Run: Book One – John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

Picking up where the celebrated “March” trilogy concluded, “Run” spotlights the turbulent period following the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Published posthumously after Congressman John Lewis’s death, this graphic novel serves as both a continuation of civil rights history and an autobiography of sorts.

Familiarity with the “March” series is essential, as “Run” builds on its historical context, showing that landmark equal rights victories were not the end of the struggle, but the beginning of a new chapter marked by violence, division and uncertainty. 

Federal laws, while pivotal, did little to quell the systemic injustices and unrest gripping the nation, especially in the South. Once again, the authors skillfully balance large-scale events — like the Watts Riots, which left 34 dead in Los Angeles — with quieter, often overlooked stories: the forgotten victims of KKK violence, and the people who worked tirelessly for equality behind the scenes.

Unlike the streamlined focus of “March,” this takes a broader approach, focusing heavily on the internal struggles within the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). These include debates over desegregation of membership, leadership conflicts and tensions with figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson. 

While highlighting the complexity and fragmentation within the movement — emphasizing that even among those fighting for the same cause, unity was not always guaranteed — I found myself less enthralled with these digressions this time around.

It’s one reason this new series struggles to find narrative momentum. The book itself spans just over 100 pages of story, with the remaining 50-pages dedicated to an appendix of names and sources. 

This meticulous documentation reflects the authors’ dedication to accuracy, but it left the text feeling slight and incomplete. But in fairness, this echoed my reaction to “March: Book One:” solid, but lacking the fully realized vision achieved in later entries.

This all may stem from the circumstances of its creation. Knowing that Congressman Lewis was ill as the project neared completion, one can imagine there was pressure to finalize it rather than polish it.

Despite its imperfections — and some of it is nitpicking because this is a series so the bar is high — “Run” remains an accessible and important record of a critical period in American history. 

While “Run” may not yet match the polish of “March,” it lays a promising foundation for future installments. For now, it earns a place on my shelf as a testament to Lewis’s legacy and a reminder that the fight for equality – though officially decades past – continues to reverberate today.

Rating (story): 3.5/5 stars

Rating (narration): N/A

Format: Hardcover (personal library)

Dates read: January 18 – January 20, 2025

Multi-tasking: N/A