Also by this author

Science Tales

Lies, Hoaxes and Scams
£16.99 Buy now Recommend

Shortlisted   —British Comic Awards: Best Book2012

Nominated   —YALSA – Great Graphic Novels for Teens2013

'Brilliantly presented, and customarily classy....Science Tales is impressive, Cunningham delivering his message with style, great art, even moments of outright comedy.’—Richard Bruton, Forbidden Planet

The first edition of Darryl Cunningham’s Science Tales was published in 2012 and shortlisted for the British Comics Awards: Best Book. It was updated in 2013 to include a new chapter on fracking. This new paperback edition unites it as a series with Darryl Cunningham’s other best selling titles with Myriad: Graphic Science and Supercrash. They will be joined in November 2019 by Cunningham’s latest graphic exposé, Billionaires.

A graphic milestone of investigative reporting, Cunningham’s essays explode the lies, hoaxes and scams of popular science, debunking media myths and decoding some of today’s most fiercely-debated issues: climate change, electroconvulsive therapy, the moon landing, the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine, homeopathy, chiropractic, evolution, science denialism and fracking.

Thoroughly researched and sourced, Cunningham’s clear narrative, graphic lines and photographic illustration explain complicated and controversial issues with deceptive ease. Shortly available in a new flapped paperback edition, along with Cunningham’s other best-selling books,  Supercrash (Myriad, 2014) and Graphic Science (Myriad, 2019).

Argument

28 October 2012

It takes a real talent to pack in so much information and so many ideas and arguments in a book that contains no more than a few hundred words. As a science primer that presents complex ideas in a simple, but never simplistic, way, Science Tales cannot be recommended enough.

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Slings and Arrows

He lays out his case in easily digestible fashion via simple illustrations of his everyman stand-in and inventive use of photographs and pictures… Science Tales should prove both informative and engaging, and Cunningham’s succinct presentation delivers the facts with no prior scientific understanding required.

 

 

 

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Richard Bruton, Forbidden Planet

It’s good to see the arguments presented so well, clearly and concisely... what Cunningham does here is rather brilliantly presented, and customarily classy. As an artist his work is equally at home in the stark black and white of Psychiatric Tales or the lush and varied colours in Science Tales... Science Tales is impressive, Cunningham delivering his message with style, great art, even moments of outright comedy. All in all, we have something else to deliver the message of science and reason, and that’s a good, good thing.

New Scientist

Cunningham's charming artwork complements his concise arguments on climate change, the first moon landing and homeopathy, among other subjects. He consistently champions the scientific method over all forms of quackery, and his stark lines and simple layouts give his comic the feel of a scientific analysis. The artwork is uncluttered, leaving little to distract the reader from the exposition, delivered in stripped-back, staccato prose.

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Independent

Cunningham's art… has clean lines and a continuity that is often graceful, charming and endearing. He speaks with quiet authority on his subjects, but is careful to cite a whole range of sources and research papers.

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Observer

[Climate change is] a familiar story. What's unusual is the way it's told. [Science Tales] deals with some of the most urgent debates in science using pictures, speech bubbles and comic-strip layouts... Darryl Cunningham takes a view on such knotty issues as homeopathy and the MMR vaccine, sorting facts from fiction and presenting complex information in a highly accessible way.

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Scott McCloud

Cunningham continues his comics crusade to untangle lies, myths, and misconceptions with a new book defending the science that’s grown from Darwin’s theory of natural selection. As usual, he does so with wit, charm, and quiet persistence.

Robin Ince

With simplicity and depth Darryl Cunningham produces cartoons that get to the nub of why understanding the world as it seems to be, is so important.

Broken Frontier

This new material is an excellent example of Cunningham’s approach to subject matter that many of us, no doubt, would simply switch off from or hurriedly turn the page when presented in other media. His ability to break down relatively complex issues into easily digestible and compelling narratives without ever compromising the points he makes is quite remarkable.

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Brian Fies

A clear and thorough survey of the subject, and very important.

Dr Judith Mackay, OBE

It is very compelling – once you have started on the story, you read to the end.

School Science Review

Secondary school pupils will find this book appealing – so should some teachers! Buy a few copies and put them in the library.

Chemistry World

An eye-catching way to get across the important message that a science-based approach to understanding makes far more sense than one that is evidence-free... Cunningham draws out the fictions and lays bare the facts.

Edzard Ernst, PULSE

A lovely book which combines its no-nonsense approach with a funny, pro-science attitude.

Comics Worth Reading

Easy to read and entertaining.

