Filmish by Edward Ross

Aiming to act as a 'graphic journey through film' – charting both the evolution of the medium and the theory surrounding it – the most impressive achievement of Edward Ross’s Filmish is finding a tone that’s accessible to everybody without ever becoming patronising or overly simplistic.

The introduction boasts that "even the most weathered film fan is bound to find something new" and it makes good on the claim. Offering more than just a quick guide to how modern mainstream cinema came to be – though watching it grow from the days of Georges Méliès to those of Tarantino in the form of Ross’s minimalist monochrome cartoons is kind of delightful – it takes to task issues like the male gaze, minority marginalisation and Hollywood’s troubling relationship with the pentagon, while also championing the rise of digital media and the chance it provides to wrench some control back out of the hands of major studios.

Mixing a light-hearted art style with a dialogue that’s informative and interesting, Filmish would make an ideal starting point for anyone looking to strengthen their cinephilia. As a journey through cinematic history it’s an easy ride, spending just enough time in each place to let you get a feel for it before whisking you on to the next destination, eager to return and excited to see what’s coming next.