Comments on: Some Serious Political Questions

By: johnny zito

johnny zito — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:37:26 +0000

Voting is for nerds

By: suedenim

suedenim — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:04:40 +0000

I briefly flipped through both books, and it does look like they're less the bland sanitized campaign biographies than I expected. The two random pages I flipped to had McCain getting angry and slugging a guy, and Obama having a problem with a credit card being declined.

That didn't quite intrigue me enough to buy either book , or indeed even to read the pages more closely for context, but at least they're a bit more than the standard boring stuff.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:39:08 +0000

Knew you could write a short, succinct article.

By: Hulksdeli

Hulksdeli — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:20:18 +0000

I got them. Like that old Pope comic, one of those interesting/random things for my collection.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:30:36 +0000

Theyâ€™re not things.

So politicians who want you to see politics as a hobby and a trend are ok?

By: Eric P.

Eric P. — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:46:07 +0000

Meh, I'll wait for the trade paperback.

Well, at least half seriously, I only buy TPBs/hardcovers anymore, and I can't see going to the shop for just this.

By: Scavenger

Scavenger — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:25:47 +0000

McCain's history makes a better bio-comic, depending on which version of the history you go with.

Obama's makes a better 0 issue origin.

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:55:55 +0000

Wake me up when someone puts out comics on the lives & times of Emma Goldman or the IWW. (Actually, yes, both DO exist in the form of TPBs, & I do have them.) That's where my politics lie.

By: R. J. Sterling

R. J. Sterling — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:40:45 +0000

These are two crummy candidates for President. Sen. Obama hasn't done anything to warrant being nominated and Cmdr. McCain has never had a job other than working for the government. People even misdescribe Cmdr. McCain's Navy record: He flew a ground-attack aircraft, the A-4, NOT a fighter such as the F-4. And if people didn't watch Sen. Obama speak but only read him in print they would be much less impressed.

By: avengers63

avengers63 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:13:27 +0000

First, I hate politics. Our government is neither run BY the people nor For the people, and hasn't been for a VERY long time. Whenever someone DOES try and take it back to the original intent, they're either ousted or killed. Second, on anything other than a local level, the individual's views means very little. The higher you get, the more a puppet of their party they become, until you hit the president who is a figurehead for the party. Yes, individual thoughts affect their M.O., but not to the degree you might think. So for the president, one liar is as good, or bad, as the next. I advise to vote the party, not the person. Frankly, neither of them are worth a darn. Getting to the comic, these are propoganda, not biographies. The reports I've read of these comics show Obama to be a paragon of virtue, hard work, and dedication and McCain to be a career politician, crooked and ambitious. Armed with these reviews, I see nothing to make me believe they're worth the paper they're printed on. Assuming the reviews are correct, you can lump these into the pile of biased "journalism" that has been pushing Obama for the last year. On a realted note, I've not seen anything from the "reporting" saying what the candidated are actially running on. What's their platform? Where do they stand on important issues? What are their morals? All I've seen from them is "Vote for me because he sucks". People, mudslinging is NOT a campaign platform. What is this campaign about!?!?!?!?!

By: suedenim

suedenim — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:59:24 +0000

I think Josh's daughter would be the right audience for this sort of thing... but otherwise, I can't see much interest other than "novelty factor." But that's kind of weak, since they're not all that new an idea anymore. These comics seem to be fairly bland and down-the-middle, which makes them not worth bothering with for someone like me who picks up the occasional comic just for its sheer oddity (like Solson Comics' REAGAN'S RAIDERS #1, which I own....) You *could* make a pretty damn good comic book out of McCain's early life. It's a great story with a lot of dynamic elements that could benefit from additional visuals. Problem is, for McCain's later life and all of Obama's (or just about any politician), there's not much there for which a comic book adaptation is well-suited. Most stories about politics and politicians are essentially "A bunch of white guys in suits in big rooms, talking." You *can* make comic books about that, if you want, but it's not the sort of thing that particularly benefits from what comics can do.

By: joshschr

joshschr — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:36:55 +0000

I'm buying them for my daughter. She found "Faith of My Fathers" and "The Audacity of Hope" to be a little inaccessible. But she's 6, so that's understandable.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:30:36 +0000

Doubt I'll buy them. I know they produced two in an attempt to be bipartisan, but I can't shake the feeling that each one is simply there at an attempt to snag some votes. On a side note, does it seem to me John McCain just has a better backstory for a comic book? I won't try and belittle the man's trials, but his past seems more...dynamic. Which doesn't mean I'm voting for the guy, just a note... -M

By: Apodaca

Apodaca — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:30:34 +0000

"So youâ€™re not supporting either candidate then?"

They're not things.

By: Alonso

Alonso — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:19:25 +0000

That J Scott Campbell cover looks like a perfect example of "They paid x amount of dollars, so they get x amount of work." Sloppy and kinda lazy.

The comics themselves look a bit stiff and uninteresting.

By: Kane

Kane — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:02:54 +0000

I'll buy them, oh, yes. I'm doing research on comics and performance studies.

This is a paper and a half.

By: Jbird

Jbird — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:48:35 +0000

I read the JPII biography in my church's library as a kid.

Not bad.

By: tk.

tk. — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:43:29 +0000

I'm in agreement with a lot of positions here. I might buy these if (a.) it was several months earlier before the candidates' information wasn't everywhere, (b.) they seemed like genuinely interesting comics, (c.) everything that thekamisama said, (d.) it's a shaky time to be investing too much in comics! *panic!*, and (e.) Partially because the d

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:42:51 +0000

Iâ€™m not supporting any of these things that encourage the idea of politics as some sort of hobby or trend.

So you're not supporting either candidate then?

By: thekamisama

thekamisama — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:35:15 +0000

Only if these books include the candidates positions on Superhuman Registration, Mutant Rights, and recognition of Alternate Earths.