Barack Obama in comics

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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. During 2007, when Obama decided to run for President of the United States, comic book writers and artists wanted to capture this historic moment by including him as a character in various comic books.

Publication history

Obama made his first appearance as a comic book character in July 2007 in Licensable BearTM No. 4 by Nat Gertler, 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] This marked a significant moment for Obama as a comic book character; it was the first time that a future president had been shown on a comic book cover. 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 Mark Waid. This particular release proved extremely popular and sold out in a matter of minutes. A day after the release, the edition was sold for $300 on eBay.

Since that time, 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. These comic book editions have become highly sought after collectible items. In January, February and March 2009, Licensable BearTM No. 4 issues have sold for $250, first print Savage Dragon No. 137 with Barack Obama on the cover have been sold for $400 and Savage Dragon No. 145 special edition variants with Obama and Osama Bin Laden on the cover have sold for $425 on eBay.^{[citation needed]}

Comics featuring Barack Obama

• Licensable BearTM No. 4, Publisher – About Comics, Writer – Nat Gertler, Artist – Lonny Chant, Release – July 2007
• Savage Dragon No. 137, Publisher – Image Comics, Writer – Erik Larsen, Artist – Erik Larsen, Release – September 2008
• Presidential Material: Barack Obama, Publisher – IDW Publishing, Writer – Jeff Mariotte, Artists – Tom Morgan, Release – October 2008^[4][5]
• Obama: The Comic Book, Publisher – Antarctic Press, Writer – Rod Espinosa, Artist – Chris Allen, Release – November 2008
• The Amazing Spider-Man #583: "Spidey Meets the President!", Publisher – Marvel Comics, Writer – Mark Waid, Artists – Barry Kitson, Mark Farmer, Dean White, Cory Petit, Release – January 2009
• 08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail, Publisher – Three Rivers Press, Writer – Michael Crowley, Artist – Dan Goldman, Release – January 2009
• Savage Dragon No. 145, Publisher – Image Comics, Writer – Erik Larsen, Artist – Erik Larsen, Release – February 2009
• Youngblood No. 8, Publisher – Image Comics, Writer – Rob Liefeld, Artist – Rob Liefeld, Release – February 2009
• Thunderbolts #128–129, Publisher — Marvel Comics, Writer – Andy Diggle, Artist – Roberto De La Torre, Release — March–April 2009
• Female Force: Michelle Obama, Publisher – Bluewater Productions, Writer – Neal Bailey, Artist – Ryan Howe, Release – April 2009^[6]
• Drafted: 100 Days one shot, Publisher – Devil's Due Publishing, Writer – Mark Powers, Release – June 2009^[7]
• Barack the Barbarian, Publisher – Devil's Due Publishing, Writer – Larry Hama, Artist – Christopher Schons, Release – June 2009^{[7][8][9][10][11]}
• President Evil, Publisher – Antarctic Press, Writer and artist – David Hutchison, Release – July 2009^[12]
• Political Power: Barack Obama, Publisher – Bluewater Productions, Writer – Chris Ward, Artist – Azim Akberali, Release – September 2009
• Army of Darkness: Ash Saves Obama, Publisher – Dynamite Entertainment, Writer – Elliott Serrano, Artist – Ariel Rey Padilla, Release – September 2009^[13]
• Air Gear , Publisher – Weekly Shonen Jump, Writer – Oh! Great, Artist – Oh! Great, Release – Chapter 227
• Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters No. 1, Publisher – IDW Publishing, Writer – Eric Powell, Artist – Phil Hester, Release – March 2011^[14]

See also

• Depictions of Barack Obama

Notes

References

External links

• Spider-Man #583
• PREVIEW: "Political Power: Barack Obama"

v t e Barack Obama August 4, 1961 Life and politics Early life and career Illinois Senate elections Illinois Senate career Illinois-1st elections, 2000 2004 Democratic National Convention U.S. Senate election in Illinois, 2004 U.S. Senate career 2008 presidential primary campaign Obama–Biden 2008 Electoral history Political positions Economic Social Energy Foreign/Administration foreign policy Nobel Peace Prize 2012 presidential re-election campaign West Wing Week Presidency Transition Inauguration Timeline 2009 2010 2011 2012 Judiciary Supreme Court candidates Foreign policy Obama Doctrine First 100 days Health care reform Presidential trips 2009 2010 2011 2012 People pardoned Death of Osama bin Laden Books Dreams from My Father The Audacity of Hope Of Thee I Sing Speeches "The Audacity of Hope" (2004) "A More Perfect Union" (2008) "Change Has Come to America" (2008) "A New Birth of Freedom" (2009) Joint session of Congress (February 2009) "A New Beginning" (2009) Joint session of Congress (health care reform) (September 2009) State of the Union address: 2010, 2011, 2012 Barack Obama Tucson memorial speech (2011) Joint session of Congress (jobs) (2011) Family Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (spouse) Stanley Ann Dunham (mother) Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (father) Lolo Soetoro (step-father) Maya Soetoro-Ng (half-sister) Stanley Armour Dunham (grandfather) Madelyn Payne Dunham (grandmother) Marian Shields Robinson (mother-in-law) Craig Robinson (brother-in-law) Bo (family dog)   Public image News and political events Oprah Winfrey's endorsement Citizenship conspiracy theories litigation legislation Religion conspiracy theories Bill Ayers controversy Jeremiah Wright controversy Republican and conservative support (2008) Barack Obama assassination threats 2008 assassination scare in Denver 2008 assassination scare in Tennessee Inauguration invitations Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial Citizen's Briefing Book Tea Party protests New Energy for America Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Gates-Crowley Rose Garden meeting Resignation of Shirley Sherrod Books about Self-authored Dreams from My Father The Audacity of Hope Obama: From Promise to Power Barack Obama – Der schwarze Kennedy The Case Against Barack Obama The Obama Nation Culture of Corruption Catastrophe Barack and Michelle The Speech The Obama Story Game Change Music Obama Girl "I Got a Crush... on Obama" "Barack the Magic Negro" will.i.am "Yes We Can" "We Are the Ones" "There's No One as Irish as Barack O'Bama" "Sí Se Puede Cambiar" "My President" "Deadheads for Obama" "Air and Simple Gifts" Change Is Now Hope! – Das Obama Musical Other media Artists for Obama "Hope" poster "Joker" poster The Situation Room (photograph) Obama logo In comics Miscellaneous Places named after Obama Obama Day (Kenya) Book Category Portal