Save It for Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest

by Nate Powell, Nate Powell (Illustrator)

Overview

From Nate Powell, the National Book Award–winning artist of March, a collection of graphic nonfiction essays about living in a new era of necessary protest

In seven interwoven comics essays, author and graphic novelist Nate Powell addresses living in an era of what he calls “necessary protest.” Save It for Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest is Powell’s reflection on witnessing the collapse of discourse in real time while drawing the award-winning trilogy March, written by Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, this generation’s preeminent historical account of nonviolent revolution in the civil rights movement. Powell highlights both the danger of normalized paramilitary presence symbols in consumer pop culture, and the roles we play individually as we interact with our communities, families, and society at large.
Each essay tracks Powell’s journey from the night of the election—promising his four-year-old daughter that Trump will never win, to the reality of the authoritarian presidency, protesting the administration’s policies, and navigating the complications of teaching his children how to raise their own voices in a world that is becoming increasingly dangerous and more and more polarized. While six of the seven essays are new, unpublished work, Powell has also included “About Face,” a comics essay first published by Popula Online that swiftly went viral and inspired him to expand his work on Save It for Later. The seventh and final essay will contextualize the myriad events of 2020 with the previous four years—from the COVID-19 pandemic to global protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder to the 2020 presidential election itself—highlighting both the consistencies and inversions of widely shared experiences and observations amidst a massive social upheaval.
As Powell moves between subjective and objective experiences raising his children—depicted in their childhood innocence as imaginary anthropomorphic animals—he reveals the electrifying sense of trust and connection with neighbors and strangers in protest. He also explores how to equip young people with tools to best make their own noise as they grow up and help shape the direction and future of this country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419749124
Publisher:	Abrams ComicArts
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	1,195,692
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Nate Powell is a National Book Award–winning cartoonist who began self-publishing as an Arkansas teenager in 1992. His work includes Save It for Later; civil rights icon John Lewis’s March trilogy and its follow-up Run: Book One; Come Again; Two Dead; Any Empire; and Swallow Me Whole. Powell’s work has received four Eisner Awards, two Ignatz Awards, the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award, and multiple ALA and YALSA distinctions. He has discussed his work at the United Nations, on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, PBS, and CNN. As for his music career, Powell was introduced to the hardcore punk community in 1991, played over 500 shows across North America and Europe in various bands, including underground legends Soophie Nun Squad and Universe, and managed do-it-yourself label Harlan Records from 1994 to 2010. Learn more at www.nate-powell.com.


Nate Powell is a National Book Award–winning cartoonist who began self-publishing as an Arkansas teenager in 1992. His work includes Save It for Later; civil rights icon John Lewis’s March trilogy and its follow-up Run: Book One; Come Again; Two Dead; Any Empire; and Swallow Me Whole. Powell’s work has received four Eisner Awards, two Ignatz Awards, the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award, and multiple ALA and YALSA distinctions. He has discussed his work at the United Nations, on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, PBS, and CNN. As for his music career, Powell was introduced to the hardcore punk community in 1991, played over 500 shows across North America and Europe in various bands, including underground legends Soophie Nun Squad and Universe, and managed do-it-yourself label Harlan Records from 1994 to 2010. Learn more at www.nate-powell.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/15/2021

In a series of deeply felt comics essays, Powell (the March series) chronicles his efforts to maintain and pass on progressive political beliefs in a regressive political climate, effectively summing up the conflicts and battle scars of the Trump era for those shocked by his election. As the parent of two young daughters (presented here as anthropomorphized creatures, a fox-puppy-unicorn combo), Powell strives to teach them the value and importance of activism in the face of systemic racism, the threat of white supremacy, and the devastation wrought by Covid-19: “We all march now or else we’ll have no choice but to march later.” In “Promises” he recalls the pain of explaining to his daughter the election of Trump over Hillary Clinton, while in the powerful “About Face” he unpacks how various symbols—including the death head from the Punisher comic book series—have been coopted by right-wing militias as icons of intimidation. “Tornado Children,” meanwhile, captures the slow-motion grief of the Covid pandemic. Powell perfectly sums up his mission: “It is we, together, who will determine what kind of society our kids grow into, by what we each choose to do, or not do.” This sincere volume carries off parenting inspiration with gravitas. Agent: Charlie Olsen, InkWell Management. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

“Save It For Later explores the space where political life intersects with the personal.

The Beat

...much of this work feels like visual poetry…A virtuoso work of artistry with important content that might alienate some but powerfully stir others.

Booklist STARRED Review

Urgent and grittily rendered…”

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

While many graphic biographies and historical memoirs can feel inert, his dynamic line and talent for using the grammar of comics to shape drama and emotion, as well as action, are a standout… an absorbing reflection on intergenerational inheritance.”

The New York Times

Save it for Later confronts this political era.

The Arkansas Times Magazine

This is a gorgeously drawn, well articulated and powerful new work that you should all go read as soon as you can.

Comic Book Resources

[Powell] asks readers not to forget, not to look away, but to remember what we can achieve when we come together. Save it for Later argues for solidarity in family, community, and across the nation now and for the future.”

PopMatters

This sincere volume carries off parenting inspiration with gravitas.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED Review

“...much of this work feels like visual poetry…A virtuoso work of artistry with important content that might alienate some but powerfully stir others.”—Booklist STARRED Review

“[Powell] asks readers not to forget, not to look away, but to remember what we can achieve when we come together. Save it for Later argues for solidarity in family, community, and across the nation now and for the future.”

—PopMatters

“Save It For Later explores the space where political life intersects with the personal.”—The Beat

“Save it for Later confronts this political era.”—The Arkansas Times Magazine

“This is a gorgeously drawn, well articulated and powerful new work that you should all go read as soon as you can.”—Comic Book Resources

“While many graphic biographies and historical memoirs can feel inert, his dynamic line and talent for using the grammar of comics to shape drama and emotion, as well as action, are a standout… an absorbing reflection on intergenerational inheritance.”

—The New York Times

“Urgent and grittily rendered…”

—The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

From the Publisher