Holy Jeez, what up with the Obama Comics?
May 14th, 2009

I was as excited as anyone to see Barack Obama move into the White House, but there is still a certain kind of suspicious that one has to be about elected leaders.  Blind faith and allegiance are never a good thing.  We must always maintain our critical eye.

With that in mind, what do you think about the current array of Obama comic books on offer?

His first comic book appearance was in a straight-up biography.

Before long, he was kicking ass alongside Erik Larsen’s The Savage Dragon.

Then he was hanging out with Spider-Man.

And now he’s a bona fide superhero in his own right, with two new series launching from Devil’s Due Publishing. One that takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland…

…and one where he has to lead humanity after an alien invasion.

What do you think? Do you think these kind of idealizations are a good thing for democracy? For people’s spirits? For comics publishers’ bottom line?

Tags: , , , , , ,

Share



.

You might also like

Super Obama
Yeah?...
 President-Elect Barack Obama
Good one, America.  President-Elect Barack Obama.  We're all very proud of you. First of all,...
 Is Barack Obama Helping Stephen Harper?
OK, so it's pretty well understood that Stephen Harper has called this Canadian election just to take...
 Watching Obama Mania on TV
I'm watching Obama-mania on the TV, as the Democratic National Convention wraps up with its big finale. ...
Grab this Widget
  • Interesting post. I have made a twitter post about this. Others no doubt will like it like I did.
  • Oh jeeze.. I just don't know.. I mean it's all fun and games when it's done with political figures we naturally don't like anyway. It should be give and take I guess. How is this different the your standard political cartoon in a newspaper?
    It's weird to see that's for sure.. and as for democracy? well this is what democracy is.
  • I am just concerned that this kind of thing could affect people's ability to maintain a critical eye. Blindly following Obama is potentially just as dangerous as blindly hating Bush. Being informed is key and I hope that people pay as much attention to the issues as they do to his adventures in comic books.
  • Personally, I think that the Barack the Barbarian comic looks disgusting (racist, sexist, and the like). It shows him as a primitive warrior, not presidential or intellectual. Just ridiculously strong and almost naked, with animal instincts. Don't even get me started on the "Screeching Enchantress". Barely-there bikini (I mean, it's what I always wear when I'm fighting for the death, but...), long blonde hair, cowering, mouth wide open for...well, you know.

    Comics like these are sick in general, and when you use our president as the lead character, it just makes him and us look bad. On the other hand, I love the bio-comics! I personally love reading (auto)biography comics, so to have one about Barack would be great! Plus it's a good way to get the TL;DR crowd in the know.
  • I predict a smacking of my forehead at the answer, but... TL;DR? Q'est-ce que c'est?
blog comments powered by Disqus