Obama-mania (in comics)
Sukumar Ranganathan -
Friday, February 13, 2009 1:47 PM
His popularity still remains high, but it is evident that Barack Obama's honeymoon is wearing thin.
Still, this post isn't about the challenges facing the new Camelot .
Instead, it's about a comic that seeks to leverage Obama-mania, and also chronicle what was, inarguably, the most historic presidential election in the US.
And no, this isn't about some silly Spiderman comic.
08, A Graphic Diary of the Comic Trail is a different sort of comic altogether.
Written by Michael Crowley and illustrated by Dan Goldman chronicle the campaign from the end of 2006, when the Democrats swept to power in the Senate, to Obama's inspiring victory speech at Grant Park, Chicago.
This is not the first book about a campaign that will be written about and talked about for years to come -- although it is one of the first -- and it definitely won't be the last.
But it will probably remain among the best.
That's because it is light on analysis, and heavy on fact (Crowley covered the elections brilliantly).
It also helps that Goldman, widely known for the online-then-offline Shooting War, is a fine artist -- one who would have perhaps been burnt at the cross in the middle ages because his drawings do seem to look the minds and hearts of people.
This isn't Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. It's something else. And entirely unique.
Read it if you can get your hands on it.
