Obama stimulus plan already working on comic books
It’s been said that Barack Obama’s web-savvy would help the economy, and now we have proof.
ICv2 reports: "Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #583 rode President Obama’s coattails to a record-setting total of 352,953, making it the bestselling full-price periodical comic book since ICv2 began tracking sales through Diamond Comic Distributors in 2001. Previous high numbers belong to Marvel’s Civil War #3 and Captain America #25, which each sold 290K, but unlike those titles ASM #583’s performance was the result of not just multiple variant covers, but multiple printings–in fact it appears likely that the majority of ASM’s sales came from subsequent printings not its initial run. And, for anyone who thinks that the Obama cover was not the primary sales driver, please note that prior to the Obama story and cover image, the title had been selling south of the 70,000 mark. The sales for this title may not be all over–the fourth printing of ASM #583 shipped in February along with the fifth printing."
Now all we have to do is get Obama to crossover into every single comic published. I bet they’re already discussing it in editorial offices across the land, though it’s going to be tough to slip him into an issue of Jonah Hex.
UPDATE 3:15 PM: Looks like President Awesome has already predicted this.
At New York Comic Con this weekend, Del Rey Manga announced the latest information on their two new manga-style retellings of Marvel Comics properties, Wolverine and The X-Men.
The YIVO Institute presents one-on-one interviews with Al Jaffee, Jules Feiffer, and Harvey Pekar. YIVO’s “Comics and the American Jewish Dream” series kicks off Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00 pm with:
Remember the last time comics were in serious economic troubles? Remember when Marvel went bankrupt?
Clearly inspired by Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Marvel is releasing a hardcover graphic novel, Wolverine. The press note says, “That’s right Bub, Marvel is proud to unveil Todd Nauck’s cover to Wolverine, an all-new hardcover graphic novel presenting the history of Wolverine’s life from his days as wimpy kid to just how he became one of Marvel’s deadliest heroes. In stores this April, experience the most unique look ever inside the mind of everyone’s favorite Canadian in Wolverine!”
Maddie Blaustein, known to a generation as the voice of Pokémon’s nemesis Meowth, passed away at age 48. Aaron McQuade said she died in her sleep after a brief, undisclosed illness.
Marvel Comics kicks off their 70th Anniversary celebration with [[[Marvel Chronicle]]], a wonderful hardcover book, published by DK Publishing. The coffee table book comes in a hard box complete with color and black and white reproductions of Jim Cheung’s frenetic cover. (The diecut M for the front cover is a nice touch.) As is sadly too often the case these days Stan Lee’s introduction is full of bombast and enthusiasm but tells us nothing new.
The November numbers are in and 
Director Kenneth Branagh spoke with MTV’s 
