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You’ll always find the most incredible art in times of great tyranny. I firmly believe this as someone who reads and creates that art. And it’s in times like these that I turn to my old friends, comics and graphic novels about social justice. There’s extra power when those important messages come with pictures and in seeing multiple artists collaborate to create something greater than the sum of their parts.
In the last decade, we’ve seen an uptick in these graphic novels about social justice. This is partly due to political turmoil in the world, of course. It’s also due to more publishers getting into the graphic novel trade space and looking for standalone stories to put in bookstores.
When putting together this list of graphic novels about social justice, the biggest challenge was narrowing it down. My initial list had over 30 titles, and I had to whittle it down to a powerful and representative eight. Here you’ll find stories of immigration, racial violence, and oppression. You’ll also find hope in these books: the hope that we can truly make a difference if we stand up and fight.
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ko Hyung-Ju, Ryan Estrada
This graphic autobiography is about Kim Hyun Sook’s college years studying literature in South Korea during the reign of the Fifth Republic. Books were banned. People were disappeared. Suddenly, reading became an act of rebellion, and an invitation to a book club was a secret, underground activity of great resistance.
Displacement by Kiku Hughes
This historical graphic novel about social justice gives all kinds of Kindred vibes. It’s about Kiku, a young woman who is suddenly plunged backward in time. She finds herself in a 1940s Japanese internment camp in America, reliving terrible experiences alongside her young grandmother in one of America’s darkest moments.
I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina, John Jennings, Stacey Robinson
This one is rough and so well done. Alfonso Jones is a fun-loving Black kid, preparing to perform in his school’s hip-hop version of Hamlet. But one day, police gun him down, killing him when they mistook a clothes hanger for a gun in the hands of a Black boy. This book alternates between Alfonso’s afterlife on a ghost train full of victims like himself and the living world, mourning a young life taken far too soon.
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
This might be the greatest graphic novel about social justice ever. The three books of March tell the life story of Congressman John Lewis, who coined the phrase “Get in good trouble.” Lewis’s life is the story of the American Civil Rights movement, which is still under threat. This is a must-read for everyone.
Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney, Robyn Smith
Here’s a twist for this list: it’s a book set in the DC Comics Universe. Nubia has always been different, displaying heroic strength even as a child. But even in a universe filled with superheroes, no matter what Nubia does, she’s always seen as a threat. The world has no room for strong Black women, let alone when they’re super strong. But when Nubia’s best friend is threatened, Nubia will risk everything to be the hero her neighborhood needs.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
This is another classic graphic novel about social justice. This coming-of-age work tells Satrapi’s own story of life in Tehran during great upheaval. From the ages of 6 to 14, Satrapi saw the fall of a regime, the Islamic Revolution, and then the Iraq War. Her depiction of a struggle for a normal childhood as the world turns upside down is powerful and so real in these pages.
Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan, Niko Henrichon
This unique book tells the story of the horrors of the Iraq War through an unusual lens: the anthropomorphized eyes of a pride of lions who escape the zoo during a bombing. Not only are the horrors of war examined, but questions of self-determination and confinement arise, particularly as these once-captive lions now face their perilous freedom.
When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed
This middle grade comic is about the life of a Somali boy named Omar who fled his war-torn country in 1991 with his developmentally disabled little brother Hassan. Together, they settled in a refugee camp in Kenya. This graphic novel is a story of loss but also the hope and joy that can come in even the depths of times and settings.
Can’t get enough social justice or social resistance in your reading life? We’ve got plenty of other books on social resistance for you.
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
This week, we’re highlighting a post that asks: Are reading parties the next big thing? People—especially readers—are clearly looking for community. Are reading parties the answer? Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
Reading communities are everywhere online. From Storygraph to Fable to BookTube to BookTok, the growth of online reading buddies feels exponential. The problem with social media as it exists online, however, is that it’s a stand-in for the true connections we all seek over the things we love. As much as reading roundups and reading tracking can be fun, meeting up with in-person book lovers is a great book lover community event. With that in mind, reading parties could be the next big thing.
A reading party is distinct from a book club because everyone shows up to read instead of having read something to discuss. At a reading party, you can make time to discuss what you are reading, but it doesn’t all need to be the same book. It’s more of a reading vibe check than a book discussion.
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