Review by C.J. Bunce
People have been drinking booze for a long time. Writer David Woolrich researched the cocktail in all its forms and he has partnered with artist Dean Kotz to create a fairly comprehensive introduction in comic book art style. The Comic Book History of the Cocktail: Five Centuries of Mixing Drinks and Carrying On, available for pre-order here at Amazon, is a surprisingly historical and engaging look at the intersection of history and alcoholic creations. For those interested in all things booze, and finding new recipes historical and modern, this chronicle pairs well with previous books reviewed here at borg, including TCM’s Forbidden Cocktails (reviewed here), Dungeons & Dragons’ Puncheons and Flagons (reviewed here), Noir Bar (reviewed here), Star Trek Cocktails (reviewed here), and for a fiction twist, James M. Cain’s The Cocktail Waitress (reviewed here) and Dashiell Hammett’s original Nick and Nora story, The Thin Man (reviewed here).
As much as The Comic Book History of the Cocktail is about the history of mixed drinks, it’s also a window into the people behind all the concoctions and libations that men and women have sought out in times of both depression and celebration. Artist Dean Kotz makes good use of depicting the people and the times (even if photographic references for some subjects was not available), while filling in the spaces with a visual how-to for eighteen of David Wondrich’s supplied classic cocktail recipes along with ten other newer recommendations.
So moving from a bowl of traditional punch to the American julep, to cobblers and sours, Woolrich takes readers through the history and applications of rum and arrack, brandy, gin, rye and bourbon, vermouth, and campari and vodka. After an overview of the creation of spirits in centuries past, he begins with rum as part of the shipping trade in the 17th century before digging into America’s role. Readers will get an understanding of who was drinking what, when, where, and why. Tour guide mixologists teach the reader how to incorporate beers, wines, syrups, and other mix-ins to re-create not only the main recipes but also other drinks peppered through the history.
Take a look inside the book, courtesy of Ten Speed Graphic:
Pick up your copy of The Comic Book History of the Cocktail: Five Centuries of Mixing Drinks and Carrying On, available for pre-order here at Amazon, or add it to your pull list at Elite Comics or your local comic shop. It’s available in a full-color, over-sized volume, scheduled for release Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
