I remember the first time I saw a comic strip, it was on the back of the newspaper my Dad was reading when I was 5. I wanted to know more, I wanted to understand what they were talking about. This lead to my Dad taking me and my sister to picking up our first comic books when I was 7. This lead to me want to read, comic strips, first, then comic book s and eventually everything I was inquisitive about.

Yet the comic strip is the building block from whence I came, and how thousands of kids around the world came to want to read. As true as those may have been when I was growing up, it no longer is as true now. Now the world, could care less for reading comic strips in newspapers, as everything you can find digitally. In Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden’s How to Read Nancy: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels, it reminds well-worn readers and novices how one should enjoy sequential art.

We are introduced to Ernie Bushmiller, the creator of Nancy, as we get to find out how he started drawing comic strips. As fascinating as the history of the strip is, the creation of many nuances of the comics were created at the same time. We get to find out not only the details of how comics are made, but also the business side of it. By book’s end, the reader is more informed of both the process and the business and ultimately the creators who make them.

Overall, an excellent and painstaking investigated book that will give the reader a better understanding of the comics Industry.  The research by Karasik and Newgarden, show their love for the medium. The writing, never lulls, which is miracle for a research book. Altogether, even if you never read Nancy, you will love this book.

Story: Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik
Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy