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Six-time NBA champion.

Six-time NBA overall MVP.

19-time member of the NBA's All-Star team.

And for nearly 40 years, he held the record as the NBA's all-time top scorer - beating out the likes of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal.

This kind of record might make Kareem Abdul-Jabbar seem like a superhero... and perhaps he is. Either way, he's getting his own comic like any superhero would. And Kareem is writing it himself.

Abdul-Jabbar has partnered with the booktrade giant Penguin Random House through its Ten Speed Press imprint for an autobiographical story-wthin-a-story about his younger years, told as an original YA graphic novel. Champion: A Graphic Novel pairs Abdul-Jabbar with his longtime collaborator Raymond Obstfeld and artist Ed Laroche to tell his origin story, going all the way back to the parochial high school Power Memorial in New York City. It tells his story on the court and in the bleachers, as well as his own growth in understanding and advocacy of social justice.

"I was inspired to write my own comic because the comic book universe is unlike any other," Abdul-Jabbar said about comics in 2016. "A movie pushed you along at its pace, a novel lets you read leisurely at your own pace. But the comic is the best of both worlds. The art adds urgency while the words add appeal to the mind. Plus, comics have no limitations when it comes to the imagination."

For those that might be just saying this is the latest in a line of celebrities 'writing' comics, Abdul-Jabbar has a long history with writing and comics. He's co-written a trilogy of books following the Sherlock Holmes side character Mycroft Holmes, which were later turned into comics. He made his Marvel debut in 2019, writing a story in the Marvel Comics #1000 anthology. And he's been reading comics longer than most of us.

"When I was growing up, I started with the usual suspects: Batman, Superman, Green Arrow and the other DC heroes. But suddenly the Marvel universe was born and that changed everything," said the writer. "Spider-Man was a teenager with the same problems I had: shy, bookish, trying to fit in. When he put on his costume, he was a whole other person. That’s how I felt when I put on my basketball uniform. Suddenly, I was confident, athletic, in control. The rest of the Marvel heroes had to balance their hero work with their personal problems, just like average people, and that made them more relatable and interesting. I also liked R. Crumb’s comics because they were so irreverent and grotesque, coming across as satiric and dark autobiography."

Champion: A Graphic Novel goes on sale September 2.

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.