The Distinguished Candidates
I told myself I’d save my money and ignore these two, but in the end, my love of politics had me dropping a little extra coin to check these out.
Presidential Material: Barack Obama
What’s it about? It’s a biography of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama!
Presidential Material: John McCain
What’s it about? It’s a biography of Republican presidential candidate John McCain!
Verdicts: To my surprise, thumbs up. I’d really expected a couple of drawn-out biographies, with a little slapdash art, to sell for some quick speculator cash. But I was pleasantly surprised by both of these. The art isn’t perfect, but it’s just fine here — a bit of the traditional comic-book look ends up serving this material well. The biographies are far more complete than I was anticipating. These aren’t just ripped off of Wikipedia — they’re as complete as you’re going to find in a coupla 22-page comics, and they actually list their research sources in the back — magazines, newspapers, the candidates’ official Senate biographies, the books they’ve written, even a few less-than-friendly sources. These are pretty warts-and-all bios, too — Obama’s drug use, connections to Jeremiah Wright, and campaign missteps are included, as are McCain’s party-animal days in the Navy, his controversial divorce and re-marriage, and the Keating Five scandal.
They’re definitely not complete biographies, but the creators do as good a job as they can in a very limited amount of space. These are both extremely text-heavy comics — it’s gonna take you a while to read ’em cover-to-cover. But I’m pleased that IDW took these comics seriously enough to do a good job on them.
And on a related note, yesterday, Samuel said in comments: “I’ll bake you some cookies if you can find a comic with Sarah Palin on it. You betcha!” Well, people, I’ll do anything for cookies!
Probably not exactly what Samuel was looking for, as I suspect he’s a Palin fan, but that’s the cover of Tales from the Crypt #8, a revival of the classic EC Comics franchise published by a company called Papercutz. Palin is saying “Didn’t we get rid of you guys in the ’50s?” as she menaces the Crypt-Keeper, the Vault-Keeper, and the Old Witch with a hockey stick. That’s a reference (A) to Palin’s reported interests in banning library books in Wasilla, Alaska during her tenure as mayor (No books were actually banned, but a librarian briefly lost her job until local supporters pressured the local government to re-hire her), and (B) to the anti-comics Senate hearings in the ’50s that ran EC out of business. Inside the comic is an anti-censorship editorial by Cathy Gaines Mifsud, daughter of legendary EC publisher William Gaines, that stops just barely short of endorsing Anybody-But-Sarah-Palin.
This is an issue I haven’t read yet — I don’t even know if it’s been released yet, or if I’ll be able to find it. I reviewed the first issue of this series last year and was not at all impressed, so I may not pick it up at all.
So there ya go, Samuel — like I said, it’s probably not the pro-Palin cover you were hoping for, but I’ll be happy to take those cookies now. Mmm-mmmm, delicious chocolate chunk cookies, so yummy and — hey! What’s this? These are full of black widow spiders, blowfish spines, and cyanide capsules, not chocolate chunks! Samuel, I oughtta…
(KLUNK)
Rick Parker Said,
October 10, 2008 @ 10:03 am
Thanks for giving Tales From The Crypt the recognition that it deserves. I’m happy that a new generation of comics readers are discovering this great classic. The artists and writers who originally brought this to light were truly amazing. It has been and continues to be a great pleasure for me and an honor to work on this title for PaperCutz. As a kid, growing up in the 1950’s, I was irrevocably warped and my subconsciousness was permanently altered by seeing and reading the original versions of this American Classic, so it’s especially enjoyable for me to be able to breathe new life into the Ghoulunatics. But I must tell you.. the Old Witch’s breath is really horrible.
Samuel Said,
October 10, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
LOL! Scott you’re awesome! Now I have to do some baking…
I’m a Palin mainly because she brought a lot of “character” in the presidential campaigns. It’s like watching a Jerry Springer show!
However, the “guy” part of me would love to see some sexy comic character of Palin. You’re right the TFTC cover isn’t exactly what I was hoping for. But I guess I can just ignore the face and focus on the red tank top? lolz
Great job on explaining the trivias. I’ve learned something new about comics, history, and politics today.
Samuel Said,
October 10, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
I’m a [Palin fan] because she…
scottslemmons Said,
October 10, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
I’m glad you’re a good sport about it, Samuel — some of the political blogs out there are full of a lot of really angry folks, so I’m always a bit tense about blogging about political matters, even if they’re related to comics.
I was kinda suspecting you’d enjoy the cover anyway. Don’tcha bet Joe Biden’s jealous? He’s the only person on either ticket who doesn’t have a comic cover of his own… 🙂
links for 2008-10-10 | Geekcentric Said,
October 10, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
[…] Hero Sandwich » The Distinguished Candidates All your favorite presidential candidates, in comic book form. Seriously, check this out. Sarah Palin is beating up zombies with a hockey stick. (tags: politics humor comics) […]
Samuel Said,
October 10, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Joe Bi… who? You mean the guy hiding in the closet?
(just scroll down and find Joe)
Scott Said,
October 10, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
(sighs)
Poor Joe. He works so hard and has pretty much been forgotten by everyone… 🙂
Hero Sandwich » Politics in Comics: Sarah Palin Said,
October 22, 2008 @ 6:34 am
[…] Hey, Samuel, got one more for ya! […]