Cover of March: Book One,  2013

The cover of the first book in the March Trilogy, a graphic novel series co-created by Civil Rights leader and politician John Lewis and writer Andrew Aydin. March: Book One explores the history of the Civil Rights movement, especially the protest marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. The novel was conceived after Lewis told Aydin, an avid fan of comic books, about the success of the comic Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story in inspiring action against segregation. The two hoped that creating a modern retelling and expanding the scope would help inspire action against racism and white supremacy that still persists in today’s society. Though March is illustrated in black and white, the vivid yellow cover and black lettering serves as a nod to its predecessor. March wasn’t just inspired by The Montgomery Story, it tells the story of the comic’s creation and illustrates how it helped inspire the passive resistance demonstrated in protests like the Greensboro and Nashville Sit Ins. 

The comic and the cover itself were illustrated by comic artist Nate Powell. He sectioned the cover of the book in thirds horizontally, the top third depicting one of the marches on Montgomery, the middle reserved for the title, and the bottom depicting a sit-in. The backgrounds and lettering have a slightly worn appearance, demonstrating not just the fact that this is a retelling of historical events but also the toll campaigning for equal rights took on the activists. While this toll was certainly a mental one, the novel’s depiction of the eagerness of the police to meet the Selma to Montgomery marchers with violence shows the physical toll and the danger involved in being a civil rights activist. The facial expressions of the three characters in the center of the bottom third are also notable, the unease and concern on their faces serving both to humanize them to the reader and to highlight their bravery in standing up against injustice.