U.S. Rep. John Lewis is paying homage to a 1950s comic book in telling his life story in a graphic novel "March: Book One."

The Georgia Democrat says his discovery of the 1957 comic book "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story" propelled him into the civil rights movement and, ultimately, into Congress.

His book, published by Top Shelf, was released Tuesday. It was co-written by Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell.

Lewis says the first volume of the trilogy focuses on his early life through his first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., lunch counter sit-ins and civil rights protests in Nashville, Tenn.

Lewis was severely beaten while marching for voting rights during his years as a freedom rider and civil rights leader in the 1960s.

Tags: Civil Rights, John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Voting Rights, civil rights leaders, comic books, graphic novel march, graphic novel, march: book one