Mad Art Lab

With a controlled economy of line and minimalist page layouts, [Cunningham] focuses on the efficient delivery of facts, which makes his comics irresistibly sharable. His iconic lines are mixed with artistic treatments of photographs - often used to introduce key figures... it never distracts from the work and gives his investigations an unmistakable documentary feel. New for Science Tales is Cunningham’s use of color, which is a welcome addition to his repertoire, and combined with the hardcover binding, makes it a classy addition to any skeptic’s comic book collection.

Comics Alliance

Cunningham never accuses people who are swayed by conspiracy theories or pseudoscience of being evil or stupid, and his tone is polite enough to win hearts and minds, provided they're open minds... Science Tales will find its home in classrooms and houses with children, where young people will find it and then prick up their ears anytime an adult mentions 'getting an adjustment' or 'seeing a homeopath'. It will remind them that science is a matter of facts, not politics.

BBC Radio York

Entertaining even though it also raises some very serious issues. It is very colourful, and it will get people talking... whether they agree or disagree with you, they will have an opinion... it will get the debate going.

Telegraph and Argus

Book of the Week. His style is cartoony and raw, but manages to be full of expression and also very evocative. Darryl displays a burgeoning talent as something of an investigative journalist. He has used many sources... to assemble lucid, clear and concise arguments against the prevailing opinions that often get blown out of all proportion by lazy media sensationalism. [Science Tales] deserves a wide audience and even if you haven't tried to read something in comic format before, you'll find this easy to follow on the one hand, and thought-provoking on the other.

Ian Williams

A comic book with a bibliography is a rare thing. Cunningham is admirably erudite and engages in extensive research while constructing his polemical strips. The result is persuasive rhetoric: popular science not overly technical, but communicated clearly and with conviction. I use the word polemical advisedly: the tentative, provisional language of academia is noticeably absent. Rather, Cunningham writes with the courtroom eloquence of the prosecuting barrister, denouncing the accused in capital letters, his words as precise as his drawing style is hard edged. Just the treatment these defendants deserve, in my view.

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Headline Environment

An essentially serious attack on science denialism. Cunningham is extremely good at explaining the links between bad science and profiteering, both by supposed scientists and by the media, not just by giving two unequal sides equal weight, but by actively promoting the irrationalists, boosting their own profits through exploiting audience fears. It’s clear and straightforward at all times, making complex issues simple, but never simplistic.

Herald

[Cunningham] has managed to distil the arguments into a wonderfully clear and concise form…a great primer for those seeking arguments to undermine their Daily Express-reading uncle.

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Cory Doctorow

A fantastic nonfiction comic book about science, skepticism and denial... Cunningham has a real gift for making complex subjects simple. If you're a Mythbusters fan, admire James Randi, enjoyed Ben Goldacre's Bad Science, and care about climate change, you'll enjoy this one. More to the point, if you're trying to discuss these subjects with smart but misguided friends and loved ones, this book might hold the key to real dialogue.

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Abrams ComicArts

Cunningham’s distinctive illustrative style shows how information is manipulated by all sides; his easy-to-follow narratives allow readers to draw their own fact-based conclusions. A graphic milestone of investigative journalism!

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Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier

Myriad’s already formidable and growing reputation for bringing us some of the most thought-provoking and atypical graphic novels on the shelves has just been strengthened a little bit more. Cunningham projects a quietly authoritative voice throughout. As the narrator and host for each chapter he is confrontational yet balanced; unflinching in his condemnation of the irrational and the unsupportable without ever lapsing into belligerence. Each graphic essay provides a digestible analysis of the topic and an easily grasped and reasoned refutation of the counter-arguments to scientific procedure and exploration. Artistically, Cunningham’s clean lines and his deceptively simple cartooning style perfectly complement the clarity inherent in the delivery of his carefully considered points. Cunningham manages to deftly précis the salient points of each chapter’s discussion in an entertaining, engaging, and sometimes slyly witty way. Science Tales manages to be somehow simultaneously both succinct and substantive, and a fierce and intelligent promoter of the scientific process over blind superstition and baseless supposition.

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Page 45

New revised edition including an extended chapter on fracking, which for those not familiar with the term is slang for a relatively new gas and oil extraction technique, which has revitalised the fossil fuel industry in recent years. It’s clear this is a topic Darryl is especially passionate about exploring as he goes into great detail eloquently explaining the technique for the lay person, weighing up the technical pros and cons, before getting into his real concerns on the matter. It’s a meticulous picking apart of the ridiculous web of half-baked facts and fiction that’s often woven around one or two grains of truth, usually completely taken and distorted totally out of context, to prove his case.

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Vicky Ellis, Frack Free Blackpool

What [Darryl is] doing is very important. The dissemination of information is vital as there's such a glut of bad information out there.

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