From The Amazing Spider-Man No. 583 Variant (January 2009)
Art by Phil Jimenez & Barry Kitson.

Barack Obama has appeared as a character in comic books published by a number of publishing companies, sometimes appearing as a realistic fictionalized version of himself and sometimes as a spoof.

Publication history

Obama made his first appearance as a comic book character in July 2007 in Licensable BearTM No. 4 by Nat Gertler and, where he appeared as a U.S. Senator. The comic only had a print-run of 1,050 issues. A year later, in September 2008, Obama appeared in Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon No. 137.[1] This issue featured a variant cover which showed Obama with the Savage Dragon, who proclaims that he is endorsing him for president.[2] The issue sold out four print runs.[1] A month later, the comic was followed up by Presidential Material: Barack Obama by Jeff Mariotte and in November 2008 with Obama: The Comic Book by Rod Espinosa.

In November 2008, two things led to an explosion in popularity of the Obama comic book character. One of Obama's advisers gave an interview to journalist Jon Swaine of The Daily Telegraph titled, "Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know." In the interview, it emerged that Obama collects "Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian."[3] Then later that month, on November 4, 2008, Obama became the first African-American to be elected President of the United States.

When Marvel Comics discovered the president-elect was an avid collector of Spider-Man comics, they decided to have Obama the comic book character be put on the cover of their The Amazing Spider-Man No. 583 (January 2009), for the story "Spidey Meets the President!" written by Zeb Wells. This particular release proved extremely popular and sold out in a matter of minutes.[4] A day after the release, the edition was sold for $300 on eBay. Prior to the Spider-Man story, the president-elect was featured in Secret Invasion #8; this is the first appearance of president-elect Barack Obama in a Marvel comic.

Obama the comic book character has been put on the cover and pages of many other comics including Savage Dragon No. 145 (February 2008) by Erik Larsen and Youngblood No. 8 (February 2008) by Rob Liefeld. The Savage Dragon No. 145 had a special edition variant only offered at the WonderCon 2009 in San Francisco in March 2009 (only 1,500 were produced). On the cover, Barack Obama can be seen holding an American flag and punching Osama Bin Laden in the face.

Barack Obama is the subject of graphic novel "Barack Hussein Obama" by Steven Weissman. In this, President Obama and his cast of characters (Secretary Clinton, VP Joe Biden, his family) experience life in a parallel universe.[5]

Barack Obama has also appeared in Archie Comics Veronica #199, and Archie #616 and #617.[6][7]

President Obama was in the Flashpoint Storyline of DC comics of 2011. He discusses the earth members of The Green Lantern Corp with Amanda Waller.

Comics featuring Barack Obama

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Last, Jonathan V. (July 10, 2009). "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's... Obama". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  2. "Savage Dragon No. 137". Grand Comics Database.
  3. Swaine, Jon (November 7, 2008). "Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008.
  4. Chan, Sewell (January 14, 2009). "Lining Up for Obama and Spider-Man". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  5. Steven Weissman (October 10, 2012). Barack Hussein Obama. Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-60699-623-2.
  6. "GCD :: Issue :: Veronica #199".
  7. "Obama and Palin Meet… Archie Andrews? – ComicMix".
  8. "Mad (magazine) No. 479". Grand Comics Database.
  9. "Captain America No. 41". The Comic Book Database.
  10. "Secret Invasion No. 8". Marvel Comics.
  11. Phegley, Kiel (July 28, 2008). "CCI: IDW Enters the political sphere with "Presidential Material"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  12. Lasiuta, Tim (November 4, 2008). "Jeff Mariotte: Explaining Presidential Material". Comics Bulletin. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  13. "Preview: Female Force: Michelle Obama". Comic Book Resources.
  14. 1 2 Manker, Rob (April 4, 2009). "Barack Obama comic books: 'Barack the Barbarian' and 'Drafted: One Hundred Days". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  15. Spillius, Alex (April 7, 2009). "Barack Obama and Sarah Palin appear in comic series". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
  16. Flood, Alison (April 8, 2009). "Obama battles Red Sarah in comic clash". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
  17. Arrant, Chris (May 12, 2009). "Barack the Barbarian? Behind the Latest Obama Comic". Newsarama. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
  18. Bilsborough, Jack (August 7, 2009). "Barack Obama depicted as Zombie-killer in new comic book". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on August 10, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  19. Phegley, Kiel (June 18, 2009). "Bringing Out the Dead w/ Ash & Obama". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  20. Tate, Ray (April 2, 2011). "Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters No. 1 – Line of Fire Reviews". Comics Bulletin. Retrieved April 15, 2011.

References

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