1177 B.C.: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed
Imagine my surprise when I heard that civilization collapsed some 3,000 years ago, as opposed to almost any other date (insert Daria 
theme song here. Look it up, kids.).
1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed is a graphic novel by experts on the subject, Eric Cline, and Gynnis Fawkes. It is an adaptation of Cline’s book of the same name.
Cline has a daunting task ahead of him in this endeavor. The original non-fiction book is complicated and dense (and won several awards), as we would all expect, and to package all that information in a way that is digestible and accessible is a real challenge.
We come across a tried and true method for the storytelling here: the framing device is from the perspective of 2 characters – Pel, a member of of the marauding Sea Peoples, and Shesha, an Egyptian scribe – visit the locations discussed in the text to explore many, MANY theories, facts, speculations, and historical disasters that brought the the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites, Canaanites, Assyrians, and Egyptians to the end of the Late Bronze Age.
There’s a lot of text to get through; when I describe the book as “dense,” I truly mean it. Each page is chock-full of historical explanation and detail. Small text. We’re approaching something more like an illustrated textbook. Your experience of the text-to-picture ratio this is going to vary, but I would not recommend this for younger readers for the sheer amount of words. Again, this is an adaptation of a nonfiction book that does some serious digging (hurrhurr archeology joke) into a very academic subject.
Fawkes’ illustrations are evocative of humanity’s early attempts artworks/image-making. Think like the cave paintings of Lascaux, Greek pottery, and Roman fresco. The lines are simple, and while characters and objects are shaded, hard swathes of colors are used instead of rendering. The stylization is pretty firmly in a cartoon-ish style (as opposed to photorealistic). I do want to draw attention to the environments and backgrounds – there is some really detailed, professional pencil-work at play here that very successfully communicates different materials, fabrics, surfaces, and natural phenomena.
1177 B.C. could be a good addition to a collection, but I feel that its place would have to be pretty unique in an array of collection development needs – we have an illustrated nonfiction graphic novel that is kid-friendly and about a very specific topic. Due to the high volume of explanation within the pages, I don’t think young children would like it very much. And the childish presentation might put some older kids off who are more interested in just the facts; the publisher put their recommended age range as 16-17. While I’m certain there are older teens who would enjoy this, I would think that they might just prefer to grab the original book this comic was based off of.
Use good judgment and consideration.
Reviewer’s note: the location given is an approximation of the regions explored; keep in mind that these civilizations no longer exist and borders and countries have changed over time.
1177 B.C.: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed
By Eric Cline
Art by Glynnis Fawkes
Princeton University Press, 2024
ISBN: 9780691213026
Company Age Rating: 16-17
NFNT Age Recommendation: Older Teen (16-18)
