Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful

Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful is another well-researched, informative, and thought-provoking book by Darryl Cunningham. He is an author whose work I always try to check out, and I have reviewed a number of his other works, including his graphic novels about Ayn Rand and capitalism, science denial, and mental illness. In this book, he details three biographies, about media mogul Rupert Murdoch, petroleum tycoons Charles and David Koch, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, all super-rich individuals who have had a profound impact on modern life. 

With his journalistic writing, bleak humor, and spare art, Cunningham details their lives, political development, and effects on marketplaces, politicians and political movements, law-making, and media. One common thread is that as they amassed great wealth and used it to consolidate power. Usually, this consolidation involved buying up or creating prominent media outlets to spread their views and persuading others to act (and vote) in ways that tend to be conservative and/or libertarian. In many ways, they become more powerful and wield more clout than political leaders.

The analyses in this book come from a progressive point of view, and they critique what Cunningham sees as a new manifestation of the Gilded Age, but it is difficult to disagree with the profound influence these men have had on people's lives. The economic and political turns he chronicles are evident in our modern world, and I think it is essential that all can see their origins in the lives of these figures.

All of the reviews I have read have been positive. Kirkus Reviews summed up, "The rich really are different, as this lightly presented but utterly serious presentation proves beyond argument." Bruno Savill De Jong wrote, "Cunningham collects vast data and research into their lives and businesses, detailing how through bending their companies to collect additional revenue, they have also thrown society out of shape." Jeff Provine opined how Cunningham's drawings "add attentive details and sometimes humor while at some points instilling vignettes to show the drama of the scene words cannot fully capture."

Billionaires was published by Drawn & Quarterly, and they offer an excerpt and more here. Cunningham's next book, Putin's Russia, will be out in the February.

The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis

The Age of Selfishness is one of those books that makes me blanch that these things are called graphic "novels." This book is more of a graphic essay, told in three parts. The first is about Ayn Rand, a novelist who began a cultish group that resulted in the pseudo-philosophy called Objectivism where extreme selfishness is considered a virtue. Her life, which began in Russia, was marked by much heartbreak and some convoluted romantic situations. The author clearly has his take on her life, but much of what he posits seems firmly entrenched in facts.

The second section of the book is about how the world arrived at the great economic crash of 2008, with a look at finance, banks, mortgages, and a few key individuals, including Alan Greenspan, a long-standing Rand acolyte.

The third part looks at today's world by way of talking about libertarianism, conservatism, and liberalism. This book is certainly slanted in a particular point of view, but it is also well argued with much research and compelling facts, and it attempts to capture the pluses and minuses of these different political stances.

This book tackles much in terms of its content and arguments, and it could been have pretty dense. Some passages are require revisiting because of the complex concepts they cover, but overall the simple, clear illustrations make most concepts much more understandable. What is discussed here affects our world, and certainly will have an impact on the immediate future, and regardless of your political leanings I feel that this book is pretty much a "must-read."

Author/illustrator Darryl Cunningham specializes in nonfiction comics, tackling diverse topics in his blog Darryl Cunningham Investigates. He has also published two other graphic novels, one a collection of his experiences as a health care assistant in a psychiatric facility and the other about science denial. He speaks more about his work on this book in this interview.

All the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review. John Yohe called it "a fascinating read" that "gives a really big picture of American (and British) economic history." Carla Sinclair called it "a well-researched, detail-packed book that I’ll need to read a few more times to fully digest." Andy and Derek from Comics Alternative found a lot of good in the book but wondered if it tried too hard to be balanced or if the arguments were consistent through the whole essay. Robert Kirby added, "This would be a challenging narrative to illustrate (hey, you try visualizing concepts like CDCs and derivatives), but Cunningham generally handles it with ease, clarifying complex financial terms and systems in easily comprehended visual language.

The Age of Selfishness was published by Abrams Books, and they have a preview and more here.

Economix: How Our Economy Works (And Doesn't Work) in Words and Pictures

Economics is a vast and scary topic for many, full of mathematical formulas and arcane concepts that try to explain how finances, governments, laws, and money work. Economix: How Our Economy Works (And Doesn't Work) tackles all of that and more in a very readable, visual, and entertaining way. It is a large, dense book, and it has many facets. It looks at the works of key theorists and contains many quotations and paraphrases from their works, such as this look at Adam Smith:

But the book is also a historical look at the major players who shaped economics theories and social policies. It examines the shifts from an agrarian economy to the effects of mechanization and consolidation of the Industrial Revolution to the competing models of capitalism and communism of the Cold War and beyond.

The historical narrative plays out until the very recent past, and the ideas become very personalized. The book takes its shots at people and practices who look at economic matters in facile or deceptive manner. It also speaks plainly about some stark realities.

In the end, this book is more than a simple delineation of economics theories. It explains those, but it situates them in historical contexts, and also describes how they have led up to contemporary conditions. It is as much a textbook as it is a commentary on modern life and even a critique of some commonly held myths that get often repeated by talking heads on television or other media. This book is very much based in facts, but it also is social commentary and a call for the reader to be informed and take action. It should also be stated that although there are some sections about other countries, the vast majority of this book is about how the US economy operates.

This graphic novel was written by Michael Goodwin, a freelancer who has traveled extensively internationally and written about a number of various topics. I felt that he editorialized throughout the book, but to me that was a welcomed practice. Too often textbooks are written as if they are wisdom passed down from above, and at least Goodwin admits where he is coming from. The artwork by Dan E. Burr is clear, strong, and emphatic, balancing a sense of humor with its informative graphics and clean storytelling. Burr has been making comics for decades and is best known for his graphic novel collaborations with James Vance, the Eisner Award winning Kings in Disguise and its sequel On the Ropes. Goodwin discusses his work on Economix in this interview with John Hogan of The Graphic Novel Reporter.

The reviews I have read of this book have been glowing. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and called it "a dense yet quite accessible read," going on, "Goodwin brilliantly contextualize [sic] economic theories with historical narrative, while Burr's simple but elegant illustration employs classical techniques like caricaturing politicians and symbolizing big businesses (as a gleeful factory) to help the reader visualize difficult concepts. Brett Schenker called it "one of the most important [graphic novels] of the decade," and added, "It shows that the comic medium can transcend people with funny powers and silly costumes and instead be used to educate, activate and motivate individuals to learn more about their world but also their role in it." Zenestex called it "an approachable book for anybody who wants to broaden their understanding of economics beyond what the evening news delivers."

Economix: How Our Economy Works (And Doesn't Work) was published by Abrams ComicArts, who has reviews, a teachers guide, and more here. The book's official blog is also a treasure trove of resources and information. If you are interested in economics, go check it out!

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and "Free Trade"

I know I have not read or reviewed Economix (yet), but I wanted to share this new, topical comic from its creators Michael Goodwin and Dan E. Burr. It's about a treaty currently being discussed behind closed doors, and it will have a large impact on the US's and world's financial futures. I encourage you to check it out.

Also, if you like what you see and read you can also check out the duo's book here. I hear it's quite good, and I am eager to read it!

Thanks to James Bucky Carter for sharing this comic with me!