RUN

FIRST YOU MARCH, THEN YOU RUN

First you march. Then you run.

From John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell—the #1 bestselling, award–winning team behind March—and introducing artist L. Fury—comes the first book in their new, groundbreaking graphic novel series.

“In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect Union here in America.” –Congressman John Lewis

Run recounts the lost history of what too often follows dramatic change—the pushback of those who refuse it and the resistance of those who believe change has not gone far enough. John Lewis’s story has always been a complicated narrative of bravery, loss, and redemption, and Run gives vivid, energetic voice to a chapter of transformation in his young, already extraordinary life.” –Stacey Abrams

To John Lewis, the civil rights movement came to an end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But that was after more than five years as one of the preeminent figures of the movement, leading sit–in protests and fighting segregation on interstate busways as an original Freedom Rider. It was after becoming chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and being the youngest speaker at the March on Washington. It was after helping organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer and the ensuing delegate challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. And after coleading the march from Selma to Montgomery on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” All too often, the depiction of history ends with a great victory. But John Lewis knew that victories are just the beginning. In Run: Book One, John Lewis and longtime collaborator Andrew Aydin reteam with Nate Powell—the award–winning illustrator of the March trilogy—and are joined by L. Fury—making an astonishing graphic novel debut—to tell this often overlooked chapter of civil rights history.

Book Trailer

About the Authors

Congressman John Lewis (1940–2020) was one of the “Big Six” leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington and was the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic memoir series March. Together with Hosea Williams, another notable civil rights leader, John Lewis led over six hundred peaceful, orderly protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1986 and represented Georgia’s fifth district until his passing in 2020. In 2011, Lewis was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Lewis’s 1998 memoir, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement, won numerous honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy, Lillian Smith, and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. His subsequent book, Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change (2012), won the NAACP Image Award.

Andrew Aydin is an award-winning writer and Artist-in-Residence at the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) at Georgia State University. He was the Digital Director and Policy Advisor to the late Georgia congressman John Lewis, and his co-author for March. Visit andrewaydin.com for more information.

Nate Powell is a New York Times bestselling, award-winning graphic novelist; his work includes the March trilogy, Rick Riordan’s The Lost Hero, and Save It for Later. Powell is the first and only cartoonist ever to win the National Book Award.

L. Fury is a lifelong resident of Houston, Texas. After a stint in the gaming industry and then marketing, she shifted her sights to long-form comics, illustrating the unreleased Double Barrel ShogunRun is Fury’s first graphic novel.

Praise

SIX STARRED REVIEWS!

★ “Extensive biographical, reference, and artistic notes in the back matter will illuminate casual and student readers alike. Just as powerful as the ‘March’ trilogy, this paean to ‘nonviolent soldiers’ is principled, tragic, and stirring.” School Library Journal

Run puts down a clear marker for future historians that is both true to Lewis’s vision and meticulously researched. Run… shows the experience of Aydin and his team as visual storytellers and the strength of Abrams ComicArts as a “comics-native” literary imprint in supporting this kind of work.” Forbes

“Many of the moments in Run speak to related struggles today… Lewis wanted the lessons of the movement to outlive him.” The Washington Post

“There’s a timeliness to Run, a reminder that the efforts to keep prospective voters from casting their ballots that are so much in the headlines these days are nothing new. It turns out the animus that drives so much of our nation’s history is well suited to this form.” The New York Times

★ “Run is another indispensable chronicle of the life and work of one of 20th-century America’s most exceptional figures, but it’s also a mission statement for the work yet to come.” Bookpage, Starred Review

★ “As informative and essential an addition to the nonfiction comic canon as its much-lauded predecessors.” The Horn Book, Starred Review

★ “Lewis’s stunning American story and legacy lives on in these pages.” Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

★ “This will speak powerfully to anyone trying to make sense of their own values in the face of wider movements and calls to action.” Booklist, Starred Review

"The legacy of civil rights icon John Lewis lives on in Run: Book One." TIME

★ "An intimate, powerfully revealing look at a crucial, complex time, through the eyes of a true American hero." Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Virtual Events

July 24 at 4pm EST
Comic-Con@Home panel
First You March, Then You Run
Celebrating Congressman John Lewis’ Legacy
To watch, click here.

August 3 at 7pm EST
Politics and Prose
Washington, D.C.
For tickets, click here.

August 5 at 7pm EST
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
Atlanta, GA
For more information, click here.

August 9 at 5pm EST
Browseabout Books
Rehoboth Beach, DE
To register, click here.

August 10 at 7pm EST
Harvard Bookstore
Cambridge, MA
For more information, click here.

August 16 at 4pm PST
Bookshop Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA
To register, click here.

August 18 at 7pm EST
Blue Willow Bookshop
Houston, TX
To register, click here.

August 19 at 7pm EST
Buffalo Street Books
Ithaca, NY
To register, click here.

Download the Teaching Guide for RUN