Barack Obama in comics
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| Barack Obama (Comic Character) | |
|---|---|
| File:ObamaVariant.jpg | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Many |
| First appearance | Licensable BearTM #4 (Jul. 2007) |
| Created by | Multiple |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Barack Hussein Obama |
| Team affiliations | Spider-Man The Amazing Spider-Man Savage Dragon Licensable BearTM |
| Abilities |
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Barack Obama (Comic Character) is a non-fictional character appearing in comic books published by a number of publishing companies. During the year of 2007, he decided to run to become President of the United States. Like many people in the United States, comic book writers and artists wanted to capture this historic moment in history in their own way. They decided to do this by putting him in their comic books as a character.
Publication History
In July of 2007, Barack Obama made his first appearance as a comic character in Licensable BearTM #4 (Jul. 2007) by Nat Gertler as a U.S. Senator. The comic only had a print-run of 1,050 issues. A year later, Barack Obama was next used in Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon #137 (Sep. 2008). This marked a significant moment for Barack Obama as a comic book character. In every fifth issue of the comic, Barack was put on the cover as a variant. Putting what turned out to be a future president on a cover had never been done before. The comic was then followed up by Presidential Material: Barack Obama (Oct. 2008) by Andy Helfer and Obama: The Comic Book (Nov. 2008) by Rod Espinosa.
In that same November of 2008, two monumental things happened to make Barack Obama as a comic book character leap into the stratosphere. The first, an advisor for Obama gave an interview to a man named Jon Swaine with a newspaper company in the United Kingdom called The Telegraph which he titled, “Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know.” In the interview, it was brought to the publics attention that Barack Obama collects “Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics.” The second, he became the first African-American to become President of the United States. Both points had the comic world buzzing uncontrollably.
Once Marvel Comics found out the president-elect was an avid Spider-Man collector, they decided to have Barack Obama the comic book character grace the cover of their The Amazing Spider-Man #583 (Jan. 2009) by Mark Waid in a variant and give him a back-story. This particular release had the entire nation buzzing as the lines to get the issue were out comic sellers’ doors and quickly sold-out in a matter of minutes. The next day the highly sought after comics were fetching over $300 for one issue on eBay.
Since that time, Barack Obama the comic book character has graced the cover and pages of many other comics. He will be put on the cover of Savage Dragon #145 (Feb. 2008) by Erik Larsen and Youngblood #8 (Feb. 2008) by Rob Liefeld in the coming month and probably many after that. With all this attention as a comic character, comics with Barack Obama in and on them have become very collectible to comic enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts a like. As of the date of this posting (January 27th, 2009), hard to find Licensable BearTM #4 were being sold at some comic shops around the country for $350.
Professional Comics Where Barack Obama's Name is Used (In Chronological Order - Minimum 1,000 prints)
- Licensable BearTM #4, Publisher - About Comics, Writer – Nat Gertler, Artist – Lonny Chant, Release – July 2007
- Savage Dragon #137, Publisher – Image Comics, Writer – Erik Larsen, Artist – Erik Larsen, Release – September 2008
- Presidential Material: Barack Obama, Publisher – IDW Publishing, Writer – Andrew Helfer, Artists - J. Scott Campbell, Jeff Mariotte & Tom Morgan, Release – October 2008
- Obama: The Comic Book, Publisher – Antarctic Press, Writer – Rod Espinosa, Artist – Chris Allen, Release – November 2008
- The Amazing Spider-Man #583, Publisher – Marvel Comics, Writer – Marc Waid, Artists - Phil Jimenez, Barry Kitson, Mark Farmer, Dean White, Cory Petit, Release – January 2009
- Savage Dragon #145, Publisher – Image Comics, Writer – Erik Larsen, Artist – Erik Larsen, Release – February 2009
- Youngblood #8, Publisher – Image Comics, Writer – Rob Liefeld, Artist – Rob Liefeld, Release – February 2009
References
- Gertler, Nat (2007). Licensable BearTM #4. About Comics.
- Larsen, Erik (2008). Savage Dragon #137 Variant. Image Comics.
- Helfer, Andrew (2008). Presidential Material: Barack Obama. IDW Publishing.
- Espinosa, Rod (2008). Obama: The Comic Book. Antarctic Press.
- Waid, Marc (2008). The Amazing Spider-Man #583. Marvel Comics.
- Larsen, Erik (2008). Savage Dragon #145. Image Comics.
- Liefield, Rob (2009). Youngloods #8. Image Comics.