McCain, Obama to star in their own comic books

updated 10:07 a.m. ET July 30, 2008

It's a year of superheroes in Hollywood, with the big-budget epics of Batman, Iron Man and the Hulk, but a big-budget production out of Washington, D.C., is carving a niche in the animation trend.

Presumptive nominees John McCain and Barack Obama will star this fall in their own comic books put out by IDW Publishing, a San Diego-based publisher better known for telling the stories of robots (“The Transformers”) and vampires (“30 Days of Night”).

Don't expect Captain America-versus-Superman hijinks or super-villains threatening the electoral process. Trading sound bites for word balloons, the books purport to tell McCain and Obama's life stories, independently researched and illustrated by a veteran team of writers and artists.

“We're not doing anything that is sensational here,” said IDW special projects editor Scott Dunbier, adding that neither campaign was involved in the development of the books. “We're sticking to the facts.”

On Oct. 8, the books will be released in comic book shops and go on sale online and for reading on cell phones.

Comic book biographies have been written before — Marvel Comics had a best-seller in 1982 with a biography of Pope John Paul II. But Dunbier said the company is breaking new ground getting out fully researched comics on two candidates before Election Day.

Dunbier said the nontraditional style of storytelling and visuals in comics may reach some voters more effectively than other types of media can.

“We're not in the business of doing textbooks, but I think comic books really do have the great potential to inform and teach and do more than just standard superhero comics,” he said.

Customers can pre-order the books over the Internet through IDW, which also will sell them through cell phones with the help of Kansas City-based uClick, the digital arm of newspaper feature distributor Universal Press Syndicate.

uClick already sells a service allowing customers to view comics over their phones but the presidential comics will be part of a push to begin allowing customers to order whole books over their phone, said Jeff Webber, vice president of product development.

“We'll be looking at how many people download to phones versus read them in print, which IDW should find interesting, as well as which (book) gets downloaded the most,” Webber said. “This is a great opportunity to show people that there are comics on the phone.”

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