Lewis’ ‘March’ becomes nonfiction bestseller in wake of New York Times list shakeup

Rep. John Lewis’s civil-rights trilogy has hit another milestone.

More than three years after its release, “March: Book One” becomes the first graphic novel to crack the main New York Times bestseller lists since the paper made the controversial decision last month to end its graphic books lists.

The first volume in Lewis’ memoir, co-authored by Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, clocks in at No. 9 on the Paperback Nonfiction list for next week — in the company of Alexander Hamilton, Elon Musk and “Hidden Figures.”

“March’s” appearance on the list is significant in part because after the Times created separate Graphic Books lists in 2009, comics were ineligible for its main lists.

Now, with the Times’s raised bar, the lists symbolically reinforce the fact that the best graphics works stand shoulder to shoulder with prose books in every arena, including sales.

“March: Book Three” was a National Book Award winner last year — the first comics work to receive the honor. Last month, the book received four ALA awards.

Sales of “March” spiked last month after President Donald Trump responded to Rep. Lewis, D-Ga., via Twitter, after Lewis rejected the legitimacy of Trump’s victory in light of concerns about Russian interference in the election.