Tag: Artist: Nate Powell

March Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
Art: Nate Powell

John Lewis is one incredibly inspiring person, and he knows how to focus on what’s important. The final chapter in this book wraps up through the Voting Rights Act and wind down of the Civil Rights movement. It is also full of more deaths — or at least, it seems like more people who Lewis knew personally died — than the other volumes. Perhaps they were just more specific. Or perhaps we knew the incoming ones.

It was amazing to see how many time Lewis and others were put in prison. Lewis himself was arrested over 40 times. Which is just mind boggling to think about. I appreciate how he continues to focus on his prison time, not as a badge of honor, but as a horrible lesson of the time and the continued legacy of a racist justice system.

I loved seeing Lewis’ journey to Selma and how he stopped at many of the same places as he did on the Freedom Ride. It was heartening to see the changes, such as the removal of segregation in the bathrooms. However, the signs being painted over, instead of replaced, showed that it was still evolving and still tense. Continue reading “March Book Three Graphic Novel Review”

March Book Two by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
Art: Nate Powell

Book Two is better than Book One because we’re already in the action. We’ve already met John Lewis, or at least we know his beginnings and where his story ends up (as of President Obama’s first inauguration). We understand the work, and we understand the importance of the work.

This story is about resilience. It’s about never giving up. If you start the story in Book Two where the violence has escalated — where people are dying — it would change the tone. You’d have a more sorrowful tale. That’s not to say the events aren’t tragic (they are, they are), but Lewis and Aydin focus on the power to overcome. You can tell that Lewis believes in MLK’s moral arc of history, or at least that we humans are slowly, steadily becoming better people.

I don’t know how this narrative or this resilience might be different if written now. But we do know that Lewis is not giving up. And we know that we cannot give up because all the rights we have were long fought for and blood was spilled for them and lives were lost. Continue reading “March Book Two Graphic Novel Review”

March Vol 1 by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
Art: Nate Powell

This book is powerful. Lewis is a true American hero, and reading about his life’s work is particularly heartening in 2017. To that Lewis dedicates this book: “To the past and future children of the movement.” Because the work isn’t done.

The setup of Lewis telling stories about his life, starting in his childhood, to some young kids and their mother is a bit sentimental. Especially since it’s all happening during President Obama’s inauguration. While no doubt Lewis did reflect on his life and the journey from the Jim Crow segregated South of his youth to Obama becoming POTUS, this part is a bit cheesy. Though if this book is marketed toward children, certainly gives them a good setup in a world they are familiar with. (And sometimes the cheesy and sentimental are absolute fact.) Continue reading “March Vol 1 Graphic Novel Review”