Obama and Spidey

Barack Obama will be appearing in an upcoming issue of Spider-Man, on sale on January 14th.

Today’s Guardian has a preview:

The five-page story takes place in Washington DC on inauguration day, when one of Spidey’s oldest enemies, the Chameleon, attempts to stop Obama’s swearing-in ceremony. Fortunately, Peter Parker is covering the event as a photographer, and jumps in to save the day.

“Ya hear that, Chameleon? The president-elect here just appointed me … secretary of shuttin’ you up,” Spider-Man says as he thwacks the Chameleon in the face. “I hope this doesn’t ruin the inauguration for you,” he tells Obama, as the Chameleon is led away by security officials. “Honestly, I’m more upset by the Chameleon’s shockingly deficient understanding of the electoral process,” Obama replies.

Spidey then cedes the limelight to Obama. “This is your day, after all, and I know it wouldn’t look good to be seen palling around with me,” he says, in a nod to Sarah Palin’s comment that the then presidential candidate had been “palling around with terrorists”.

Having a President appear in comics is nothing new. I even remember way back in 1979 when Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau appeared in the Uncanny X-Men and later Alpha Flight. It doesn’t get cooler, though, than having a President who collects comics, and a state Senator who not only collects comics but appears in the latest Batman movie. Sadly, and this is just a guess, I don’t think Michael Ignatieff reads comic books.