Barack Obama Teams Up With … Spider-Man?
President-elect (soon to be President) Barack Obama is featured on a variant cover of an upcoming issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book in celebration of his upcoming inauguration as the 44th President of the United States of America. Since Obama collected the Spider-Man comics when he was a kid, Marvel Comics thought it was only fair to honor the soon-to-be new prez by putting him on the cover of his very own book … er, along with Spider-Man, that is ;)
Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect. Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a “shout-out back” by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel’s editor-in-chief. “How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief,” Quesada said. “It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We’re all thrilled with that.” The comic starts with Spider-Man’s alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas. Parker decides “the future president’s gonna need Spider-Man,” and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor. Obama thanks him with a fist-bump. Marvel comics have featured most presidents, but generally in walk-on roles, Quesada said. “I think President Nixon might have appeared on the cover, but not in a good way,” he said. Obama has said that as a child, he collected Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comic books. His Senate website used to have a photo of him posing in front of a Superman statue. The Obama story is a bonus in Marvel Comic’s Amazing Spider-Man 583, available in comic book shops nationwide on Jan. 14 for $3.99 and is expected to sell out, with half the covers devoted to Obama.
OMG, how awesome is this? The story sounds a bit cheesy but I love the fist pump and I love that Obama is honored in such a pop culturally way. While appearing on the cover of Spider-Man is kinda cool, Obama has already made his comic book debut. Before the election, over the summer, both he and Senator John McCain appeared in their own comic books that told their life stories leading up to the election. At this rate, Obama might get his own comic book series somewhere down the line ;) I already have my copy of the first Barack Obama comic book … but I’m gonna have to get my hands on this Spider-Man comic, too. Will I be seeing any of ya’ll at the comic book store come January 14?
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Tags: 'The Amazing Spider-Man', Barack Obama
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January 8th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
That is SO cool! I will definitely get a copy of that on Jan. 14th – thanks for the heads-up, Trent!
January 8th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
SWEET! I’m not a Spidey fan at all (more of an Iron Man/Batman kinda gal), but I think I’m gonna have to buy this.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Nope you won’t see me. I think this is especially lame and over commercialized. Quite frankly it saddens me to see that this is what america has come to. No wonder other countries think we suck, clearly doing lame things like this proves it.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I have a comic subscription, haha. As soon as I read this entry I fired off an email making sure I get this comic. It’s not lame at all, comics are comics and do this type of thing all the time, they have always been all about pop culture AND current events AND politics. And comics are for collecting, so you know they are going to sell out fast! Trent you might want to get an “in” with a comic store to ensure your copy!
January 9th, 2009 at 8:35 am
I honestly don’t know how to feel about this….!!!
January 9th, 2009 at 8:44 am
I’m going to pick up 500 copies today!!! In ten years I can use them to pay off my student loans and buy my own island after the ice caps melt.
Evan
http://www.beyondrace.com
January 9th, 2009 at 11:52 am
…… that is pretty bad,
nothing against obama im sooo glad he won but seriously wtf
they should have at least given him superpowers ha
January 9th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
wow, sweetness, who peed in your cornflakes? it’s a comic book, lighten up! FYI, the rest of the world doesn’t think we suck because of comic books, they think we suck b/c we’re tyrannical bullies who pummel ahead to serve our needs first while ignoring the global consequences. and they’re right. Here’s to hoping there’s a new road for America 1.20.09 and beyond…
January 9th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Wait what, using basketball to determine the real Obama and then punching out the impostor? Spiderman is cooler than that lame plot. I dont mind them using Obama since they use presidents in the past but c’mon!
January 9th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I agree with Jill. Besides, my boyfriend is British and most of his (also British friends) not only like Obama, but also read (and in some cases, write and/or illustrate) comics. That’s why they like me so much, I’m the liberal American chick that likes talking about The Avengers or the works of Alan Moore. ;)
And this is hardly the first time the worlds of politics and comics have collided. As mentioned earlier, both Obama and McCain had their own comics during the campaign, there was a comic that came out shortly after 9/11 that was about rescue workers, or various superheroes helping with the rescues (I don’t remember exactly, I didn’t read that one), loads of political comics in the eighties, from Superman to The Watchmen, etc., etc. This is nothing new.