods to games themselves. Not only do they give the data for the release of important games and systems, future games make cameo appearances, as if they are waiting in the wings for the technology to allow for their creation.

The Comic Book Story of Video Games has an engaging narrative, informative content, and terrific art. If this is a subject that interests you at all, you will enjoy this book.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

I liked this comic book history of video games.

It gives a thorough history of video games, right from the invention of TVs. It’s fascinating to see how far back the idea of video games goes.

I liked the way that classic video game characters, such as Mario and Sonic, appear throughout the history. It reinforces the video game theme.

Some points in the book were a little dry. There were a lot of details about the World Wars that were boring at times. But the story was always brought back to video games, even if it took a while.

I recommend this book for video game players, especially children, because it teaches about history from a video game perspective.

Great concept, and a few of the panels are nicely playful in their evocation of classic video game images, but the text is much too jumpy and disjointed for the reader to truly engage with the subject. (Those visual allusions can also make the casual or unfamiliar reader feel like they don't have enough prior knowledge to be part of the book's audience.) The scope of coverage is so huge that it's hard to stay interested in the material; the immense amounts of text don't help. An admirable attempt, but as a reader, it lost me.

This is a very good narrative, even going back as far as the invention of the Cathode Ray Tube and the burgeoning use of TV-type screens in WWII RADAR installations to act as preamble for the birth of the video game. But that's not half of it – the visual side is excellent fun, from cribbing and riffing off classic game titles, to other images (the flag-raising on Iwo Jima becoming guys hoisting a TV aerial, etc). You even get Steve Jobs and his BO as cover stars for the Atari ''Jungle Hunt'' cart. This way you get a good dollop of levity with your learning, even if the cheesy and clunky way people are introduced to speak in mere sound-bites is a bit naff. In the end this wins hands-down in the geek-friendly stakes, being both academic and swotty, and friendly and colourful, meaning anyone who ever heard of the company Midway before now will cream themselves. It is, however, about the only history of games book to never once mention "Elite", nor properly concern itself with Lara Croft, but still, despite a rushed ending, it is a quite fabulous book.