Chicago:1968 © Len Kody and Jenny Frison
So I didn't get my Amazing Spider-Man with Obama on the cover. Boooo!
Diamond apparently screwed my local comics retailer out out of his
copies. He seemed pretty upset about it when I stopped by on
Thursday. I feel confident enough in my efforts to remain politically
circumspect and "fair and balanced" in my approach to Chicago:1968 to
disclose that I'm a far left Democrat and a supporter of Barack Obama's
since he hit the political scene here in Chicago earlier in the
decade. And though I'm passionate in my views, deep in the truest
heart of my best self I believe there are few on either side of the
political spectrum with bad intentions. Only, perhaps, wrong-headed
ideas.
Last weekend
the Internet ether seemed to be bubbling with discussion over claims of
a supposed "liberal bias" in comics. It's tough to measure cause and
effect in the almost quantum realm of the zeitgeist, but the Christian
Science Monitor "identified" this "phenomenon" in a
column last friday. And conservative comics writer Bill
Willingham commented upon it on the far right Big Hollywood blog.
Is
featuring a Democratic president on the cover of your comic evidence of
political bias? Ken Shepherd of the hardcore conservative News Busters
site claims comics are "
crawling with pro-Obama bias" and uses
Marvel's latest
shortpacked alternate cover gimmick to build a case against comics' political leanings going back to a
Punisher story written by Garth Ennis in late 2001.
But
then, where does veiled ideology end and simple capitalistic
self-interest begin? The Obama visage has been a short term solution
to the long term problems of the withering publishing industry. His
historic presidential victory was a life ring tossed to paper-and-ink
newspapers that still find excuses to put him on their front pages to
boost sagging numbers. And if the $75+ prices Amazing Spider-Man #583
is fetching on
ebay leaves any doubt to the boon
Obamania has been to the comics industry, look no further than the
copycats already lining up for a piece of the action.
So,
I don't give Marvel credit for having the fortitude to publish its
alleged political biases right on the cover of one of its flagship
titles. If anyone deserves the credit (or the blame) for
unapologetically
proclaiming his political allegiances from the comic shelves, it's
trendsetter Erik Larson with his endorsement of Obama on the cover of
Savage Dragon #137 back in August, when the outcome of the election was far from certain.