What a day!Quite the spectacle going on in Washington, D.C., my old stomping ground. This is a comics blog, so I'll leave the politics aside, but today's inauguration is quite an event.
Clearly, Obama-mania has not escaped the attention of the comics industry. Obama is showing up in comics left and right, and has been since the election. And these issues are flying off the shelves.
Earlier this year, both Obama and McCain's life stories got the comic treatment by IDW. This comic quickly sold out, and a special edition went back to press in December.
Then, in September, Erik Larsen's The Savage Dragon became the first big name comic character to formally endorse Obama for president, in issue #137. Not surprisingly, Larsen's book did sales he hasn't seen in years.
Bet you didn't know Spider-man made the trip down to the inauguration as well? In Amazing Spider-Man #583, Spidey meets Barack, and stops the Vulture from spoiling his big day. This book has done gangbuster sales, lines were around the block at comic shops the Wednesday it came out a few weeks ago. Marvel has announced that they're already on a third printing of the book.
And not to miss out on a chance for a sales boost, Rob Liefeld is marking his return to the interior pages of Youngblood #8 by drawing a short five page story that sees Barack start his administration by choosing the next Youngblood team. Rob's book has featured real presidents in the past, but this is clearly a move to drive sales for the book, which has yet to take off since it's return to the racks from Image comics. Given that Rob is returning to the book as full-time artist with issue #9, there's a good chance this book could start moving up the charts, especially with an Obama tie in.
Too late to get on the band wagon? Ahh, probably not. I'm sure Zombie-Obama books are in the works, and lord knows what else. Is it good for comics? Sure. Anything that brings new readers is good for the industry.
2 comments:
Behold, the face of things to come:
http://pop-monkey.blogspot.com/2009/01/zombama-remix.html
I know some people could present this as Rob jumping on the band wagon, but the new President does present a clear story opportunity for changing the direction of Youngblood. I am glad Rob siezed the chance; I can't wait to read Youngblood as it should be!
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