A compact and charming history about how Comic Sans emerged from speech bubbles on educational software to become one of the most recognized―and reviled―typefaces on earth

Since its improvised creation at Microsoft in the mid-1990s, Comic Sans has become one of the digital age's most used and discussed typefaces. The subject of April Fools pranks and endless internet discourse, it has spawned a movement to ban it, inspired revivals and spinoffs, and continues to be widely promoted by educators. Simon Garfield considers how the computer transformed type into something anyone could use and have an opinion on, explores how new fonts emerge with changing times and technology, and meets die-hard Comic Sans adherents and haters. He concludes the book by asking the unimaginable: Could Comic Sans now be the coolest typeface ever made?