It's no secret that I'm not an Obama fan. To me he's just another politician and as likely to screw people over as any other politician. Unfortunately, my not being a fan is turning into an absolute loathing be cause the guy is everywhere, and since it came out he's a comic fan, he's been the focus of a few comics. There's the now famous SPIDER-MAN comic. He was put into a SAVAGE DRAGON comic as well. He's been on the cover of WIZARD magazine repeatedly. And the people are lining up for it.
My annoyance aside: here's why it's a bad idea.
The guy is the number one pop star on the planet so it's a good sales boost as long as his approval rating is good. If he does something stupid well that could be a nasty sales hit. It's always a risk including real world people into comic continuity. Historical figures are one thing, but using current political figures is a polarizing thing. People feel strongly enough about movie stars and musicians, but using them is much more forgivable.
Let's say it comes out in an issue that Batman is a huge fan of the Spice Girls, and this comes out as he's trying to save them from the Joker, and in a sub-plot he's secretly hoping that Catwoman is going to tell him what she wants, what she really really wants. You can expect an outcry of Batfans who hate the Spice Girls. Sure, you'll probably also get a few out there who like both Batman and the Spice Girls who thinks it's great and hopes Bats forgets Selina and runs off with Geri. Most readers, I would hope, would just shrug and enjoy Batman saving the day. But still you've ticked off Batman fans who hate the Spice Girls.
OK, now apply the same logic to using a politician. The SPIDER-MAN and SAVAGE DRAGON appearances were pretty much endorsements of Obama. Whether it was done merely to cash in on Obama-mania or if the company/creators really endorse him is irrelavent. So where does this leave a person who really likes Spider-Man, but really does not like Obama? Do they buy the issue anyways? Do they just skip that issue and buy the next one hoping Obama isn't there? Do they go extreme and drop the book? I don't read either books anyways, so it's a non-issue for me as to my course of action.
There's nothing wrong with using the President as a factor a story. Captain America saves the day and the President thanks him. Neat. However, using the president as more than a story prop runs the risk of ticking off people who take their politics more seriously. DC got smart, they have a fictitious President. For a while the President of the United States in the DCU was Lex Luthor. This wasn't a quick little Superman story either, Luthor was elected and that affected the entire DCU. This was a brilliant move. It did not matter what your thoughts and feelings were about politics, what mattered was what you thought about that character.
Comics are an escape for many people. It is true that often the world we live in has an effect on comics, but still it's an escape. I don't want to see the stuff I see on my nightly news in the comics I read so that I have something else to do besides watch the nightly news. Same with the leader on the free world/the number one pop star on the planet Barack Obama. He's made his appearances. He's sold some issues. Now let's move on before it gets sticky.
2 comments:
I'm notoriously not much of a fan of escapism in comics, and not to worried about people being ticked off. Especially myself - FABLES is all politics, all the time and is totally commited to political positions I find either repugnant or deeply uncomfortable. It's also one of my favourite reads, and wouldn't be if it ever held back from taking me to places my mind doesn't naturally go.
The problem with the Obama thing in comics is that almost all of it is so damn uncritical and superficial. I may not like escapist readings of comics, but I like it even less when the NEWS is escapist - and that's how I feel the media treats Obama, almost as if he was the "happy incidental fluffy kitten saved from tree" story rather than the bloke at the centre of all the big scary stories. Whether media sources are for or against him, they seem to see him as somehow *seperable* from his context. Comics are just following that lead.
The problem isn't that comics are being too much like the news. It's that the news is being too much like comics.
I now abandon this criticism of the media of a country I don't even live in to work on my Batman/Girls Aloud team up.
(Bruce Wayne would go for Sarah, Batman for Nadine)
See, I find the Batman/Girls Aloud team-up to be much more interested than the entirety of anything Obama related. Are you going to have him go undercover as a roadie?
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