Muhammad Ali: The Greatest Comics Biography of All Time

Muhammad Ali: The Greatest Comics Biography of All Time Volume 1: Cassius Clay is a thoroughly researched, fact-based dramatization of the life and legacy of Muhammad Ali.  Volume 1 chronicles the period of his life that he was known as Cassius Clay. Beginning with his childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, it follows his early days as an up-and-coming contender and concludes shortly after his heavyweight title match against Sonny Liston in 1964.

Based on dozens of biographies, documentaries and articles, this comics biography is a thorough, factual account of Ali’s early life.   The goal of this book is to present Muhammad Ali’s life story and cultural significance in an engaging and accessible format.

This project began in 2016 with a 2-year research period, followed by many, many drafts of the script (and then more research and eventually, a final draft).  It became clear early in the process of researching Ali’s life that he was much more than a boxer.  He was a cultural icon, a champion of racial justice, a spiritual and political force, and one of the most charming, clever and charismatic people who ever lived.   He embodied different eras, travelled the world, impacted multiple generations and is as relevant today as ever.  As such, it also became clear that it would take a lot of pages of comics for this project to fulfill its goal of being as substantial and comprehensive as any written biography about Ali.  The final draft came in at just over 400 pages.  In order to make the project manageable, the book was split into 2 volumes: Volume 1 was roughly 150 pages and covered the years that he was known as Cassius Clay.  The script for volume 2 is around 250 pages long, beginning with him changing his name to Muhammad Ali and following his story up until his death in 2016.  The script for both volumes was completed in 2018.

As the illustrations for Volume 1 neared completion, the project was submitted to a number of publishers.  A few publishers expressed a desire to publish the book, but always as a single 400 page volume, not as 2 shorter books.  None of the publishers who wanted to release this book could offer enough of an advance to complete the project, which up until that point had been self-funded and supported by a Patreon campaign (as a side note, I began this project as a single guy living in an apartment. During the course of this project, I have gotten married and had 2 kids, which makes it much harder to justify spending my life savings on the creation of a graphic novel). This led to the decision to release the completed Volume 1 through Kickstarter.  This campaign’s goal is to produce a printed version of Volume 1, with a potential stretch goal of creating a pathway to completing Volume 2 so that the entire book can finally be released by a publisher.

Kickstarter.com

About Author