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 Nat Gertler (born April 30, 1965) is an American writer known for his comic books and his books about comics, including six on Charles Schulz's ''Peanuts''. Gertler is the publisher of About Comics, and founded an annual cartoonists' challenge, ...

, where he appeared as a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. 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. This issue featured a variant cover which showed Obama with the Savage Dragon, who proclaims that he is endorsing him for president. The issue sold out four print runs. A month later, the comic was followed up by ''Presidential Material: Barack Obama'' by

Jeff Mariotte Jeff Mariotte (born 1955) is an author who lives in Arizona. As well as his own original work, he is best known for writing novels and comic books based on licensed properties. Biography Mariotte was born in Park Forest, Illinois, but he moved ...

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 Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

and Conan the Barbarian." 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

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. 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 Youngblood, Youngbloods or Young Blood may refer to: Film and television * ''Young Blood'' (1926 film), a German silent drama film * ''Young Blood'' (1932 film), an American western film * ''Young Blood'' (1943 film), a Swedish drama film * ...

'' 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 Steven Weissman (born June 4, 1968, in California) is an alternative cartoonist best known for his offbeat and bizarre explorations of childhood friendships. His work has been published by Fantagraphics, Retrofit Comics, and ''Vice A vice ...

. In this, President Obama and his cast of characters (Secretary Clinton, VP Joe Biden, his family) experience life in a parallel universe. Barack Obama has also appeared in

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Flashpoint Storyline of DC comics of 2011. He discusses the earth members of The Green Lantern Corp with Amanda Waller.

Comics featuring Barack Obama

*''MAD Magazine #479'' Publisher –

Mad (magazine) ''Mad'' (stylized as ''MAD'') is an American humor magazine first published in 1952. It was founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, launched as a comic book series before it became a magazine. It was widely imitated and ...

, Release – July 2007 *''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

'' #41, Publisher — Marvel Comics, Writer – Ed Brubaker, Artists –

Steve Epting Stephen "Steve" Epting is an American comics artist. He is best known for his work on '' The Avengers'' and '' Captain America'' for Marvel Comics. Early life Epting's influences include Alex Raymond, Stan Drake, Jim Holdaway, Joe Kubert, Joh ...

Rick Magyar Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

, Release — October 2008 *'' Secret Invasion'' #8, Publisher — Marvel Comics, Writer –

Brian Michael Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an American comic book writer and artist. He has won five Eisner Awards for both his creator-owned work and his work on various Marvel Comics books.Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Michael Avon, ' ...

, Artists –

Leinil Francis Yu Leinil Francis Yu (born 1977) is a People of the Philippines, Filipino comic book artist, who began working for the United States, American market through Wildstorm Productions. Career Leinil Francis Yu was first recognized after winning the ''W ...

Mark Morales Mark Anthony Morales (February 19, 1968 – February 18, 2021), better known by the stage name Prince Markie Dee, was an American rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, and radio personality. Morales was a member of the Fat Boys, a pioneering hi ...

Laura Martin Laura DePuy (credited later in her career as Laura Martin, having married Randy Martin in 2001) is a colorist who has produced work for several of the major comics companies, including DC Comics, Marvel Comics and CrossGen. Career A sometimes comi ...

, Release — December 2008 *''Barack Hussein Obama'' Book 1, Publisher –

Fantagraphics Books, Inc. Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was founde ...

, Writer/Artist –

, Release – November 2012 *''Licensable BearTM'' No. 4, Publisher –

About Comics About Comics is a publisher of comics and comics-related material founded in 1998 by Nat Gertler. According to Gertler, it is intended to be "eithera mainstream comics publisher, nor an alternative comics publisher". The company has published w ...

, Writer –

, Artist – Lonny Chant, Release – July 2007 *''Savage Dragon'' No. 137, Publisher –

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

, Writer – Erik Larsen, Artist – Erik Larsen, Release – September 2008 *''Presidential Material: Barack Obama'', Publisher –

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, Writer –

, Artists – Tom Morgan, Release – October 2008 *''Obama: The Comic Book'', Publisher – Antarctic Press, Writer –

Rod Espinosa Rod Espinosa is a Filipino comics creator, writer, and illustrator. In addition to his lengthy work ''Neotopia'', for Antarctic Press, Espinosa has done extensive work adapting and illustrating literary classics into comics form, as well as creati ...

, Artist – Chris Allen, Release – November 2008 *'' The Amazing Spider-Man'' #583: " Spidey Meets the President!", Publisher – Marvel Comics, Writer – Zeb Wells, Artists – Barry Kitson, Mark Farmer, Dean White,

Cory Petit As a given name, Cory is used by both males and females. It is a variation of the name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in ...

, Release – January 2009 *''08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail'', Publisher –

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprints ...

, Writer – Michael Crowley, Artist –

Dan Goldman Daniel Sachs Goldman (born February 26, 1976) is an American attorney, politician, and heir, who is the member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 10th congressional district. A progressive politically and member of the Democr ...

, 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 A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hell ...

'' #128–129, Publisher — Marvel Comics, Writer – Andy Diggle, Artist –

Roberto De La Torre The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, Release — March–April 2009 *''Female Force: Michelle Obama'', Publisher –

Bluewater Productions TidalWave Productions (previously known as Bluewater Productions, StormFront Media/Publishing & Storm Entertainment) is an independent production studio of comic books and graphic novels. Based in Portland, Oregon, United States, Bluewater publis ...

, Writer – Neal Bailey, Artist – Ryan Howe, Release – April 2009 * '' Drafted: 100 Days'' one shot, Publisher – Devil's Due Publishing, Writer – Mark Powers, Release – June 2009 *''

Barack the Barbarian ''Barack the Barbarian'' is a comic book series published by Devil's Due Publishing beginning in June 2009. It was written by Larry Hama, with art by Christopher Schons. ''Barack the Barbarian'' originally appeared in a four-issue mini-series. ...

'', Publisher – Devil's Due Publishing, Writer – Larry Hama, Artist – Christopher Schons, Release – June 2009 *''President Evil'', Publisher – Antarctic Press, Writer and artist –

David Hutchison David Earl Hutchison (born January 10, 1976) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Glenville State College from 2011 to 2016, compiling a record of 34–32. Coaching career Hutchison gradua ...

, Release – July 2009 *''Political Power: Barack Obama'', Publisher –

, 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 Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award *Ariel (film), ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *Ariel (novel series), ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video ...

, Release – September 2009 *''Air Gear '', Publisher – Weekly Shōnen Jump, Writer – Oh! great, Artist – Oh! great, Release – Chapter 227 *Gamble Fish, Publisher:

Weekly Shonen Champion Weekly, The Weekly, or variations, may refer to: News media * ''Weekly'' (news magazine), an English-language national news magazine published in Mauritius * Weekly newspaper, any newspaper published on a weekly schedule * Alternative newspaper, a ...

, Writer: Aoyama Hiromi, Release: March 2007 *'' Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters'' No. 1, Publisher – IDW Publishing, Writer – Eric Powell, Artist – Phil Hester, Release – March 2011 *''Veronica'' #199 *''Archie'' #616 and #617

Notes

References

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External links

Lining Up for Obama and Spider-Man
(New York Times, 1/14/09)
PREVIEW: "Political Power: Barack Obama"
(MTV Splash Page, 5/22/09) {{DEFAULTSORT:Obama, Barack

Comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

Fictional presidents of the United States Obama, Barack Black people in comics

Publication history

Comics featuring Barack Obama

See also

Notes

References

External links