Comics/Graphic Novels

January 2015 Book of the Month: March: Book One

Paul Montgomery

Staff Writer

In addition to comics, Paul thrills to Frank Capra and kaiju movies, crime fiction, TV dramas, professional wrestling, and whatever the Muppets are doing at any given time (hopefully in combination with those other things). He tweets as @fuzzytypewriter

To commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we’ll be releasing a discussion of March: Book One by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell on the January 19th episode of Oh, Comics! You can order Book One in print or digital formats now, and Book Two will be available later this month. If you’ve read the story so far, feel free to write in to podcast@panels.net or comment below with observations, questions, or talking points, and we’ll include them on the show!

marchbookone_softcover_lg

March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.

Book One spans John Lewis’ youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall.

Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activists drew inspiration from the 1950s comic book “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story.” Now, his own comics bring those days to life for a new audience, testifying to a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations.

— March: Book One (of Three), a 128-page softcover with french flaps, 6.5″ x 9.5″