Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Comics for Obama

Much has been made of the fact that Barack Obama’s a nerd and a (former?) comic reader. I’ve not been a fan of all the quick cash-in “appearances” of the 44th President in various comics. Unless the creators are making a point about a certain political era or such an appearance organically fuels story and character development, the use of any President never really shakes the stunt dust off of it.

A hallmark of the “Bang! Pow! Comics Aren’t For Kids Anymore” era of media coverage has been a list of comics anyone/everyone should read. I haven’t seen this type of list compiled for the Commander-in-Chief, which is odd considering how popular he is.

Here’s my stab at it:

1. Conan: Born on the Battlefield by Kurt Busiek and Greg Ruth
When the initial shock of those first reports of Obama’s nerd pedigree wore off, the first thing I thought was, “The brother read Conan comics?!” My guess is he probably read a mix of Marvel’s long-running color series–Savage Sword of Conan, Conan the Barbarian and Conan the King. Barry probably snuck in some of the racier, raunchier material that Marvel put out in a more “adult” Black-and-white format. Dark Horse got the rights to Robert E. Howard’s characters a while back and Kurt Busiek’s run polishes the source material to an irresistible sheen and extrapolates it in ways that feel faithful and fresh. Born on the Battlefield serves as the “origin” story for a modern Conan, but centers a palpable sense of place amongst all the well-executed blood-letting, lust and thievery that fans of the character would expect.

2. Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughn & Tony Harris
Fictional political intrigue is probably the last thing our new POTUS needs, but Vaughn’s well-researched work shows some insight into infrastructure and personality juggling that I think Obama would appreciate. With the hook of Mayor Mitchell Hundred having been a former superhero, Ex Machina also mines the rich territory of the gap between people’s expectations and what a person’s actually able to deliver. It’s very much a comic about how people view public figures, which should strike a chord with Obama.

3. Incognegro by Mat Johnson & Warren Pleece
Yes, this one’s kinda obvious. And, I do kill zombies with Mr. Johnson on a semi-regular basis on Xbox Live. But, I really do feel like Incognegro’s one of the best graphic novels in the last five years, on the basis of its meditation on race and the American identity. Its facility with weaving its themes into the plot keeps everything going at a nice clip. I also think Obama would appreciate its tonal shifts, too.

4. Invincible by Robert Kirkman & Ryan Ottley
Given his age, it’s a pretty safe bet that Barack was reading Spider-Man comics in the 70s and 80s. Kirkman and Ottley’s creator-owned Image book comes closest to matching those books’ sudsy mix of melodrama and fast-paced superheroics. The family drama– Invincible’s got daddy issues, too–and a sprawling cast of characters make for good escapism.

5. Orbiter by Warren Ellis & Colleen Doran
The economy being what it is, ain’t nobody thinking about spending money on NASA and the space program. But, the most affecting part about Ellis ad Doran’s collaboration is how it treats space exploration as metaphor for the human spirit. True, it’s not the newest idea in sci-fi, but I especially like how they frame it as the universe calling to us. Because we belong there.


6. Krazy & Ignatz collections by George Herriman
You can tell by the way dude speaks that Barack’s got a love of language. No, strike that. He’s got a love of dialect. When he slips into vernacular, there’s a slight smile that betrays his enjoyment. There’s a certain mischief itch that simple usage can scratch and to my mind, nobody did that better than Herriman. I think he’s the closest thing American sequential art has to a creator laureate, with themes about class, passing and identity that, depending on how you read the strips, may or may not even be there. There’s something sweetly lyrical about the dysfunction of connection between the lovelorn cat and the torturous, brick-throwing mouse and I kinda think Barack would get it.

7. Concrete by Paul Chadwick
Achingly beautiful in the draftsmanship and character dynamics as well as smoothly naturalistic in dialogue and viewpoint, Paul Chadwick’s signature works never get mentioned in all-time best comics list. I’ve choked up reading these stories and Chadwicks’s prescience about celebrity, media culture and the human consumption debate make these stories damn near timeless. The best thing about these stories is how they use the one fantastical element–a speechwriter trapped in an unfeeling rock body– as a lens on mankind’s behavioral wiring.

8. The Night Fisher by R. Kikuo Johnson
It’s the kind of coming of age story that Barack doesn’t have any need for, but Johnson evokes the Hawaiian setting beautifully, in terms of art and atmosphere. It’s a bit dark, what with the fraying friendship and meth addiction, but I could see him giving this to the girls when they’re old enough.


9. Curses by Kevin Huizenga
This collection of Kevin Huizenga’s existential, ephermeral short stories represents the kind of sincere, literate and mature creations that best showcase the depth of the medium. Huizenga uses his Glenn Ganges character to reflect on how personal faith drives our interactions with the world and each other.

10. We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Sure , the gummint’s the bad guy in this series but it’s mostly about weaponized cyborg animals looking for home. Seeing as how the First Family’s search for a pet dog made headlines for weeks on end, Morrison and Quitely’s adventure story might resonate with Mr. Obama. Way too dark and violent for the girls, though

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