March: Book One debuted Tuesday from Top Shelf Productions, earning high praise and a lot of attention for Congressman John Lewis, co-author Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell. But last night the graphic novel garnered arguably the highest accolade of all: the coveted Colbert Bump.

Lewis, the civil-rights pioneer who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss the book, which chronicles his early life in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. and the Selma to Montgomery marches.

Host Stephen Colbert, in his inimitable style, asked the Congressman whether a graphic novel, "essentially a comic book," is "dignified enough for the Civil Rights Movement," before flashing an image of the influential 1958 comic Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story.

Asked whether he had bought a copy of that comic, Lewis replied,"Someone gave me a copy. I didn't have 10 cents. And I read it, and I re-read it, and this book inspired me when I went away to school in Nashville, Tennessee, and it inspired other young people."

"So you had this before you met Dr. King?" Colbert asked. "So this would be like meeting Superman to you."

You can watch the full interview below. For more on March, check out Lewis' recent interviews with CBR News and CBR TV.