History ComicBook / TheCartoonHistoryOfTheUniverse

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The chapters on China in the second book are hit ''hard'' by this, since at the time, Asian history and philosophy were much more esoteric in the US, so romanizations are touch-and-go. The spellings he went with are generally the phonetic ones, i.e. using Chin over Qin.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Less artistic license and more Gonick just getting dates wrong. One example being the Battle of Kadesh having happened in 1288 BC rather than 1274. 1288 would have been during Seti I's reign not Ramesses II's.

* FatherIWantToMarryMyBrother: When describing how Egypt was merciful towards their conquered foes by educating them in Egyptian ways, a son asks his father to marry his sister (since Egyptian royalty practiced interbreeding to keep the bloodline "pure"). The father promptly thinks "You call this mercy?"

* NotMeThisTime: Many of Alcibiades' misdeeds are covered in the book, but the narrative goes with the theory that he had nothing to do with the mutilation of the hermae that he was historically accused of.

* BeliefMakesYouStupid: Gonick is quick to point out and highlight the many religious absurdities found throughout history. Explicitly invoked in a brief bit about the Indian materialists; when they say that the supernatural and afterlife are lies keeping the people ignorant and afraid, the ruler angrily points out that he likes them better that way.

%%* IdeaBulb: Lampshaded.

** Muslim missionaries making exactly the wrong pitch to Sub-Saharan African rulers: arguing for modesty of dress in Ghana (where dressing less was an asset) or for the sequestration of women (not really a Muslim doctrine, but it had become part of the package by that time) to a woman ruler.

* SirSwearsALot: Martin Luther is portrayed as being ''very'' foul mouthed in his sermons, which is actually [[TruthInTelevision true to history]]!

%%* SlaveMooks: The Athenian police.

** Gonick puts far more stock the historicity of certain Biblical stories than more recent historians (and when it comes to early Christianity, his AuthorAvatar all but nervously admits that much of its material had to be taken straight from the New Testament due to the paucity of other accounts).

* LanguageEqualsThought: Lampshaded when the narrative mentions how Romans decimated (i.e., killed every tenth person -- though in actual Roman times this was reserved for executing deserters, but RuleOfFunny reigns in this case) Athens.

* CuriosityCausesConversion: Noted in several instances, but particularly when it comes to the history of UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} (where it is emphatically TruthInTelevision). For instance, in one panel, a pagan Roman couple in the arena watch with fascination as a Christian martyr enthusiastically welcomes death by lion ("C'mon! What are you waiting for?"):

* DatedHistory: There are some parts of these comics that haven't aged well.

** Neanderthals being driven extinct due to conquest and extermination by the Cro-Magnons has been increasingly challenged by archaeological and genetic evidence. While not ''completely'' discredited, it's generally believed in the scientific community that it was, at most, one of multiple factors.

** Gonick ascribes more geopolitical importance to the Battle of Talas than 21st century historians generally do, claiming that it marked the end of Chinese hegemony over Central Asia. To his credit, he says Tang influence in the region ''could'' have recovered if not for the An Lushan rebellion, but the narrative that the battle marked a turning point is no longer taken seriously since evidence suggests Chinese control there actually ''increased'' between the battle and the rebellion.

* VillainHasAPoint: Salome, Herod the Great's sister, uses some very underhanded and even malicious tactics to try and maneuver one of her sons into becoming King of the Jews. However, when she insists to Augustus that putting Archelaus on the throne would be a bad idea, she turns out to be right: his rule is plagued by controversy and unrest, forcing Augustus to depose him and impose direct Roman rule over his territory.

-->'''Dorian Chief:''' (''doting over his wife while being surrounded by piles of corpses'') Oh, did you cut your finger, dear?

* KilroyWasHere: A Greek mercenary is shown leaving his name on an Egyptian building. Gonick did not make this up, incidentally. Said graffiti is a documented historical artifact.

* KilroyWasHere: A Greek mercenary is shown leaving his name on an Egyptian building.

** On the topic of Thutmose III and his predecessor Hatshepsut, Gonick runs with the then-mainstream theory that Hatshepsut tried to keep Thutmose out of power, leading him to try and [[{{unperson}} erase her from Egyptian history]] after she died out of revenge when he became pharaoh. This account has been discredited; it's now known that Thutmose held a lot of support in the military and could probably have overthrown Hatshepsut if he wanted to, so it's more likely that the two shared power and may even have been co-rulers. Furthermore, Thutmose kept religious and administrative leaders appointed by Hatshepsut in their positions and had his mortuary temple built next to hers, both of which he was unlikely to have done if he really did have a grudge against her. As for the defacing of her monuments, it's now known to have happened much later than previously thought and is believed to have been done by either a very old Thutmose or his son and coregent Amenhotep II to prevent one of Hatshepsut's relatives from being elevated to the throne.

