Civil rights icon leads march through convention in San Diego

John Lewis headed a panel discussion about “March,” his trilogy of graphic novels.

SAND DIEGO» Civil rights leader John Lewis led a march through Comic-con on Saturday.

About 1,000 people joined the Georgia Democrat on a march through the crowded San Diego Convention Center following a panel discussion about his trilogy of graphic novels, “March.”

Some chanted “No justice, no peace” as the group wound its way past costumed characters and mystified conventioneers. Those who recognized the congressman stopped to greet him and shake his hand. One man confessed that he was near tears at the opportunity to meet someone so instrumental in the fight for social change.

“Thank you for all that you’ve done,” the man said.

Lewis was welcomed with a standing ovation when he and his co-authors, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, walked into the room for their presentation. Scores of elementary school students were seated in the front row.

In his commanding style, Lewis was almost like a preacher as he urged students to remain optimistic and to believe in their power to contribute.

“Dr. King inspired me to get in trouble: What I call good trouble, necessary trouble,” he told the audience. “Now more than ever before, we all need to get in trouble. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate to stand up, to speak up, to speak out and get in trouble.”

The “March” series tells the story of Lewis’ childhood and how he became an activist for civil rights. It details the movement’s non-violent protests, from sit-ins at lunch counters in the South and the bus boycott in the mid-1950s to the marches in Selma, Ala., and Washington, D.C.

The book is being used in schools across the country to teach young people about the history of civil rights, “March” editor Leigh Walton said. One woman who stopped Lewis to thank him for all he’s done said she teaches the books in her classes at University of California, San Diego.

Lewis hadn’t set out to become a comic-book hero, but he was receptive when Aydin, who worked on his campaign, approached him with the idea.

Lewis had told his young aide a story about a comic book he read in 1957 about the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Aydin ended up doing his graduate thesis on that publication. He thought his boss’ story could have the same power to inspire.

“I thought, ‘Why isn’t there a John Lewis comic book?’ ” Aydin said.

He interviewed Lewis for hours to create a manuscript of more than 600 pages, which illustrator Powell brought to life in images.