Reagancomics (1 of 5): Precedents

[tcampbell1000]

(Warning for one scene of implied sexual violence, albeit one I missed on first reading. Also, warning for a brief scene with Donald Trump.)

Comic books often tell stories about the most powerful people on Earth, so they've always had a curious relationship with the actual most powerful person on Earth: the United States president.




Scott McCloud's tongue-in-cheek The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln (above) pits the mythologized image of Lincoln against the great but flawed reality. It's the exception that proves the rule: when it comes to older presidents, comic books tend to do straight-up hero worship--to show the above sarcastic scene with sincerity. This is less true now that it once was, but it's still mostly true. The great ones get celebrated as unilaterally great; and everyone else...just sits in the dustpile.



(And remember, Ben Franklin was never president--Doctor Strange v.2 #18.)




FDR only appeared a few times in contemporary comics (All-American Comics #9, BUY WAR BONDS!)...



...but he showed up often in Roy Thomas' 1980s work, which evoked the patriotic fervor of the 1940s Justice Society stories. In one such tale, the Spectre makes war on God to save FDR's life. This is probably comics' most over-the-top presidential flattery of all time, but holy WOW, see if you can read it and not feel at least a little choked up: (Secret Origins #31).






Kennedy's most famous appearance in comics was also complimentary in its way, but a lot wackier (Action Comics #309).



The above story was approved just before the Kennedy assassination and published one month after it (oops). Superman interacted with JFK a few other times, including in one story held after the assassination and published in tribute a year later (Superman #170).



Nixon was treated with similar reverence until Watergate, after which he stood revealed as the (implicit) leader of the evil "Secret Empire" (Captain America v.1 #175)...



And appeared as a more complicated figure in Watchmen, having used the raw power of Dr. Manhattan to secure his own popularity and overturn the Twenty-Second Amendment. If you're trying to remember which one that is, you might start hearing more about it in a couple of years.

Though Nixon's presence in office after twenty years is its own quiet statement about politics and power, the story isn't totally unsympathetic to him. In his only substantial appearances, he grapples with the strategies of nuclear war, a war made almost inevitable by Dr. Manhattan's abrupt departure from Earth.



Later presidents' treatment in comics tends to mirror their popularity or lack thereof, but here too, there are surprising nuances. Not so much for Obama, who got special issues of Spider-Man and The Savage Dragon (#583 with variant cover, #137) dedicated to how awesome he was.



But Bill Clinton inspires more ambivalence. He got to look pretty cool, if unusually blond, in Incredible Hulk #434...



And considerably less cool, post-Lewinsky scandal, in JLA: Earth 2.



Bush Sr. didn't get a lot of comics attention compared with his predecessor, and most of what he got was just mildly satirical (Justice League Europe #17):



The younger Bush was shown taking the, er, less popular side in Marvel's Civil War #1, but on the other hand, his portrayal was much more flattering to his speech pattern than could be considered satirical--or realistic...



DC also used a fictional stand-in president who might've been a veiled criticism of W.'s administration. Depends who you talk to. Ditto for that time Norman Osborn was running national security. Both companies probably wish they'd saved those ideas for about sixteen years later.



Since Trump's first election, mentions of real-life presidents have dropped off considerably, especially within the Big Two. There are a number of reasons for this, including (1) editors not wanting to deal with more death threats than necessary (ah, fandom), (2) the overexposure of the president on other channels, and (3) writers preferring to offer a little escape rather than just repeat what you already get on your social feeds. When Trump does appear (Death Note Short Stories, Calexit)...



...it's rarely in a flattering light. (The Death Note story does at least pay tribute to his primary skill--conning people into believing him.)

But of all the presidents in comics--none have had a portrayal quite so... multifaceted as that of Ronald Wilson Reagan.

You'll see what I mean.

