What A Draw For 'Archie': Palin, Obama in Newest Issue
Mark A. Perigard - Boston Herald
Dec 22, 2010
Call it the Great Milkshake Summit.
Real-life rivals Barack Obama and Sarah Palin put party politics aside to sip from the same frothy glass in the newest issue of "Archie," due out in comic book shops tomorrow.
The dynamic duo also are depicted as Spandex-clad superheroes on a variant cover of a two-part story that pits Archie Andrews against archnemesis Reggie Mantle in their race for Riverdale High class president.
"Whether you agree or disagree with her, you have to recognize (Palin's) a dynamic force in this country, and we thought it would be a fun, interesting story," Archie Comics co-CEO Jon Goldwater told the Herald yesterday. "She's the de facto head of the Republican party. There's no other candidate out there leading the charge like her.''
In part one of "Campaign Pain'' in "Archie'' No. 616, Archie's floundering campaign gets a boost when he's photographed with Obama. Not to be outdone, Reggie takes advantage of a photo op with Mama Grizzly. Both let their classmates think they are officially backed.
The issue climaxes with both the leader of the free world and the first lady of the Alaskan tundra arriving at the school and demanding to know who's behind the phony endorsements.
The story is part of a concerted campaign by Archie Comics to be more relevant, Goldwater said.
While Obama appeared in an issue of "Veronica'' earlier this year, urging the rich teenager to do her part to goose the economy by shopping more, this issue marks Palin's debut at Riverdale High.
Despite the seemingly politically charged theme, Goldwater promises the story will be upbeat. "One thing we're never going to do is take any one side over another side," he said.
While Goldwater wouldn't say how many issues he's ordered up, he did acknowledge it's three times the usual run.
"The volume is so high from the left and the right. We want to turn the volume down a bit,'' he said. "We can all sit down and all enjoy a milkshake and discuss the issues calmly.''
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