The Comic Book Story of Video Games : : the Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Adult Graphic Novel / Hennessey, Jonathan	4-week checkout	Due 01-02-2026
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Hennessey, Jonathan	4-week checkout	Due 12-09-2025

One. Totally tubular: the tech evolution that made gaming possible -- Two. They're here...!: the earliest early video games -- Three. Transistors: this means Spacewar! -- Four. Cold on the Cold War: gaming heats up! -- Five. The heyday of Atari: video games' first dynasty -- Six. The golden age of arcade games: video games give no quarter -- Seven. Crash 'n' don't score: the disaster that almost spelled "games over" -- Eight. Back to computers: and this time it's personal -- Nine. Nintendo: the name of the game is the games -- Ten. Times that try consoles: from Genesis to "Revelations".
A complete, illustrated history of video games--highlighting the machines, games, and people who have made gaming a worldwide, billion dollar industry/artform--told in a graphic novel format.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
School Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Science of Gaming submitted by Meginator on July 12, 2025, 6:19pm This book presents a general history of video games, with special emphasis on the underlying science that makes video possible and on the industry's early development through to the Genesis/SNES/PlayStation era. The special focus on the broader cultural and technological context that led to the earliest video games in the United States and Japan is an interesting touch that gives the book a unique sense of focus compared to other histories covering the subject, but it does complicate the telling somewhat as the author bounces from subject to subject without connecting the through-lines until much later (if at all). Readers must hold a lot of concurrent history in their minds at once, which feels like a disproportionate amount of intellectual heavy lifting given the book's size, scope, and presumed audience. The graphic format is, however, uniquely well-suited to this story, and it's fun to see classic characters make cameo appearances throughout, even when their games aren't particularly relevant to the subject at hand; likewise, the artist does an excellent job of replicating classic pixel-art environments and characters amid the other drawings. The overall style is a little rough around the edges (deliberately so), but the visual approach does fit with the DIY vibe of early video game development. While this book isn't always consistent and does require a bit of active effort on the reader's part, it does function as an interesting and reasonably comprehensive history of video games, with the addition of important historical context that doesn't usually make its way into the subject's most-told histories.