Comments

[thanekos]

The ambiguity of the Secret Empire story's " we're not explicitly saying who this is ", combined with the sliding timescale, takes it from Steve Englehart's reaction to a moment in time (" .. in the Marvel Universe, which so closely resembled our own, Cap followed a criminal conspiracy into the White House and saw the President commit suicide. ") to a more timeless sense of disillusionment (' .. he has seen his trust [in his country] mocked! ')

[metadronos]

Well, you got me psyched for this series of posts. My impressions of this first one:

I've never been a fan of the Spectre, as in those stories of his I'm familiar with he comes across either as a sadistic vengeance-wreaker in the vein of Stardust the Super Wizard (early Golden Age Spectre) or as a self-important, pompous blowhard (Silver Age and onward). But standing up to freakin' God, risking his life, for the sake of FDR's? That is damn impressive.

----

NIXON (to Cap): But high political office didn't satisfy me! My power was still too constrained by legalities!
TRUMP: Hold my beer McDonalds milkshake.

----

On Nixon in Watchmen: Good observation on his nuanced portrayal. Moore, when he's able to resist outright soapboxing, does have a knack for portraying even the nastiest (real-life) politicians sympathetically on occasion.

I'm reminded of Moore's final Miracleman issue, in which MM and his superpowered cohorts present their economic and other plans to Margaret Thatcher. She says she simply can't allow them. Whereupon MM coldly says, "Allow?" and Thatcher completely deflates, scared shitless by his implied threat. She's so shaken, so broken, that Miraclewoman offers to speak with her later if she wants, for which Thatcher is genuinely grateful. (And lest there be any doubt as to authorial intent, Miraclewoman privately gives her male counterpart hell immediately afterwards for his bullying.) I know the real-life Thatcher was a horrible person, but that scene made me actually feel sorry for her fictional counterpart.

----

Obama in comics: Although I myself admire and respect Obama and would've eagerly voted for him both times had I been American, his portrayal as pretty much the messiah in many (not all) comic books and other pop culure media was, I think, a tad much. Especially since most of it occurred before, or shortly after, he first took office. I realize this was mostly due to relief over his not being Bush, but still. Even the generally-acknowledged greatest U.S. presidents of all time, Washington and Lincoln, were human beings with virtues and flaws like the rest of us.

[bravest_spinja]

I think it was partly because comic writers tend to hew liberal, part of if because of the historic nature of his election, but a major, major part of it was that Obama himself talked about what a fan of comic books he was, someimes making refernces.

[tcampbell1000]

Agreed, and on top of all that, the really worshipful comics came out in 2009. Obama mentions weren't as obvious after that, and they tended to at least acknowledge his limitations in a way the above-cited comics didn't.

[cygnia]

Hubby was not a fan of the Reagan comic by Helfer (got it for him for Christmas about 15+ years ago -- before all the shit hit the fan in the GOP). He's a Reagan fanboi and refuses to see the crap he's responsible for.

[tcampbell1000]

The existence of that one was a surprise to me, but Andy Helfer was also the editor of Justice League International, including the issue (#13) that shows Reagan in a less than flattering light. So that tracks.

[iamrman]

The scene of Benjamin Franklin wooing Clea was written by Steve Englehart. Make of that what you will. (At least it wasn’t Mantis.)

[tcampbell1000]

Englehart is responsible for some of the weirdest, wrongest pairings in Big-Two superhero comics--Ben Grimm with Sharon Ventura, Hal and Arisia, Mantis and everyone. But I kinda like this one?

It helps that I also kinda hate the Doctor Strange and Clea pairing as it existed in the 1970s.* This interlude excepted, Clea was a lot more into Strange than he was into her, almost a Harley-Joker level of imbalance at times, and that vibe wasn't helped by the fact that they were still "disciple" and "master." It's not impossible to render a good relationship that breaks the usual teacher-student taboo--they were both adults--but you've got to correct somehow for that inherent power differential. Not just, you know, lean into it.

By contrast, Clea and Ben have a clear reciprocal attraction and a lot of mutual respect, while Strange's unexamined behavior is pushing her away. Sure, it's maybe not great of Clea to go to another lover to get the kind of admiration, attention, and good cheer that Steven isn't giving her. But it's at least understandable, and this was written in the free-love decade, and if any Marvel Comic had a hippie vibe, it was Doctor Strange. And it's maybe not ideal for Ben to be putting the moves on Clea when her boyfriend is saving him from a mystical threat. But Clea is putting up a lot of green flags, and for Ben, something like this is wildly in character.

