Run Book One is an easier read than the March trilogy by the same team of John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell, and L. Fury. However, there are pages that are terribly crowded with text that covers the illustrations and can make it difficult to read at times. For me, the combination of the black and white illustrations and this crowded information makes everything blur together. Along with a physically dark format (the black colors can be solid), sometimes I lost the message being told.
In Run we continue the Civil Rights movement and of John Lewis participation with voter rights. History has repeated itself recently, so much of the information will seem (sadly) familiar. But you will also see the historical changes as well. The “Old Guard” (Dr. King) is fading out. The “Middle Guard” (John Lewis) is being pushed aside by the “Young Guard” (Black Panthers, Black Power). And this younger generation is making their mark by taking the militant approach.
We see people you might know, and new names (possibly such as Fannie Lou Hamer, which I just read about in another book on civil rights/women’s rights). The March Trilogy and Run (hopefully a trilogy, after Lewis’ death I’m not sure where the other books are) will probably become the MAUS of Civil Rights era.
The last pages have Lewis leaving one chapter of his life and moving on. This shutting of that door allows for that part of his life to be filed, but not closed. It allows for you to move onto the next part of Lewis and his journey.
This is a teen to adult graphic novel. The younger reader (10 and up) could read, and the shortness does help keep you reading (or at least it did for me), but it still might not have enough “action” to keep some young or reluctant readers attention.