The March Trilogy: A Visual Analysis Of The March Trilogy

Visual Analysis of the March Trilogy
Literature and visual art are very similar; both are creative outlets for self-expression. Both can be very literal in meaning or leave it up to the audience to search for something more. When you combine the two together, you get a comic book or a graphic novel. Illustrator Nate Powell and writer Andrew Aydin teamed up with Congressman John Lewis to tell the story of his fight during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in the March trilogy. While these novels are filled with several pages, most are covered with panels of artwork instead of the typical lines of text. Despite the minimal amount of text, the March trilogy is a complex series of books that takes some time to fully understand because of the graphic novel aspect. This is shown by using different shading techniques and changes in font.
Powell

illustrated the books in black and white and the contrast in value sets the mood for readers. For example, in book two, a black farmer named Herbert Lee was shot by a white man. The page is divided by color, black where Lee is shot, and white for the rest of the page (see figure 1). The usage of black visually shows the reader that this is one of John Lewis’ memories; it’s usage implies that Lewis perceives the murder as a dirty, malicious act. Jennifer Bourn, creative director of Bourn Creative, claims “black is the symbol of grief… [it is] the color of mourning, death, and sadness.” (Bourn). For grey, Bourn claims the color is “a moody color” that can represent dinginess, loss and depression (Bourn). Across all art mediums, the archetypes for these two colors stand true, and this is no different for this visual representation of Herbert Lees’ death. But darker shades don’t always have that negative connotation previously mentioned. For example, the page addressing MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” doesn’t give across an ominous vibe, rather, it displays power. The focus of the page is Dr. King himself, whom is standing before his cellmate with confidence (see figure 2). The amount of black used for this page is the manifestation of King’s seriousness, formality and strength throughout his address in the letter. Jennifer Bourn mentions that black is also used for the “good guys” in story to shroud them with mystery (Bourn). The usage of black backgrounds rather than white was a bold, yet effective move on Powell’s part.
Changes in font appear in the book not only to show what is being said, but the manner it is being delivered in. Book two begins with John Lewis and his SNCC colleagues sitting in a restaurant to peacefully protest for desegregation. Because the white owners felt gutsy, they locked in the protesters and began fumigating them with pesticide. Like the pages aforementioned, the entire page is black and accompanied by white text. But the text is small; Lewis’ thoughts are written over the black page while speech is inside of text bubbles (see figure 3). Perhaps the lettering size shows that it was hard for Lewis and his friends to speak in the room as they were trying not to breathe in the fumes. While small text provides a sense of an “inside voice” level, large text allows the audience to hear dialogue from across a room. Whenever songs are sung, they either sit in thick banners that swoop across the page or in large speech bubbles. The lettering is at least two times larger than the rest of the text. Songs written in the banners are much larger than those in the speech bubbles. Aretha Franklin singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” at Obama’s inauguration is one example. When she is singing the song during Obama’s inauguration, the banner begins at the bottom of one page swooping from left to right, and continuing to flow over onto the next few pages in giant, bold letters (see figure 4). The boldness of the song’s text size shows the absolute power Aretha Franklin put into the song. The lyrics are accompanied by pictures from the 1960’s, all of them portraying the violence African Americans had to experience before the day they could see a black man in the oval office.
Speech bubbles were also altered throughout March as an easier way to interpret what a character’s words came out like. Book one begins with a scene of the march that occurred in Selma, Alabama on Edmund Pettus Bridge. Riot officers speak to protesters through a bullhorn; their words are shown in capital letters inside of a sharp bubble (see figure 5). The bubbles display the aggression coming from the officers towards the protesters, despite the peacefulness of their march. It helps readers understand that police brutality is something African American’s have been facing for years now. An iconic text bubble is shown when John Lewis is recalling SNCC’s two-year anniversary. SNCC was a large movement, but people like Stokely Carmichael began to argue that nonviolence was not a great way to protest. Jim Lawson, founder of SNCC, was not invited to the meeting held because most supporters began to believe the idea that nonviolence was ineffective. People began to question the legitimacy of SNCC as a multiracial organization, which was placed inside of a fist hitting John Lewis’ face (see figure 6). The reason for placing these words inside of a fist show that people doubting Lewis’ beliefs hurt him. It was like telling him that everything he and his friends spent the previous two years fighting for were in vain.
Powell also changed the art style to have that same punch-to-the-face impact on readers.

In book two, there is an image that represents a poster for the civil rights movement; it is drawn in traditional realism, using light crosshatching for shading. There are little to no lines around each person, in contrast to the artwork in the rest of the book that uses bold lines with shading like what one would see done with watercolors. On the actual poster, “come let us build a new world together” stretches across the feet of the protesters (see figure 7). Lewis states “That picture became probably the most popular poster of the movement” (Lewis and Aydin: Vol. 2, 120). I agree with him; the picture is important for the Civil Rights Movement. The protesters are kneeled peacefully, appearing almost as if in prayer. By drawing the image in a softer, realistic style, readers realize the importance of the image. Anytime Lewis recalls a news report on the tv, the artwork is changed to that pencil-like style. The changes in artistic styles were effective in leaving his audience with an impression of the importance specific images

had.
The visual aspects of the March trilogy add the intricacy classic novels contain without the lines of text. Nate Powell and Andrew Aydin make a great team, both complimenting one another’s contributions to the books. Even beyond graphic novels, other visual art mediums can incorporate literature to really give the audience an unforgettable experience.