The only regrettable thing about it is that Englehart left the title shortly thereafter, leaving a flailing and desperate Marv Wolfman to argue that this was all a Comics Code-approved illusion and Clea thought she was in love with "Ben" and SHE WAS ASKING THE ILLUSORY BEN FRANKLIN TO MARRY HER BECAUSE SHE WOULDN'T HAVE SEX WITH SOMEONE SHE JUST MET, WHAT ARE YOU INSINUATING, MIND CONTROL IT WAS ALL MIND CONTROL, CLEA WOULD NEVER-- Anyway, Deadpool later counterclaimed it was the real Ben Franklin and yes, Clea did, and in this case, that's good enough for me.

*(Now, the married Clea Strange as she is TODAY is totally awesome, and she and 21st-century Stephen have sometimes been the best couple in all of Marvel. But both of them, and especially Clea, had to do a LOT of evolving to get to that point.)

[cainofdreaming]

Clea and Stephen were involved before he took her as an apprentice. So it's less a teacher abusing his position and more a boyfriend wanting his girlfriend to be able to defend herself because the situations in both of their lives are bound to put her in danger.

Of course, given the time frame these stories came out, the execution isn't good. But the implication that Stephen was misusing his position is all too prevalent.

[tcampbell1000]

Noted (and forgive the delayed reply). I hadn't read all the Doc Strange stuff from earlier eras. I will say, though, that however it started, it seems difficult to balance the roles of magical teacher and student with the roles of lovers, and what early Steven I have read comes off as more condescending to his mate than 1960s Reed "Wives should be kissed and not heard" Richards.

Hard to say how much of that is just bad execution, as you say, and how much of it should be read as Steven's actual personality. Later FF flashback stories don't tend to show Reed in that ol' Father-Knows-Best mindset. But it's usually implied that Steven has always been a bit prideful even after his early humbling. Anyway, good to know.

[icon_uk]

Reagan also made an appearance in Marvel's New Universe, where we found out after an explosion at a press conference that killed most of his staff, that he was likely a paranormal too as seemed to be invulnerable, and codenamed "Teflon" because nothing stuck to him. Given the comic involved; "The Draft" came out in 1988, they were pretty much on the nose with that one.

He also made an appearance in Gruenwald's Serpent Society arc, being turned into a snake person by Viper's scheme, and then back to human, though he noted that the transformation had been better for his skin than a facelift.

[tcampbell1000]

I appreciate the heads-up about the NU, which I skimmed just long enough to know there was a President Voight--elected, I think, in place of GHWB, so he would've picked up where NU Reagan left off. This is installment 1 of 5 and concerns all the comics presidents but Reagan: I'll be getting into Reagan in the other eps.

[icon_uk]

No problem.

Voight is a character first introduced in the DP7 title, a smart and power-hungry guy with the power to duplicate and combine other paranormal's powers who rose to power one suspects using those abilities.

Reagan's appearance and reveal happens in "The Draft", a miniseries about the conscription and militarisation of paranormals.

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

Wasn’t there also a Teen Titans that had Kennedy fighting on the moon? I know it was posted here years ago.

[tcampbell1000]

Yes and no! That story was published in 2008 as a "lost annual": it involved Kennedy being replaced on Earth by a duplicate so that the people of the alien world Ullustro could use his leadership abilities in a war against their neighbors. The Teen Titans break Kennedy free of the mind control and Kennedy brokers peace, but when they return to Earth, they learn the duplicate has been assassinated in Dallas. Kennedy decides that "the shock would be too great" if his survival and the existence of aliens were revealed, and goes back to Ullustro to live out the remainder of his days as a space adventurer. It's...nuts.

The script was written by 1960s Titans scripter Bob Haney, but was it written in the 1960s and shelved? Unclear. I'd say no one would consider "Kennedy's alive and abducted by aliens" to be at all tasteful during that decade--the wound of his passing was still too fresh--but if anyone was nonconformist enough to think otherwise, it was Haney.