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Via everywhere on earth:

“Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth.”


— Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, during humorous remarks at a charity dinner.

PS: the above famed picture is old, and Obama definitely has had this whole Superman identification thing going on for a while. We’re sure someone somewhere online has done a thorough examination of this; this post is not it.

§Fed head Ben Bernanke who could use the powers of Shazam as he leads the world through the wreckage of the post-housing bubble crisis, is also a fan:

As a schoolboy in the mid-1960s, Ben Bernanke followed the usual rites of passage in tiny Dillon, S.C. He waited tables at South of the Border—a roadside attraction on Interstate 95—and played sax in a high-school garage band (“We murdered ‘Light My Fire,’ his fellow band member Johnny Braddy recalls). Inevitably, young Ben and his friends found themselves gathering in the afternoon around the comic-book rack at the Jay Bee Drug Store, which was run by his father and uncle and where he worked after school. “He was very efficient,” recalls his Uncle Mort Bernanke, but “he loved to be in that comic-book section.” Asked now what superhero he most identified with as a kid, Bernanke laughs and allows that he was partial to the stalwarts of the DC Comics group, especially Superman and Batman.


§ Liberal media it-girl and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is just another comics reader:

By her bed: Comic books. I read comics sometimes and graphic novels. I appreciate that genre.


§ Writer/actor/director Eric Bogosian had been rumored to be doing a graphic novel for some time, but he seems to have run into roadblocks:

“The problem is,” Bogosian explained when we caught up with him at the Directors Guild Honors in New York on Thursday (October 16), “what they want to do is make a deal to do the graphic novel, which would be great, and there’s no money there, which is fine — obviously you’re doing it for the fun of it — but if a movie comes out of it, then they guarantee that they will not pay you for it, that they will screw you.” Because of Vertigo/DC’s ties to Warner Bros.? “I’m not saying those guys specifically,” Bogosian said, “but it’s very hard to make a deal where you can make it all work.”

1 COMMENT

  1. I read comics sometimes and graphic novels. I appreciate that genre.

    Graphic Novels? That’s my favorite genre too!

  2. Senator Obama also compared himself to Alfred E. Neuman. (See the latest issue for AEN’s poster.)
    Let us not forget that we once had a comicbook fan in the White House. President Clinton once remarked how he once set up asidewalk stand and sold his old comics.
    Although slightly different, Eisenhower once hosted the National Cartoonist Society, and was presented an engraved T-square by NCS President Walt Kelly. A collection of sketches presented to Ike was published; it contains a Batman sketch by Bob Kane.
    And who can forget Ronnie’s admission that the funnie pages were the first thing he read in the newspaper each morning?
    Curiously, given all the hype over SNL this weekend, no one remembers Gerald Ford’s appearance during the first season. While not a great president, he had a great sense of humor about himself!

  3. “By her bed: Comic books. I read comics sometimes and graphic novels. I appreciate that genre.”

    Sounds like the comment of someone who has never seen a “funny book.”

  4. http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/15149

    Candidates for Missouri Governor:
    7) What superhero do you most resemble?

    Hulshof (R): “I’d say Batman. I was a huge Batman fan growing up. I had all the comic books. And he had a cool utility belt and a cool car.”

    Nixon (D): “Batman. He has normal physical abilities, but he is able to accomplish significant acts. He’s an ordinary guy called on to do more than other people.”

  5. Why these presidential hopefuls never mention Captain America, I’ll never know.

    I once read a excellent Eric Bogosian novel about a kid shooting up a shopping mall – but I forget the title of it – but I think Eric’s writing would a shoo-in for the comics industry.

    ~

    Coat