Martinex1: Our friend and frequent commenter, Colin Bray, made a great suggestion at election time to take a look at comic covers with Presidents depicted. We couldn't pull it off in time for the polls, but who says this isn't the age of second chances - so here we are on inauguration day with a look back at the White House denizens who have made it onto four-color covers.
Pick four favorites and we can have a grand discussion! I suspect that there are some here that you may have not seen before. We've included work from the Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Aluminum Ages. We've included past presidents, living presidents, and even fictional presidents. And a special nod of the hat to Mad Magazine which has had a healthy history of lampooning the oval office. Colin supplied a wonderful sampling of comics with the Mount Rushmore background, so those are here as well (the "faces" could almost have been a topic unto itself).
Lincoln and Washington definitely make appearances as do our more modern Presidents, so you have plenty of choices to pull from. From serious to parody, from biographical to satirical, from fictional to factual - it is all here today at the quarter bin.
Let's keep it civil and clean and cordial with a bipartisan handshake and discuss the comic covers at hand! Make a difference and share your comments. Where else can your vote have four outcomes?
Thank you Colin for the concept and contribution! Cheers all!
P.S. Since Colin made a suggestion from across the pond, I figured it was only fair to share a couple of covers that spotlighted UK leadership, so I give you Captain Britain, Prime Minister James Callaghan, and the Queen as alternative choices! Enjoy!
Redartz: In response to a remark from Garett, and in the presidential spirit of the day, here are a few pages from Dell's 1957 "Life Stories of American Presidents", with art by John Buscema:
17 comments:
The Mad with Bush Jr. "I'm with Stupid!" had LOLing big time!!! Eisenhower... Enjoyed seeing his covers for some particular reason. Finally I got a kick out of Spy Smasher and the Spooky. Great idea Colin, for a post! (Nothing with Churchill for Colin???)
Hey Martinex1, what a stellar selection!
Real presidents portrayed in comics always used to thrill me. That one panel shot of President Carter or whoever giving the heroes a pep talk and/or being rescued added another level of realism to these wacky fictional universes.
From this fine gallery I'm buying:
Wonder Woman for President - what a cover, what an idea.
Prez - a time capsule of a comic.
Jackie Jokers - no idea of the context (Jackie Gleason?) but ignorance only adds to the allure.
Captain Britain - man alive, the two Caps tied up next to James Callaghan? That's my new favorite comic cover. I may have to buy this just because.
The Captain Britain cover featuring Callaghan was the last issue containing colour pages (#23) - they were ditched the following week. And the cover featuring the Queen (#39) was the last ever issue.
How strange. James Callaghan is the only one of the three tied up characters not quivering with fear.
Fun idea! Enjoying all the images you guys are putting up.
I'll go with MAD 31 (Rushmore), 66 (Kennedy), and 85 (Lincoln). Even though this era is before my time, I love the art in MAD from the late '50s to the late '70s with Wally Wood (more fluid cartoony style than his stiff superhero work), Drucker (best of them all, fantastic caricatures), and Davis (irrepressible!). Often when I read MAD as a kid, I didn't know the source material, whether it was politics, movies, whatever-- but it was funny and sharp anyway!
I'll spend my last quarter on Howard the Duck. One of a kind series, witty and on point.
Life Stories of the American Presidents is one of the few John Buscema comics I didn't get around to purchasing--would like to take a peek at that. Also the Flash so often has great covers. Lincoln in the year 2071! It makes me want to open it, even if it's likely not great inside.
Great research -- that's quite a collection.
And that's all I'll say about today.
Doug
Hmmm, well I'd probably take a couple of Mad Magazines (where else can you get them for a quarter?); I'd take that Scalphunter issue, because I've seen that cover before but never read the story; and maybe the Outsiders since I always liked them.
I do remember liking Cap #250 (was that a Stern/Byrne issue, or was it right before their run?) and I've read the Howard issue, but the only thing I remember from that was when he said American culture was like "One long dateless Saturday night"; I'm not sure what that means exactly, but it stuck in my head!
Great topic, Colin, and a fantastic example of research, Marti!
Garett- I got that "Life Stories of American Presidents" in a pile of books at a flea market. It's quite interesting, goes up as far as Eisenhower. Maybe I can post a page or two. Some early Buscema art, not as distinctive as his later Marvel work but still solid.
For my quarter: the Mad with Lincoln getting a snowball (love the cover)
Jackie Jokers (like with Colin, it just calls out to me)
Rip Hunter- looks like a romp
Wonder Woman- hey, a Golden Age WW for two bits? Sure...
For myself - I think I'd go for Honest Abe all the time.
1) Wrestlin' Abe: I don't recall that story in the history books -maybe I was day dreaming -but I am curious what is going on in that Classics rou
...Classics roustabout
2) Future Abe in Flash. Like others I'm pretty sure the story will be some silly silver age tale but I'm hoping for a time traveling robot Abe.
3) Arm wrestlin' Abe - okay that is the second cover depicting Abe Lincoln's physical abilities. Though he grew up in the wonderful Midwest and was a hard worker, I always think of Lincoln as more intellect than brawn ...but who knew? Maybe we need to consult our local history teacher.
4) and finally Snowball Hat Abe -great depiction. And knowing Lincoln like I now do, I know there is a giant snowball melee coming next.
Keep smilin' gents!
A few more notes:
1) I really like Captain Britain's old costume. It was unique.
2) I don't think there is a reprint or trade collection of this era of Captain Britain comics - is there? If anybody knows of one let me know but I couldn't find one.
3) Did they think it would be 1000 years in the future before a woman could be president (see the Wonder Woman cover)??? Sheesh. That is horrible.
4) The Owl??? Does anybody know if that was based on a cartoon or tv show? Until Colin sent it in I had never heard of the Owl. But I do like the twins on flying bikes carrying away the head.
5) Ike was surprisingly popular on comics! I couldn't find any Gerald Ford though.
Wikipedia tells us The Owl was primarily a Golden Age character who was (very) briefly revived in the 60s to cash in on the Batman TV show.
I'm not aware that any original Capt Britain UK content is available in trades but happy to be corrected. I have a few of the issues but as usual haven't gotten around to reading them. Maybe I should scan and share a few pages sometime?
@Martinex1: According to Wikipedia there are a bunch of collected editions of those early Captain Britain issues, and even some Omnibus editions.
Sorry teammates-- just horrendously depressed today. At an existential level.
HB
Redartz, thanks for posting those 1957 Buscema pages! You can see hints of how he'd develop as an artist. I tracked down most of his late '50s and early '60s comics, and some are real gems.
It seems to me that Buscema's very first comic job was a story about Lincoln.
A great day to be an American.. I'm so very proud we have an unmatched transfer of power every 4- or 8-years. Beautiful gala's this evening, very patriotic.
I love the classic Mad covers.., I've been looking at getting that JFK issue for a few years, off and on. Nice collection posted today.
I'm feeling your existential angst HB...
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