MARCH artwork exhibit at Billy Ireland Museum! Creators' visit to Ohio State University!

Two exciting developments in Columbus, OH:

* I'll have a bunch of original artwork-- from March books One and Two as well as The Silence Of Our Friends-- as a part of The Long March: Civil Rights In Cartoons And Comics exhibit at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (the world's largest collection of original comic book art!). The exhibit opens on Saturday, August 16th, and runs until November 30th. I'll be at the opening, and will be doing a book signing during the day. This exhibit will be alongside a massive retrospective of comics legend Will Eisner's work-- not to be missed!

* Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and I will all be visiting the Ohio State University campus (including the Billy Ireland Museum) for a series of events on Monday, September 15th! A number of events, signings, and speaking engagements are planned-- details soon.

MARCH: BOOK ONE nominated for 3 Harvey Awards!

I'm honored to hear that March: Book One has been nominated for 3 Harvey Awards: Best Artist, Best Graphic Novel, and Best Biographical/Historical Presentation! 

The ballot is here-- I'm proud to be considered amongst so many phenomenal cartoonists.

MARCH: BOOK TWO cover revealed!

I'm pleased to announce that we've unveiled the cover of March: Book Two! This continues the memoir trilogy of Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, moving from the stand-in protests of Nashville in 1961, through the Freedom Rides, imprisonment at Parchman Farm, the Children's Crusade in Birmingham, the evolution of SNCC, and the historic March On Washington in 1963.

Amazingly enough, the cover was revealed on CNN, previewing a segment set to air on July 20th. More info on that full program in the next few days.

March: Book Two is co-written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, drawn and co-edited by me, and will be released in early 2015 from Top Shelf.

March: Book One recently won a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award, and is nominated for 3 Eisner Awards to be determined at next week's San Diego Comic-Con! It's on the school curriculum in over 30 states, and will be read by over 15,000 incoming freshmen at 3 major universities (so far) next month. Exciting to be a part of this journey!

MARCH: BOOK ONE receives a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award!

I'm deeply honored that tonight March: Book One will be receiving a Robert F. Kennedy Special Recognition Book Award-- a few days ago Ethel Kennedy herself cold-called me to deliver the good news, and then we discussed John Lewis' dancing skills for many minutes. A delightful woman, and an extreme honor!

Here's Top Shelf's official press release about the great news.

Here's today's Washington Post piece on our recognition.

My collaborators Congressman Lewis and Andrew Aydin will be at the ceremony to receive the award-- alas, the only reason I can't be there is because SOMEbody's gotta draw Book Two, out in January!

Back to the drawing table, TCB'in.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival this weekend!

I'll be in Toronto for TCAF this weekend (May 10-11), signing books at the Top Shelf booth (#228-230; on the 2nd floor, straight back as you enter the big exhibitors' room).

I'll also be a part of this panel on Sunday afternoon:

History/Nonfiction Comics
12:15-1:15pm, at Marriott 100
It could be argued that contemporary graphic novels broken into the mainstream literary world thanks to their unique ability to vividly recount the best and the worst of the human experience through autobiography, memoir, and history. Join moderator Brigid Alverson (Comic Book Resources) as she interviews some of the top contributors to the genre, including Nick Abadzis (The Cigar that Fell in Love with a Pipe), Meags Fitzgerald (Photobooth: A Biography), Nate Powell (March), Diana Tamblyn (Gerald Bull and the Supergun) and Nick Bertozzi (Lewis and Clark), and Tyrell Cannon (Victus). Discover how to consider, collect, and curate real-life tales of times past to make them new again!

See you there!

Team MARCH in Little Rock for Arkansas Literary Festival next weekend!

I'll be returning to my beloved hometown April 25th-27th for the Arkansas Literary Festival, along with collaborators John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, to discuss our graphic novel trilogy March. Here are two scheduled events:

* Saturday, April 26th: "Illustration" panel discussion with Kadir Nelson and Colleen Doran. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 4:00 pm.

* Sunday, April 27th: "March: Book One" presentation and panel discussion with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 1:30 pm. (Space will fill quickly-- get there early!)

I'm pretty sure both events will have signings immediately afterward.

I'll also be in Fayetteville, AR the following weekend on May 3rd, doing a presentation, Q&A, and signing at the public library-- more on that in the coming days!

MARCH nominated for 3 Eisner Awards!

I'm honored to find that March: Book One, my collaboration with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, has been nominated for three Eisner Awards: Best Reality-Based Work, Best Publication For Teens, and Best Penciller/Inker!

This year's list has a really solid line-up of nominees-- congratulations to all my other comics homies including Cecil Castellucci, Becky Cloonan, Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder, Jeffrey Brown, Ed Piskor, Zander Cannon, Faith Erin Hicks, Luke Pearson, Gene Yang, Paul Pope, Sheila Keenan, Nathan Fox, Ben Katchor, Jeff Smith, Judith Vanistendael, and lots more! The winners will be announced at a ceremony this July at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

The complete list can be viewed here.

Judith Vanistendael

MARCH is a Glyph Award nominee!

I'm honored to hear that March: Book One has been nominated for the 2014 Glyph Comics Award, recognizing "the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year"!

The winner will be announced next month at the East Coast Black Age Of Comics convention in Philadelphia. 

