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Mar

14

Female Force Comics: Michelle Obama out in April; Clinton, Palin sold out


From the Chicago Tribune:

The Obama comic, which will be officially released April 25 and will sell for $3.99, shows the first lady growing up in her middle-class South Shore home, attending Princeton and helping her husband become president. In keeping with the upbeat tone of the “Female Force” series, the Obama edition does not mention any controversial speeches or fist bumps.

Obama does not possess any superpowers in the comic, but the cover depicts her in a sleeveless top that highlights the most famous arms in Washington.

The 22-page comic also avoids any illustrations of Malia or Sasha Obama, a decision the publisher made to steer clear of the controversy surrounding the Ty Girlz dolls created in the sisters’ image earlier this year.

“We wanted to be respectful to all the women in the series,” [Bluewater Productions President Darren] Davis said. “They’ve really done amazing things in their lives.”

I wasn’t aware of the series until I found the Trib article while researching how the relationship between Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton has been going (well from what we can see and read). You can see the Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin covers below. Although they’re sold out, I saw a reference that said they’re in a second printing.  An issue featuring Caroline Kennedy is scheduled for a June release.

Here’s the site of Bluewater which is putting out these comics. The company has been in the news quite a bit lately.  They’ve got a special page about the Obama issue.  A CNN report on them:

See also Michelle Obama Watch’s post on the new comic.

Has anyone seen these around? Would you buy/are you buying them for yourself, daughter or other girls/women in your life? Which other women should be profiled?  Who else is a “female force”?

    

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:26 am March 14th, 2009 in Culture, Gender, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Politics, Sarah Palin, Sexism, Social Issues, Women, leadership 

Comments

7 Responses to “Female Force Comics: Michelle Obama out in April; Clinton, Palin sold out”

  1. 1 LilaTovCocktail on March 14th, 2009 2:41 pm

    I like the idea of these, but I wish the illustration style were not so, well, ugly. I want my graphic novels and comics to have fluid lines and colors that don’t make me squint.

  2. 2 Erica on March 14th, 2009 4:24 pm

    Y’know, while I don’t dislike Caroline Kennedy, I don’t think she’s worthy of a “Female Force” cover just because she was in the news recently. I’d be overjoyed to buy comics for my daughter (ok, ok, mostly for me, Little One can’t read yet) profiling strong women, but there are far more inspiring figures to write about than Kennedy.

    I’m also disappointed that the series all seems to be politicians, which is just one of many ways that modern history is made and shaped.

    But on the plus side, Hillary Clinton totally looks like she’s doing a Superman pose there.

  3. 3 anastasia on March 14th, 2009 7:30 pm

    I agree with you, Erica, especially about the sries being entirely focused on politics. And while I think Hillary and Michelle are certainly worthy of “hero” treatment, Kennedy and Palin to me are nothing but “newsmakers.” In fact, Palin’s story is sort of anti-inspirational and discouraging to young girls. Kennedy at least made something of herself but again, that she’s in the spotlight is due to her being someone’s daughter. It would be nice to see this kind of treatment being given to other women but I suppose unless they’re in entertainment, they probably aren’t famous enough to sell. And if they ARE in entertainment (or sports – the Williams sisters come immediately to mind), I wonder if there are trademark issues.

  4. 4 Boring Made Dull on March 14th, 2009 7:48 pm

    Never been much of a fan of this kind of thing – I don’t think that it actually does much good in the way of role models, etc.

    I also have to agree that there’s too much focus on politics. Sports figures are also overblown in our society. Some better choices would be some business leaders, scientists, astronauts, etc. The fact that we spend so much time an energy on politics is probably not a good sign for society*.

    And while we can be snide about Sarah Palin’s politics, one does note that she got herself elected as Governor without having to ride her husband’s coattails. Unlike our current secretary of state.

    Hillary may or may not turn out to be a good Secretary of State. It certainly seemed to me that she was a better fit in the Senate, but time will tell.

    The Caroline Kennedy cover certainly maxes out the lame-o-meter, sort of like her ‘campaign’ for Senator. I mean, you have to have the picture of Jack just so you know why she’s there.

    *This from a guy who runs a blog that’s 95%+ politics.

  5. 5 Constance on March 14th, 2009 9:32 pm

    Too bad the two “masterminds” behind the comic books are male. So the women do not have super powers? Boring. They should go into a high adventure story, like Palin and Rice being evil and wanting to take over the world while our heros … LOL.

    They do not fit my idea of “comic” books. I have not seen these around but I wouldn’t be looking.

  6. 6 Jen on March 15th, 2009 1:56 pm

    WOW – this is pretty darn cool. Thanks for sharing!

  7. 7 ElisabethF on March 30th, 2009 3:18 pm

    There’s also a Princess Diana Female Force comic–TFAW.com is the only retailer that carries all five comics.

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