Hawking

Jim Ottaviani

Jul 2019 · Sold by First Second

About this ebook

Following their New York Times-bestselling graphic novel Feynman, Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick deliver a gripping biography of Stephen Hawking, one of the most important scientists of our time.

From his early days at the St Albans School and Oxford, Stephen Hawking’s brilliance and good humor were obvious to everyone he met. A lively and popular young man, it’s no surprise that he would later rise to celebrity status.

At twenty-one he was diagnosed with ALS, a degenerative neuromuscular disease. Though the disease weakened his muscles and limited his ability to move and speak, it did nothing to limit his mind. He went on to do groundbreaking work in cosmology and theoretical physics for decades after being told he had only a few years to live. He brought his intimate understanding of the universe to the public in his 1988 bestseller, A Brief History of Time. Soon after, he added pop-culture icon to his accomplishments by playing himself on shows like Star Trek, The Simpsons, and The Big Bang Theory, and becoming an outspoken advocate for disability rights.

In Hawking, writer Jim Ottaviani and artist Leland Myrick have crafted an intricate portrait of the great thinker, the public figure, and the man behind both identities.

About the author

Jim Ottaviani is a New York Times–bestselling author who began writing graphic novels about scientists in 1997. His books include The Imitation Game (a biography of Alan Turing), Primates (a biography about Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas), and Feynman (a biography about the Nobel prize–winning physicist, bongo-playing artist, and raconteur Richard Feynman).


Leland Myrick is the Ignatz Award– and Harvey Award–nominated author and illustrator of The Sweet Collection, Bright Elegy, Missouri Boy, and illustrator of the New York Times–bestseller Feynman. He has written and illustrated work for Dark Horse Comics, GQ Japan, Vogue Russia, and the Flight series.