President-elect joining superheroes in comics

Taken from MySanAntonio.com:

As a nation counts down to the inauguration of Barack Obama, some special comic books look to give the next commander in chief a true superhero’s welcome.

Obama meets everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in Wednesday’s release of “Amazing Spider-Man” #583 by Marvel Comics. In a special bonus story, Spidey faces a baddie looking to scuttle Obama’s swearing-in. Marvel will offer a special variant cover to the comic that features Obama with Spidey snapping the new president’s picture in the background.

Meanwhile, an issue of “Savage Dragon” by Image Comics will also feature Obama — again.

“Savage Dragon” #145, which also has a special Obama variant cover, hits stores Feb. 25. The comic’s title character, a green-skinned superhero who rejoins the Police Department in Obama’s old stomping grounds of Chicago, made news in and out of the comics world when he endorsed Obama back in “Savage Dragon” #137.

Why the Obama-mania in the funny books? Well, the 44th president of the United States did tell Entertainment Weekly last year his favorite comic book heroes are Batman and Spider-Man.

“When we heard that President-elect Obama is a collector of Spider-Man comics, we knew that these two historic figures had to meet in our comics’ Marvel Universe,”

Marvel’s Editor in Chief Joe Quesada said in a release. “Historic moments such as this one can be reflected in our comics because the Marvel Universe is set in the real world. A Spider-Man fan moving into the Oval Office is an event that must be commemorated in the pages of ‘Amazing Spider-Man.’.”

Obama’s no stranger to showing up in comic book panels. Last year, IDW Publishing and San Antonio-based Antarctic Press released comic book biographies of Obama and Republican presidential contender John McCain.