Crossing Over

Spirits do it with John Edwards, and occasionally politicians and celebrities do it with comic books.

The crossover trend, of bringing real life people into the world of comics is nothing new. Scooby-Doo made an institution of it in the late 70s, bringing over real people and even comic book heroes as well. Some politicians have tried to reach out to the comic audience by putting out their own books including an ‘unbiased’ comic biography of Hillary Clinton. But do we want politics in our comics?

Hail to the Chief. Different publishers take a different approach to political figures within their universes. For Marvel, the real president Obama made a special guest appearance in their universe going so far as to have a conversation with Spider-Man where he brings up health care. Putting presidents in comics is nothing new, Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Clinton have all seen their likenesses appear under the halftone dots. While adding a touch of realism to comics is also nothing new, do fans really want politics appearing in their fantasy worlds?

DC Comics tends to take the other approach, putting their fictional characters into real political positions. Lex Luthor was president, and in the early 70s DC put a teenager in the White House via Prez a, thankfully, mostly forgotten book where a teenage President fought vampires.

The appearance of political figures unquestionably creates a buzz outside of the comic community, my parents asked me if I was going to get the Obama/Spider-Man book, which in turn generates a blip in sales, do the fans want this kind of crossover between reality and escape?

When you pick up a comic book are you looking for an escape or a dose of reality?

I don’t know about you, but for me I read comics to get away from the goings on of reality. I want to take a mental break from bills, responsibility and most of all political pandering. Having a political figure or celebrity make a cameo appearance is fine with me, but crafting entire stories or arcs around them brings in too much reality. Politics in comics is like adding an anchor to a kayak, its unnecessary and even dangerous.

Marvel took a risk that the majority of its readership base were likely to be Obama supporters vs McCain, while this was a calculated risk, it could estrange readers that were on the other political side. Publishers are very aware of the dwindling purchasing base for modern comic books and usually, and intelligently, stay away from hot button topics that appear in other media.

Born from War. Certain characters, such as Wonder Woman and Captain America, owe their entire genesis and existence to political situations of their time. World War II spawned many characters to inspire patriotism and ‘help’ fight the enemies of the nation. Moving toward the modern age, we see less and less of this direct influence. Viet Nam was barely mentioned in the world out comics, outside books whose themes were war based (Sgt Fury, Our Fighting Forces, etc). The current war in Iraq, and even Desert Storm in the 90s, has almost no mention or presence in the comic book universe, especially the main stream books from DC and Marvel.

This represents an industry wide trend to distance comic books from reality. Publishers recognize that the controversy and uncertainty surrounding modern politics and military action could polarize and even disengage readers, so they smartly stay away from these topics.

Comics do not exist in isolation independent from influence, after all the people who create them live in the real world just as you and I, but I am of the mindset that these should have minimal influence on the creative direction of comics. If I want to know what’s going on in the world I will watch the news. When I want to get away from whats going on in the world I read comics, and ever so briefly, things are simple and enjoyable again. I hope they stay this way.