Obama as Superhero

News from Marvel: Obama will be on the cover of a special issue of Spiderman.

As quoted in Wired, Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada said: 

"How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief," Quesada said. "It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We're all thrilled with that."

Obama will not be a superhero in the comic--the plot revolves around his inauguration. Still, the historic nature of his presidency gives him the aura of comic book hero--the seeming invulnerability, the way he inspires, but most importantly, the way his audiences imbue him with the characteristics of a superhero. 

But like most superheroes, Obama is a reluctant one. And obviously, reality interferes with such a conception, as Obama himself would probably concur. Here's how a realistic conception of his superpowers might go: Inspires in a single speech, more powerful because of a dedicated web presence devoted to voter outreach, able to turn around the economy in  six months with appropriately robust stimulus legislation--he's a Illinoisian, he's a husband and a father, he's Obama-man!

Actually, that doesn't sound bad at all, given our current situation. In any case, the Spiderman cover is just another example of the ubiquity of Obama as a sign.

--J.S.