Sarah Palin, comic book heroine
A Bellingham publishing entrepreneur sees force and fortune in the Palin story, no matter how it turns out.
If you think Sarah Palin's going away after the election, you don't understand the world of comic book publishing.
A lot of us don't.
Bluewater Productions of Bellingham, a publisher of popular, non-satirical hero adventure comics, plans to put Gov. Palin on the shelves of a comic book dealer near you, in February. The biography concentrates on her rise from middle class Alaskan homemaker and Outdoor Woman to being a political heart attack away from the office of President of the United States.
Darren Davis is owner, publisher, creative director and endlessly enthusiastic founder of Bluewater. He runs it from a two-person office in Bellingham, but it's a much bigger deal than that. He and his business partner, Jason Schultz, hire fifty or more artists around the world to do the penciling, inking, and lettering required to get Davis's story lines onto the page. His first independent publishing venture, "10th Muse," was the sixth-largest seller among comic books in 2001, Davis says, beating out the further adventures of both Batman and Superman.
They published the highly successful "Wrath of the Titans," based on the adventures of Ray Harryhausen, a household name among comic book households, and will soon issue a series based on the novels of William "Captain Kirk" Shatner of the USS Enterprise.
Perhaps signaling the advent of the Palin biography, "10th Muse" features a very strong, real, live woman on the cover. Her name is Sable, and don't mess with her. Only those whose boring, mundane lives — mine, for instance — fail to intersect with comic book characters or television rasslers, will need to be told that Sable is a star of World Wrestling Entertainment.
This is no Mad Magazine outfit doing comic send-ups of Sable and Sarah. They're serious. "We want to attract a new demographic, not just the 12-year-old but the 40-year-old who will recognize and respect a strong woman who has changed history, as the first woman to run for vice president as a Republican," the 40-year-old Davis says. "We hope the book will help bring her the respect she deserves."
"Whether you like her or not, in the past few weeks, she's proved that she can really take it. They make fun of her on Saturday Night Live, and then she shows up on SNL and gives it right back."
"They make jokes about her expensive wardrobe, and she comes back in her second-hand outfit from the consignment store in Anchorage. She shows that she is someone who gets it. I don't necessarily like her, but I respect her."
The Palin comic book will hit the streets about the same time as a parallel treatment of another strong female character, Hillary Clinton, whom Davis does like and who, he feels certain, would have been elected president had the Democrats nominated her. However, he stresses, "You won't know from reading our books whether we're Republican or Democrat."
"We're publishing an entire Female Force series, featuring women who are making history," Davis says. "We may include people like Oprah and Barbara Walters, for the great contributions they've made to society."
Is there a risk in committing to a biography of a person who might fall off the earth in the manner of Lloyd Bentsen (Dukakis, 1988) or William Miller (Goldwater, 1964), remembered primarily by the Bentsens and the Millers, who may not read a lot of comic books?
"That's not going to happen to Palin," Davis says. "We're publishing two versions of her life story. In one she's off to the White House. In the other she goes back to Alaska as governor, where she'll continue to meet challenges and make history. In real life she's not going to disappear. She might even become a commentator for Fox News."
Bluewater's also working with the estate of Vincent Price to publish a series of horror stories.
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Comments:
Posted Tue, Oct 28, 11:01 p.m. inappropriate
Why is it exactly that I should "respect" Sarah Palin?
Because she managed to convince a remote state with a population the size of Oklahoma City to elect her to public office? The same state, I might add, that gave us Senator Stevens, a recently convicted felon?
Because she was plucked from complete obscurity by John McCain's campaign advisers, against his will, to be his running mate in what is certainly the worst decision ever made by a political campaign?
Because she, like thousands of gang-bangers, figured out how to shoot a gun?
Because ignorant men are attracted to her?
Because Palin, like Sable, is perfectly suited for the WWF?
There are thousands if not millions of women who are much smarter and more accomplished in their chosen field than Sarah Palin.
Posted Wed, Oct 29, 1:05 p.m. inappropriate
The problem with Sarah Palin is that there doesn't seem to be a there there--except for a powerful resentment against educated people.
If she were an impassioned populist reformer--or just passionate about anything larger than herself--I'd respect her. Maybe she'll grow and develop some actual passions and become a politician worth watching. As it is, though, her "reforms" have turned out to be the shallowest fictions, and her ever-changing packaging gives the sense that she's hungry to be important and willing to espouse pretty much any belief that will help her get there.
The closest thing to a consistent passion in her life, at least according to some interesting profiles appearing recently in the press, is resentment against what she calls "elites." She's much wealthier than I am, but I think I'm an "elite" in her mind, because I usually vote for Democrats. I think most of the people I know and love are also "bad," "un-American" "elites" to Sarah Palin--including my 80-something uncle, who grew up on a tiny farm, volunteered for the most dangerous job he could find in World War II, and to this day picks up roadside trash in his rural Ohio neighborhood--well, he's an "elite," too, because he votes Democratic and does not support racism. Not even the nudge-nudge, wink-wink variety Palin and McCain have been toying with lately.
So if she's ever elected president, I guess I can look forward to being one of a big class of scapegoats she can use to whip up her party's paranoid base--because a president who has no agenda other than self-aggrandizement always needs a scapegoat to beat up when the absence of thoughtful policy and planning begin to hurt people where they live.
As the last eight years' poor planning is hurting us all right now.
Posted Thu, Mar 12, 12:30 a.m. inappropriate
Wow, not alot of jealousy in this forum huh? Maybe the females are a little taken back when a woman has the guts to live her life the way she believes in. Knowing how difficult it would to be a woman that was pro-life and a Republican at the same time in this day and age. Ooh, she can shoot a gun. Ooh, she is more attractive than any other female democrat in the Country. So what? Sarah goes way beyond that. She was a mayor before she was the Governor. Her state does so well that the people who live there get checks every year from the state. As far as smarts, as we are seeing today that book smarts doesnt mean anything. Obama has preached change for so long and is now doing the same ole political crap while doubling the money George Bush spent. Within 50 days Obama has doudled the deficit. Obama is to book smart to learn from the past that Ronald Reagan did when he was given an economy worse than the one Obama took over. So, smarts? Sarah would have done what has worked in the past! That doesnt take book smarts. It takes love for our Country, and doing what is right for us. So, while the liberal media spews out lies about Sarah Palin in ways that Obama would sick his boys after them like he did to Joe The Plumber for just being at a rally. Sarah will continue to live her life the right way even when its not popular to do so. Now we are getting taxed out of our ass like Obama said he wouldnt and being lied to as to weather he would use earmarks. Not! How about 850 of them. Oh, and closing Gitmo. Thats friggin smart! One of the guys who was just let out of gitmo was just found killing Americans in Afganistan again. It will happen. Hope they move these sicko's right next to you Sarah Palin, low tax, pro military haters out there.