Writers Of McCain, Obama Comics Stay Outside Party

By TERRY TANG Associated Press Writer - PHOENIX — Some may argue that when Jeff Mariotte was entrusted with writing a comic book about Barack Obama, he got the easier candidate. But it’s not because the novelist, who lives in John McCain’s home state of Arizona, is a registered Democrat.

At 72, McCain comes with a lot more research material than Obama, who turned 47 in August.

“I had a hard time squeezing 46 years into 28 pages,” Mariotte said. “If it had been a longer book, it would’ve been cool — and with the conventions. But as it was, fitting everything in was difficult. In some ways, I wish it had come out earlier, so more people could read them before the election.”

Voters, and avid readers, will get a colorful look at the presidential candidates when the comic book biographies land on store shelves Wednesday. The comics will also be available as a flip-book containing both biographies and on mobile phones. Each comic covers the men’s backstories from childhood to the point they became the presumptive nominees earlier this year.

Mariotte and Andy Helfer, a former DC Comics editor assigned to McCain’s bio, set out to create something educational, entertaining and, most of all, nonpartisan.

Both writers spent weeks delving into as many resources as possible — books, magazines, newspaper articles and Internet sites. Neither candidate’s campaign had any input.

Helfer, who has written broader comic bios on Ronald Reagan and Malcolm X, wasn’t sure if he could sum up McCain in 28 pages. He joked that he had twice the work Mariotte did.

“I remember asking … ‘do I get paid double?’ ” Helfer said. “The opportunity to do something so of the moment was too strong and I said OK.”

The presidential comics are the brainchild of IDW Publishing, based in San Diego. The company is known for comic book series like “30 Days of Night” and “Transformers.”

“I’ve always felt comic books have a lot of potential to act as a learning tool, a teaching tool,” said IDW special projects editor Scott Dunbier. “These two books will hopefully give a little bit of insight into who these two men are. But I don’t think anybody should decide (who to vote for) from any one thing.”

Mike Banks, owner of Samurai Comics in Phoenix, said he expects a good turnout at a signing he’s hosting Oct. 11 for Mariotte. Even customers more into the “spandex superheroes” have reserved copies. But they likely won’t fetch much for collectors.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to get rich off these in the future,” Banks said. “I think they are more of interest just as a historical perspective or just for people who are into the candidates.”

Politicians making cameos in comics is nothing new.

David Park, an assistant professor in communications at Lake Forest College in Illinois, said some mainstream comics in the 1960s would have John F. Kennedy drop in as way to seem contemporary. Frank Miller, who revamped “Batman” for DC Comics in the 1980s, occasionally lampooned Ronald Reagan.

In the early ’90s, Image Comics’ “Wildcats” series had a team of superheroes pursuing an evil alien race that temporarily took over then-Vice President Dan Quayle’s body.

It was the underground comics stemming from the hippie movement during the ’60s and early ’70s that thrived on political satire, Park said. Popular comics during what are known as the Golden Age (the ’30s and ’40s) and the Silver Age (roughly, the ’50s to early ’70s) would generally tread lightly when it came to invoking politicians.

“There was not really much point in the Golden and Silver Age of comic books … to reference politics too much because the audience was presumed to be so young, and therefore nonvoters,” said Park, who studies popular culture.

Dunbier said the only time he’s heard of comic books being produced for candidates was during the 1964 presidential contest between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater.

“My guess would be they were a more whitewashed version of what we’re doing. In 1964, I would doubt they’d delve into things we are,” Dunbier said. Comic book geeks will find these McCain and Obama issues swing far from the old-school pow-bam-zap tone. Aimed at anyone who’s been following the race, the caption boxes are packed with succinctly written details. The pages touch on moments of hope and moments of despair.

A college-age Obama is depicted lazing in a dorm room, smoking cigarettes with friends. The McCain comic opens with an image of the former POW sitting injured in a solitary cell in Hanoi. There are also panels touching on McCain’s temper and ties to savings and loan financier Charles Keating.

Dunbier and the writers spent a great deal of time fact-checking the content. Every caption is rooted in fact, they said. And all the words put in the candidates’ mouths are direct quotations from speeches or autobiographies.

Still, Dunbier expects the inevitable accusations of bias.

“It never occurred to me to look for a Republican to write McCain’s story or a Democrat to write Obama’s story,” Dunbier said. “It doesn’t matter what the writer’s political affiliation is. It matters that they’re both professionals. They’re good writers, good at research. They can put a story together well.”

Originally a John Edwards supporter, Mariotte said he would have been fine penning either candidate’s story.

“We’re not out there on the campaign trail as surrogates,” Mariotte said. “We’re writers who did a specific assignment and did our best to keep our personal thoughts out of those books.”

Source: MyFoxNewMexico.com