These are just a FEW more of the many history and civics-themed comics and graphic novels we love ... it is in NO WAY a definitive list, and we will continue to add new titles here. YOU can be a part of that effort by sending us YOUR faves! What did we miss? What should we add? Fill out this simple Google Form and help us co-create a better list!

Civics/Government

Drawing the Vote: A Graphic Novel History for Future Voters by Tommy Jenkins

• This graphic novel looks at the history of voting rights in the United States

Why The People: The Case of Democracy by Beka Feathers 

• This graphic novel discusses democracy and how people play a role in maintaining it.

Fault Line in the Constitution: The Graphic Novel: The Framers, Their Fights and the Flaws that affect us today by Cynthia Levinson 

• This graphic novel looks at the Constitution, the issues that the Constitution presents, and how to fix those issues. 

American History 

In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 attacks by Don Brown

• This graphic novel discusses the aftermath of September 11th. 

Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf

• This graphic novel discusses when the Ohio National Guard gunned down unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War. 

Red Scare by Liam Francis Walsh

• This graphic novel details growing up during the Red Scare and living with the rumors of communist spies.

Passport by Sophia Glock 

• This graphic novel details the life of Sophia Glock and her life growing up abroad as her family works for the CIA, most of which was in Central America 

Battle Lines by Ari Kelman

• This graphic history captures human stories of the Civil War, gorgeously drawn and expertly told in a series of graphic newspaper excerpts. Check out the integration of Matthew Brady's original Civil War photography.

World History 

Irena. Book One, Wartime Ghetto by Jean David Morvan

• This graphic novel focuses on a social worker in the Warsaw ghetto in the early days of German occupation and how she saves Jewish children by smuggling them out.

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson- 

• This graphic novel is a memoir of living in a refugee camp after soldiers attack the author's village in Somalia. 

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown

• This graphic novel is a look at the Syrian Refugee Crisis. 

Black History 

Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith. 

• This graphic memoir is the story of Tommie Smith, who, in 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, protested racial injustices against African Americans. 

Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre by Alverne Ball 

• This graphic novel discusses a time of both prosperity and horrendous violence for Black Americans. Detailed timelines and essays for today's learner are included. 

The Murder of Emmett Till by Karlos Hill 

• This graphic novel discusses the murder of Emmett Till and the events before and after. 

Run: Book One and Run: Book Two by John Lewis 

• Run Book One and Book Two discuss the life of Congressman John Lewis and his fight for civil rights. 

Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow by James Sturm  

• This graphic novel discusses the career of Negro League Baseball pitcher Satchel Paige.

Women's History 

Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Ari Folman  

• This authorized graphic biography of Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl introduces a new generation of young readers to this classic of Holocaust literature. This adaptation of Anne Frank's diary for young readers preserves the integrity and power of the original work.

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Bagieu, Pénélope

• First appearing as a comic strip in the French daily Le Monde, this volume features 29 women whose histories span time, geography, and circumstance.

Indigenous Peoples' History 

Ghost River: The Fall and Rise of the Conestoga by Lee Francis  

• This open-source digital graphic novel was part of Redrawing History: Indigenous Perspectives on Colonial America, supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Braiding Sweetgrass, YA Edition by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Monique Gray Smith

• This YA (Young Adult) adaptation of Kimmerer's text reinforces how wider historical and ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth's oldest teachers: the plants around us.

Asian American History 

Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American  

• This graphic memoir recounts growing up as a young Chinese immigrant in a small town in Texas, including cultural and social adaptations and racial discrimination. 

The American Dream? A Journey of Route 66 by Shing Yin Khor 

• This graphic memoir has Shing Tun Khor discussing growing up in Malaysia, what she thought America meant, seeing what it really seems like, embarking on a road trip across the United States, and pursuing the American dream.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

• In this graphic memoir, George Takei recounts his childhood imprisoned in an American concentration camp for Japanese Americans during WWII. 

Holocaust/Genocide Education

10 Stages of Genocide Graphic Novels by the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum

• Dr. Gregory Stanton’s Ten Stages of Genocide is presented through graphic novels specifically created to align with the Museum’s Ten Stages of Genocide gallery. The graphic novels depict each stage through the lens of a different genocide.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

• A graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, originally serialized from 1980 to 1991, depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor.

LGBTQ+ History 

History Comics: The Stonewall Riots Making a Stand for LGBTQ Rights by Archie Bongiovanni

• Explore the Stonewall Riots firsthand and meet iconic activists protesting during the police raids that made the struggle for LGBTQ rights front-page news.

Climate Change/Environmental Justice

My Time Machine by Carol Lay

• A new spin on H.G. Wells! My Time Machine takes the Time Traveler story and spins it around current issues such as climate change, authoritarianism, and the loss of the world we knew.

The Rime of the Modern Mariner by Nick Hayes

• A timely update on the classic Coleridge poem, asks "Is it possible to update a masterpiece?" Only, perhaps, with a brand-new masterpiece. Written in 1797, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was the original eco-fable. Drawn in 2010, The Rime of the Modern Mariner is a graphic novel, now set in the cesspool of the North Atlantic Garbage Patch.

Fair Housing/ Economic Justice

Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation by Bryan Caplan

• Economist Bryan Caplan examines how changes to housing regulations can lead us to a better world. Caplan makes the economic and philosophical case for radical de-regulation of this massive market―freeing property owners to build as tall and dense as they wish, in an effort to create more affordable options.

 We Live Here Detroit Eviction Defense and the Battle for Housing Justice by Jeffrey Wilson and Bambi Kramer

• This graphic biography of the members of the local activist group Detroit Eviction Defense shares their experiences combating—and beating—calls for their eviction.