Ah, President's Day; a day when children stay home from school, government agencies shut down, and everybody has insane weekend sales(us included). Somehow though, all of these things are meant to remind of us of our leaders past and present. Unfortunately I can't really explain why these things somehow correlate to President's Day(much like bunnies and Easter), but it does provide me a wonderful opportunity to discuss comic book presidents and natural borne leaders. I don't need much of an excuse to do anything, let alone rant and rave about characters from our beloved comics! Feel free to throw out any ideas at the end of the article, I'm sure I'll miss some obvious ones and I'll need you guys to pick up the slack. We have our own little way of honoring President's Day.
Believe it or not there have been presidential appearances in our most coveted media. John F. Kennedy has impersonated Superman, The Clintons went to a super hero's funeral, Nixon has weighed the fate of the world, and Obama got involved with Spider Man! That should be proof right there that even the leaders of the United States are not immune from being placed within such a 'novel' medium such as ours. It seems though that most presidents aren't exactly portrayed in the best fashion over the past 30 or 40 years. Maybe it is a sign of the times or perhaps comic books just need something to make it appear more realistic, but presidents always seem so...inconsistent? Nixon had contemplated how many lives would be lost in a nuclear exchange with the then Soviet Union, but then we have somebody like Bill Clinton delivering a eulogy during the 'Death of Superman'. We have JFK trusted with Superman's secret identity, while recently Obama questioned the appearance of Spider Man at the inauguration and then later thank him immensely for his help. Suppose the presidents are at the mercy of the writers and artists after-all!
Speaking of Superman, both the Man of Steel and his nemesis Lex Luthor have served in some capacity as leader or president. Superman is almost always looked at as a natural leader, although reluctant. Having only achieved an official station in Superman: Red Son, Superman essentially became an immortal world leader that eradicated famine, poverty, and random accidents. The only price that was asked was an acceptance of complete control over humanity by Superman. Eventually, things don't go so well as certain rogue elements in society pop up, but for a time Superman had made the world perfect – but without choice. On the flip side of this coin we have Lex Luthor, which used his money and power to catapult his way to the presidency in the wake of the Gotham City fiasco. Lex Luthor as president split the Justice League, some wanting to respect the position while others saw Lex Luthor as the person he truly is. Needless to say, Lex Luthor did not finish his term and his company suffered a dramatic reshuffling! Lex used his intelligence and power to manipulate the people of the world, appearing to be honorable but really being the same Lex we all know. Did somebody say Imperiex?
Of course the political wheel is often helped along by the engine of our financial institutions, so now I get to mention some comic captains of industry! I suppose this relates to the 'sales' part of President's Day. Tony Stark, Lucius Fox, and Norman Osborn have had their influences on the political process in some form or another. Tony Stark's fortune was created by a majority of weapons sales to the United States government, and even his best friend maintained a position within the U.S. military. Of course his membership in the Illuminati provided him with a degree of power, though it was often cloaked from public knowledge. Lucius Fox, a perfect example of a perfect business man, is known for his generous heart, his loyalty, and his ability to turn around sinking corporations into successful ones. He even goes on to convince Batman to start a charity with some of the money from Wayne Enterprises, claiming not all of the money needs to go to actively fighting crime. Against both of these examples always comes the dark underbelly of business and the example of this is Norman Osborn (I already mentioned Lex!) Having used his victories during the Civil War and Secret Invasion to replace Tony Stark as director of SHIELD, he used his power and finances to turn SHIELD into HAMMER which was essentially his own personal army that he used to further his own agendas. The heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe know of much of a nutter good ol Normy is, so it wasn't long before he was removed from his position of power. Probably something to do with an invasion of a demiplane...after all, America loves a winner!
The last thing I wish to touch open are the non-elected leaders in the comic book world. Some are benevolent rules, while others are heartless tyrants. Well, looking at my list it is mostly the bad kind but at least we have some good ones! One of the 'gooduns' is Aquaman. What, you forgot that he is the King of Atlantis? He has to protect the vast majority of Earth(relative to land mass vs water mass)! He fanatically defends his people, and is reluctant to do anything that may bring his people harm. Suppose Thor could be thrown in here as well, but he seems like an absentee leader most of the time. Against the Thor and Aquaman backdrop we have cast Black Adam, Emperor Joker, Dr. Doom, and Sinestro! Ouch, that's quite a line up of evil and anti-heroes. Black Adam has sometimes been portrayed as evil, while other times as a melancholy hero. Most of the time though he is quick to react and loves violence, at least that is a consistent trait across both iterations. Oh, and he also has a thing for people following his very specific rules – those that do not will be meet with death. Sounds awfully close to Dr. Doom, doesn't it? Dr. Doom is like 99% evil...not entirely sure if he has ever been shown to have a vein of humanity in him. Just ask his citizens! In one storyline, the Joker gains the powers of the 5th dimension and remakes the entire world a twisted version of itself. He often tortures and traps people in perpetual loops, harassing Batman everyday only to remake him at the start of the next. Do I even need to explain why he isn't a very effective leader(Smilex probably has something to do with it)? At least the people in that world knew their leader was absolutely batty! With the Green Lantern series becoming more popular, it would be silly for me not to mention Sinestro, the great harbinger of fear! He wants exactly what the Green Lanterns want – order. The difference is that he would much rather use fear and power to beat people into submission! Hey, order is order right, nobody really cares about pesky little freedoms anyways.
So, I hope that you've enjoyed this sprawling mass of mindless text and I hope that it puts things into perspective a bit. This is President's Day, a time for remembering and honoring our leaders both real and imagined! For a limited time, you can save 13% on any order you place on our web site when you use Prez13 as your coupon code.