historycomic.com

Book now for sale on Amazon! This comic is a graphic guide meant to provide a quick overview of major events, processes, and people that have shaped world history. The comic can be used as a study tool, or simply as a resource to learn about the past. It covers the material of major standardized tests, so you can also use it to help prepare for the AP World History exam or the SAT Subject test. zakziebell.com

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“Recycle”

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I am still alive, and very busy in the middle of my foundations year at the Rhode Island School of Design. In lieu of a comic update, I thought I'd share some of the paintings I've completed here. 

For anyone wondering if I'll ever do another part to the History Comic - fear not, there are exciting things planned for this year!

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Some pages from the Byzantines chapter I've been working for awhile on.

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Fifth graders in Spain using the comic in class.

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What You Get When 30 People Draw a World Map From Memory

Maps, as I’ve written before, are inherently subjective—no matter how detailed or scientific, they reflect our worldview and the age in which we’re living, not to mention the difficulty of projecting a spherical globe onto a plane surface. Now compound these challenges by asking 30 people to sketch a map of the world from memory. What would you get?

In the summer of 2012, Zak Ziebell, now a 17-year-old high school senior in San Antonio, did just that.

Read more. [Image: Zak Ziebell]

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Woah! An art piece I did was in the Atlantic.

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A new chapter is in the works! More details coming soon.

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Part 1 is up on Amazon!

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Some pages from Chapter 4 detailing the rise and fall of the Roman Republic. If you're interested in learning more, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History had an excellent podcast series awhile back called Death Throes of the Republic on this topic.

The paperback version of Part 1 is almost finalized and will soon be up on Amazon! If you're interested, I'll be updating this Tumblr soon with more details. As always, the ebook version is available on Gumroad, currently for $3 with the code TUMBLR. 

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The Chavin and the Moche! Two ancient South American civilizations that aren't super well known but very interesting.  

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New cover for the paperback edition.

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Ashoka Maurya

The story of Ashoka is pretty unique among ancient rulers. He was born to one of the less notable wives of the Mauryan emperor Bindusara, making his initial prospects for succession to the throne pretty grim. But when his dad died and the inevitable power struggle ensued, Ashoka was able to trick the legitimate heir into inadvertently walking into a pit of live coals. Afterwards he supposedly executed 99 of his brothers who also held claims to the throne. *

After securing power, Ashoka continued to hold a general disregard for human life. According to Buddhist legends (of questionable veracity) he burnt 500 of his concubines to death after a few of them insulted him for his rough skin. He also constructed an infamous torture chamber known as "Ashoka's Hell."

Deciding to subjugate the eastern Kalinga Republic, his army fought a massive battle at the Kalingan capital. Inspecting the results of his victory afterwards, Ashoka was horrified by the slaughter of civilians. He then decided to renounce his bloodthirsty ways and convert to Buddhism.

As the first Buddhist head of a major empire, he was instrumental in Buddhism's spread as a world religion. He initiated a series of massive public works projects, constructing hospitals, universities, roads, and temples throughout India.

* The reports on this incident are dubious, but like most ancient figures you can divide the number by 10 and get a more likely estimate. So, if Ashoka did indeed slaughter his brothers en masse, it was probably just like 9 of them. Actually, all of these horror stories about Ashoka's wickedness before his Buddhist conversion, despite being interesting, probably aren't true, which is why I didn't include them in the comic.

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Alexander's cities, featuring a 16-1 man to horse namesake ratio.

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A large version of the Alexander battle scene from Chapter 3. Poor Darius III.

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Some pages from Chapter 2.

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Gumroad

The History Comic Gumroad is up! A digital copy of Part 1 in PDF, EPUB, and MOBI formats can be now purchased online.

gumroad.com/historycomic

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First physical volume just arrived!