Well, it seems this review is pretty timely. I was starting to wonder if Barack the Barbarian really had legs and then we get some legs.
Playing off Pres. Obama’s mention that he collected Conan the Barbarian comics as a kid, this comic, published by Devil’s Due and written by Larry Hama and drawn by Christopher Schons, is set in a time of swords and sorcery. A gathering of children listen as a shaman retells the legend of Barack the Barbarian. Riding in on a donkey, Barack the Barbarian is determined to set things right in the city of Warshingstun, “where every word uttered was lie, and every soul was for sale. A place where men traded dark secrets and openly peddled a powerful drug named Influence.” After fending off some ogres, Barack meets Manny the Fixer who will set him on the path to greatness. But first, they will feast and Barack will partake of a multicultural meal with a dash of Dijon mustard.
Considering that the flap over Dijon mustard is pretty recent, it looks like the creation of the rest of this four part comic is very much in play. So, it would only make sense to go for the gold and follow closely what Sarah Palin does next now that she’s abandoned her post as governor. It’s when Red Sarah, the fighting Queen of the North, makes her entrance that this first issue kicks into gear and it may very well be that the Wonder from Wasilla will bestow some of her mavericky magic onto the rest of this comic.
So far, the best of the Obama comic books is IDW’s comic book documenting the Obama campaign. It’s a serious approach and it’s spot on. And the best satire is MAD Magazine’s “Obama, The First 100 Minutes.” Of course, MAD is the gold standard. Barack the Barbarian is funny and seems aimed at all ages despite all the babes in bikinis. So, maybe for older kids. Overall, it’s poking fun at a time in history and isn’t really taking sides. I would only hope that the jokes get sharper.
The humor should be at least as funny as what The White House can create for a political roast. And delivered with as much style as the real Obama like in this perfect dig at the House Minority Leader, a true Republican partisan with a perpetual tan, John Boehner, told at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, May 9, 2009: “In the next one hundred days, our bipartisan outreach will be so successful than even John Boehner will consider becoming a Democrat. Afterall, we have a lot in common. He is a person of color. Although not a color that appears in the natural world.” That joke had the Commander in Chief cracking up. And it still cracks me up.
