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Congressman John Lewis tells Stephen Colbert: "For 53 years, I've been getting into trouble"

August 14, 2013

Congressman John Lewis on The Colbert Report

The long-awaited day is here! US Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis' first graphic novel with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, March: Book One, is in stores everywhere... even in e-book form.

MARCH: BOOK ONE on The Colbert Report

And what better way to launch than with a funny and inspirational interview with Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central's smash hit The Colbert Report?

Stephen Colbert with MARCH: BOOK ONE

The two legends discussed the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington (where John Lewis was the youngest person on stage and Stephen Colbert was the youngest fetus in the audience), as well as new challenges ahead for voting rights in America, and of course the new graphic novel trilogy March.

Congressman John Lewis and Stephen Colbert learn about the 1957 comic book Martin Luther King & the Montgomery Story

To Stephen's joke about a comic book cheapening the dignity of the civil rights movement, Congressman Lewis pointed out that a 1957 comic book, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, was a significant influence on his generation of activists, and is now an inspiration for March. "So meeting Dr. King was like meeting Superman!?" Hard to argue with that, Stephen.

Click here to watch the full episode, or after the jump, watch the two segments with Congressman Lewis!