How to Take Over the World

December 1, 2021
North, creator of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics, offers budding supervillains a how-to guide with instructions to pull off a variety of evil schemes, from building an impregnable fortress, to cloning dinosaurs, controlling the weather, becoming immortal, ensuring your evil message survives to the heat death of the universe, and more. But unlike comic books and movies which rely on unbelievable and fantastical devices, these are schemes you can theoretically accomplish with existing technology, based on real-world science. Make no mistake: these schemes will be difficult and costly, but they're just this side of actually possible. This humorous framing device, accompanied by delightful illustrations by Carly Monardo, allows North to explore a range of topics around science and technology, explaining the current state of our knowledge and ability and considering what might be possible within an array of subjects. It's an eclectic journey, full to the brim with North's trademark sarcasm and humor. An excellent starting point for anyone interested in learning more about cutting edge science or becoming a supervillain.

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February 1, 2022
A fun book about "the edges of science, the limits of what's currently possible thanks to the technology that humans have already invented or are currently inventing." North, an Eisner Award-winning writer for Marvel Comics, offers an entertaining manual illustrated with suitably farcical drawings by comics artist Monardo, imparting detailed advice for becoming a supervillain with the intention of tyrannizing everything and everyone in the universe. With a career spent designing "increasingly credible world-domination schemes," North has confidence that they could work, even though in the world of comics those schemes are always foiled by superheroes. Nevertheless, prospective supervillains would do well to find a secret base for subversive activities, establish a separate country, and unleash aggressive animals, such as dinosaurs, revived through cloning. In addition, supervillains will want to control the weather, manage the power of the internet, and achieve enduring fame, if not physical immortality. Though North's proposals are outlandish, he grounds them in physics, biology, history, geology, zoology, computer science, genetics, paleontology, and cryogenics, not to mention politics and international law. He suggests, for example, three ways to take land away from someone else to start your own country (through stealth, force, or persuasion), and he enumerates the pros and cons of taking over Antarctica. At each step, he offers a timeline and cost analysis. As for dealing with climate change, "an obvious solution presents itself to even the neophyte supervillain: take over the world and use your iron fist to crush anyone who even thinks about emitting carbon." Supervillains and heroes alike often face obstinate foes, requiring them to wield political influence. "The way you force people in power to do what you want," North writes, "is by ensuring that they fear you." The author's spoof contains a serious subtext: The world has lots of problems--climate change, war, inequality, computer hackers, disease, and rampant greed, among others--that can be addressed through understanding, focus, and determination. Knowledge, he proposes, is the greatest superpower of all. An exuberant handbook for making the world better.

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