ET TU, BRUTE? – Jason Novak | Looking For a Good Book

Well … this is … unusual.

Artist Jason Novak takes a look at the history of the Roman Emperors and chronicles their deaths in a series of rapid-pace short cartoons.

Novak’s cartoon style reminds me of the 1950’s stylized cartoons. Take a look at the cover as depicted above … that’s straight from the book (with a touch of color added). I personally really like this look and I think it served well to tell this gruesome history.

And there is some history that will be learned here!

Mostly I learned that I couldn’t imagine why anyone wanted to be a Roman Emperor as they seemed to meet bloody ends at the height of their power. Not all, but many! I also didn’t realize how many emperors there were through the period. That alone made it worth reading!

It was fun (as fun as a series of deaths/murders can be, anyway) and informative. I can’t say I’m likely to flip through this a second time, but I’d definitely want to share it and pass it on to a friend who might find it interesting.

Looking for a good book? Et Tu, Brute? by Jason Novak is a history of Roman Emperors, their deaths told in a series of cartoons, that proves to be just the right way to tell this story.