Reviews with content warning for Violence - March: Book One (Oversized Edition)

Saw a pile of fresh copies sitting in my library and decided to read one while I waited for them to find a book in storage (they didn’t).

Well told. Doesn’t suffer from the choppy storytelling you sometimes get when a non-comic writer dives into the genre. Lewis’s story is inherently compelling and this doesn’t get in the way of that. The structure is rather brilliant really. The constant contrast always emphasizing the progression Lewis worked to see in his lifetime.

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erinmjustice's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

5.0

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keeganrb's review against another edition

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informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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anniefwrites's review against another edition

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dark inspiring tense medium-paced

I had the privilege to hear John Lewis speak once, and his voice jumps off the page in this first volume of his graphic memoir. It covers a wide swath of time, from his youth through the sit-ins of the early civil rights movement. I think the only thing that takes away from the story is the black and white color palette—I think if it were in color, it would emphasize that this didn’t happen very long ago.

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criticalgayze's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

While (and I know this will be fairly obvious) I think I would need to give the whole collection a chance to give the most accurate and fairest rating, March: Book One was an incredibly moving and captivating piece of graphic memoir. The powerful nature of visual storytelling is, while running the risk of asking to see the pain of others, an effective choice for chronicling tales of injustice. Much in the way I found it moving in Mira Jacob's Good Talk, the use of the graphic memoir here again highlights the experience in an undeniably emotive way.

I also found the framing of the story very interesting. The memoir narrative in Book One is framed around Lewis getting prepared to leave his office for the inauguration of President Obama on January 20, 2009. In much the way Scrooge is prompted to reconsider his choices by spectral visitations in A Christmas Carol, Lewis's life stories are instigated by things that play out during the preparations. He is first visited by a family of constituents from Atlanta, which leads to a reflection on his childhood and schooling. Next, a message from Reverend Jim Lawson prompts a reflection on his initiation to direct involvement with civil rights in Nashville. Finally, a missed phone call on the way out of his office leads to scenes from Lewis's first march on the office of the Mayor of Nashville, which led to the integration of lunch counters in the city.

Very powerful, very stylish, and very well constructed: All the things you want in a piece of graphic art.

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nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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