* TheAbridgedHistory: Gonick takes creative liberties with some aspects of history. However, his facts are mostly accurate, and not strictly parodic.
* AllCrimesAreEqual: Discussed in the sections covering the invention of laws and legal systems. He takes particular aim at Han Feizi and the the Chinese Legalists, who advocated this policy, showing exactly how well it worked for the Qin Dynasty (it led directly to their destruction).
* AllJewsAreAshkenazi: Averted, but frequently joked about, particularly through use of YiddishAsASecondLanguage:

** Carlos V is portrayed with an ever increasing stack of crowns to show just how much of the European world he ruled.

* AllCrimesAreEqual: Averted in the sections covering the invention of laws and legal systems. He takes particular aim at Han Feizi and the the Chinese Legalists, who advocated this policy, showing exactly how well it worked for the Qin Dynasty (it led directly to their destruction).

* AuthorAvatar: Gonick's authorial voice is provided by "the Professor," who uses a library he calls a "time machine" to read history books and imagine the events they describe, showing the reader the events in comic book format. He is represented both in the narration and also appears directly in the events he describes, speaking to historical characters or [[BreakingTheFourthWall directly to the reader]].

%%* AnachronismStew: Frequently used for comedy.

* AuthorTract: Gonick manages to not rant too much except in occasional circumstances, but his political leanings are pretty impossible to miss.

** What destroys the Indus Valley Civilization in Volume 8 is conquest by the Indo-Aryans, based on a now-discredited theory formulated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler. Since the supposed evidence of violence has since been ascribed to other factors, it's now believed that changes in climate and a series of earthquakes were responsible for the civilization's decline and eventual collapse.

* PyrrhicVictory: Aside from the TropeNamer appearing during the segment on Rome, this is how Liu Bang's triumph in the Qin civil war is portrayed. He defeated Xiang Yu, became Emperor, and formed a new, succesful dynasty, but his wife and concubines are at each other's throats, his children despise, and his realm is becoming increasingly unstable. He himself lampshades this shortly before his death, wondering if becoming Emperor was worth it in the end.

** He puts far more stock the historicity of certain Biblical stories than more recent historians (and when it comes to early Christianity, his AuthorAvatar all but nervously admits that much of its material had to be taken straight from the New Testament due to the paucity of other accounts).

** Gonick ascribes more importance to the Battle of Talas than 21st century historians generally do, claiming that it marked the end of Chinese hegemony over Central Asia. To his credit, he says Tang influence in the region ''could'' have recovered if not for the An Lushan rebellion, but the narrative that the battle marked a turning point is no longer taken seriously since evidence suggests Chinese control there actually ''increased'' between the battle and the rebellion.

* TheGhost: UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad and certain other figures from Muslim history, out of respect for mainstream Islam's prohibition on visual representations of them. This decision was made well before the international Mohammed cartoon controversy. The one main figure in that section he does show, Abu Sufyan, tells the reader that he never really bought the religion and doesn't actually care if he's shown.

** Drawing Robert Guiscard, a Norman lord, [[FurriesAreEasierToDraw as a weasel]] ("Guiscard" means "weasel" in French).

* SirSwearsALot: Martin Luther is portrayed as being ''very'' foul mouthed in his sermons, which is actually true to history!

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Parodied with the etymology of the word slave (derived from Slav).

-->'''Dorian Chief:''' (''doting over his wife while being surrounded by piles of corpses'') Ooh, honey, did you hurt your finger?

%%* BaldOfAwesome: Quite a few people, including Moses and Elisha.

See also ''WebVideo/CrashCourse World History'' which has a similar attitude towards more or less the same subject matter.

* AnachronismStew: Frequently used for comedy.

** Gonick sticks a number of critical references to the administration of George W. Bush in ''The Cartoon History of the Modern World.''
* BaldOfAwesome: Quite a few people, including Moses and Elisha.

'''Pagan Woman:''' [[CreepyMonotone Must...find...out...]]

* DeadpanSnarker: A lot of people.

* EyepatchOfPower: Lykurgos from Spartan history/legend, described as "great and mysterious", is drawn with one.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Obviously.

* IdeaBulb: Lampshaded.

* SlaveMooks: The Athenian police.

* WhatsAHenway: This exchange when King Solomon meets Hiram, king of the "sophisticated seaport" of Tyre: