Political News | The Photography Shack

Long-time fans of comic book art understand just how closely political news and graphic novels can be.

After all, George W Bush ("Iron Man" and "All-Star Squadron") Nixon ("The Incredible Hulk" and "The Watchmen"), JFK ("Superman"), Ronald Reagan ("Legends," "Superman" and "The Invaders"), Bill Clinton ("Captain America") and FDR (Marvel’s "The Invaders" and DC’s "All-Star Squadron") are just a few of the US presidents who’ve appeared in comic book series. (Of course, these are just a few of the many examples to be found in old comic books.)

Holding A Delicate Balance

Over time, the scrutiny placed on the government has intensified, even in the comic book industry, although the big publishers are always wary about coming across as too preachy or obvious. It’s a delicate balance that must be fantastical enough to be subtle but real enough to make an impression.

On October 8th, 2008, just before the November elections, John McCain and Barack Obama starred in their own comic books published by IDW Publishing, only it was nothing like you would think.

Illustrated And Objective

Even though "Savage Dragon" publicly endorsed Barack Obama in a recent issue, the IDW publications were presented as objective, illustrated, political news biographies of the two nominees. It has been described as "heavy on the facts, light on opinion."

The McCain book featured art by Stephen Thompson and writing by Andy Helfer (who also did "Road to Perdition" and "A History of Violence") and the Obama book was illustrated by Tom Morgan and written by Jeff Mariotte (who has done Superman, Spider-Man and Star Trek comic book series).

Educating People While Sticking To The Facts

"We didn’t do anything that is sensational here," said Scott Dunbier from IDW. "We’re stuck to the facts." Dunbier added that graphic novels have proven extremely effective in reaching and educating people.

"We’re not in the business of doing textbooks," he clarified, "But I think comic books really do have the great potential to inform and teach and do more than just standard superhero comics." Fans can pre-order the books through their website or visit www.uclick.com to view the comics over their cell phones.

Different From Political Cartoons In Newspapers

Political news is rarely the focus of the comic book industry, that like to separate themselves from the world of satire and political cartoons that the newspapers publish. Of course the graphic novels medium lends itself to focusing on alternative histories more often than not.

For instance, in 2000, the comic books DC put out showed us what would happen if Lex Luthor, Superman’s arch-villain, were president, with Superman and Batman working together to remove him from office.

Magneto Overtakes George W Bush

In Mark Miller’s "Ultimate X-Men" and "The Ultimates" series, he cast George W. Bush as the president, a well-meaning but misguided fool who was overtaken by terrorist Magneto, who made Bush strip down and lick his boots on live television.

One of the more interesting takes is Brian K. Vaughn’s "Ex Machina" comic book series published in 2004, which shows an alternate history where a superhero character prevented the second World Trade Center tower from collapsing and subsequently ran for Mayor of New York City.

Howard The Duck Runs Against Carter And Ford

Marvel had Captain America give up his patriotic symbol ID after Watergate, Howard the Duck ran against Ford and Carter, JFK posed as Superman so Clark Kent could keep his identity and a "Teen Titans" story had JFK leaving earth to lead an alien race. "The Watchmen" series has a fascinating portrayal of a dystopia where the 22nd amendment is repealed, allowing Nixon to serve his fifth term as president.

Marvel Comic book creator Stan Lee delved into political news and satire with his humor book "Election Daze," which features photographs from Lauren Victoria Burke and witty, riotous captions from Stan Lee.

Politics Is Like Fantasy

"I’ve always gotten a kick out of combining far-out captions with serious pictures," says Lee -- adding that no one is immune from his scrutiny (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, Chuck Norris and President Bush alike).

He’s got Hillary thinking of hiring interns and George W Bush changing "nuclear" to "nookular" by decree. "It’s a great change of pace from writing fantasy tales, although sometimes politics seems more like fantasy than my own stories."

About the Author:
Judd Walker has written a number of articles on digital photography, video and modeling including Funny Video Clips.
Keep a lookout as more articles from this author appear on this website in the near future.

More Comic Books Facts....

How many comic books have been made into movies?
There have been many comic books that have been made into movies. In the past ten years there have been Superman movies, Spiderman movies, Fantastic Four movies and a whole slew of other comic book characters brought to life.

People are fascinated by watching their comic book come to life on the big screen. Some times this can be a disappointment and other times it exceeds their wildest dreams.

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