“Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common.” -- Satchel Paige

Baseball Hall-of-Famer Leroy “Satchel” Paige (1905?–1982) changed the face of the game in a career that spanned five decades. Much has been written about this larger-than-life pitcher, but when it comes to Paige, fact does not easily separate from fiction. He made a point of writing his own history . . . and then rewriting it. A tall, lanky fireballer, he was arguably the Negro Leagues’ hardest thrower, most entertaining storyteller, and greatest gate attraction. Now the Center for Cartoon Studies turns a graphic novelist’s eye to Paige’s story. Told from the point of view of a sharecropper, this compelling narrative follows Paige from game to game as he travels throughout the segregated South.

In stark prose and powerful graphics, author and artist share the story of a sports hero, role model, consummate showman, and era-defining American.

James Sturm’s graphic novel The Golem’s Mighty Swing was named Best Comic 2001 by Time magazine. In 2004, his Marvel Comics graphic novel Unstable Molecules won the prestigious Eisner Award. He is the cofounder and director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, America’s premier cartooning school, located in White River Junction, Vermont.

Rich Tommaso has been writing and drawing original comics and graphic novels for over ten years. He has worked for such publishers as Fantagraphics Books, Top Shelf Productions, Dark Horse Comics, Chronicle Books, and Alternative Comics. He has received accolades from many magazines and trade papers, including Publishers Weekly, Spin magazine, Wizard magazine, The Comic Book Galaxy, and The Comics Journal. Rich Tommaso lives in Vermont.

Visit the Center for Cartoon Studies website to find out more about Satchel Paige.