March has also been recognized as a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, YALSA's Top 10 Great Graphic Novels For Teens, YALSA's Outstanding Books For The College Bound, and has currently spent 29 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Top Shelf graphic novels now available as DRM-free digital!

My incredible publisher Top Shelf announced yesterday that it's launched a wave of direct DRM-free digital versions of graphic novels. Here's their press release!

My books Swallow Me Whole and March: Book One are in this first wave of releases. In addition, they're doing a super cheap print-and-digital bundle direct from their site. The digital version of March is only $1.99 in a bundle with the print edition, and Swallow Me Whole is only $2.99.

MARCH picked for YALSA's College-Bound essentials list!

March: Book One just got another YALSA recognition: it's been selected for a five-year stint on their Outstanding Books for the College Bound-- History and Cultures list! Major score!

(it may be noted that March replaced both Maus and Persepolis on this list.)

MARCH: BOOK ONE is a Top Ten YALSA pick!

March: Book One has been selected as one of YALSA's Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens, alongside great books by other comics friends (particularly the ingenious MIND MGMT by Matt Kindt)!

SWALLOW ME WHOLE new printing in April!

Swallow Me Whole is officially off to the printer, and will be back in its 3rd printing this April (along with new printings of From Hell and Blankets)! Here's the press release from Top Shelf.

MARCH is a Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book and GEM Award Winner!

I'm honored to hear that March: Book One is a Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book! In addition, it's been picked as Diamond's GEM Award winner for Best Indie Graphic Novel of 2013!

January 2014-- recap of press and new releases!

Happy New Year! It's been a bit, so here are some of the recent goings-on:

* The French edition of March: Book One is out now-- it's titled Wake Up America: 1940-1960, and is published by Rue De Sevres. 

* An Italian edition of Sounds Of Your Name will be out in early spring, titled Condizioni and published by Edizioni BD's Psychopop imprint. More info soon!

* I'm currently drawing a horror comic with acclaimed writer Scott Snyder (The Wake, American Vampire, Batman, Superman: Unchained) for the In The Dark anthology hardcover, edited by Rachel Deering. It'll be available in April via IDW Publishing!

* Here's a new interview I did with Bloomington's own WFHB a couple of weeks ago, discussing March and other books, punk, scamming photocopies in the 1990's, working for folks with disabilities, and other topics.

* I'm proud to announce that March: Book One made Comic Book Resources' #3 book of 2013, several best-of-year lists at Comicosity, and #3 of 2013 at Mental Floss! In addition, the collaborative team of John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and I made "Comics Team Of The Year" over at Comics Beat. Thanks so much!

* I'm about 25 pages away from finishing work on Rick Riordan's Heroes Of Olympus: The Lost Hero (with writer/adapter Robert Venditti and colorist Orpheus Collar). That'll be out in October from Hyperion Books!

* I'm also finishing up work on You Don't Say, which collects all my out-of-print, unpublished, and new short comics stories from 2004-2013. It should be out in late 2014 from Top Shelf! More info soon.

End-of-year interview up at Comics Reporter

I did a long end-of-year phone interview with Tom Spurgeon for Comics Reporter-- check it out here.

Happy New Year to all creatures!

More MARCH in best-of-year lists.

March: Book One has landed in School Library Journal's Best Graphic Novels of 2013 list, Horn Book's Best of 2013, Slate's Best Books (of any kind) of 2013, and MTV Act's Holiday Gift Guide. Score!

Paste's Best Comics Artists of 2013 + MARCH in Congress!

I'm honored to've been included in Paste magazine's Best Comics Artists of 2013, alongside some of my very favorites including Dash Shaw, Paul Pope, Fiona Staples, David Aja, and Mike Allred!

Another news item: Top Shelf has given digital copies of March: Book One to every single member of Congress, along with a digital version of Martin Luther King, Jr. And The Montgomery Story!

Miami Book Fair this weekend!

If you're in Florida, come down to the Miami Book Fair International this weekend-- I'll be doing the following presentations and signings:

Friday, Nov. 22nd: presentation with John Lewis & Andrew Aydin. 6:00 pm in the Chapman Building (Building 3, 2nd Floor, Room 3210). Signing immediately afterward.

Saturday, Nov. 23rd:  "Crime And Consequence" with Matt Kindt (discussing Red Handed and his other fine books) and I (discussing Any Empire, The Silence Of Our Friends, and March). 12:00 pm in the Centre Gallery (Building 1, 3rd Floor, Room 1365). Signing immediately afterward.

Saturday, Nov. 23rd: Signing at Tate's Comics booth, 1:30-2:30 pm.

see you there!

Andrew Aydin & Chris Staros on MARCH!

Here's a great new 6-minute feature with co-writer Andrew Aydin and publisher/editor Chris Staros discussing the origins of March as a comics project.

NYC signing tomorrow + appearance on Rachel Maddow!

If you're in the New York City area, I'll be signing copies of March with my collaborators John Lewis and Andrew Aydin-- we'll be at the DOWNTOWN branch of Midtown Comics (64 Fulton St.) from 6-7 pm. See you there!

That evening, we'll all be guests on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC at 9pm EST to discuss March. This is a very exciting moment for comics, and I'm honored to be a part of it. Tune in if you can, and spread the word!