As did her health plan, Clinton comic falls short

With the health-care debate raging across America, it is fitting that Bluewater has released a biography on the woman who famously spearheaded the last major effort to reform the system to insure more Americans.

"Female Force: Hillary Clinton" touches on that bruising battle and the public backlash in response to it.

Actually, "touches on" may be too strong a description. Writer Neal Bailey devotes a mere three small panels and five captions to the seeming need for universal health care, Hillary's role in trying to make it a reality and the historic Republican takeover of Congress.

Which might be understandable, given the voluminous events in Hillary's life worth mentioning. But what infuriated Comics Guy is that Bailey then devoted three huge panels and 10 word balloons inserting himself in the story, describing how the health-care debate affects him personally and basically telling anyone who calls Hillary a failure due to her doomed plan to bite him.

It's not that he is taking Hillary's side or defending her. Bluewater is entitled to publish a favorable portrayal of Hillary if it wants. What bothers Comics Guy is that the time and space Bailey spends drawing attention to himself could have been used to delve more into why health-care reform was seen as needed, what Hillary actually tried to do and exactly why the negative reaction was so strong that the Republicans gained power.

Because, to this day, health-care reform remains the issue on which Hillary is identified. In many ways, it is the issue that defines her, for good or ill. To give it such short shrift, especially when compared to the author's personal opinions on the subject, hurts the whole book.

What also harms the effort is that Bailey admits in the book that he knew virtually nothing about Hillary until he was asked to write the comic. Before starting to research her, he says, he had "apprehensions" about writing about our current secretary of state because he disliked her. What caused Bailey's disdain? Her husband? Whitewater? Her political positions?

No, Bailey disliked her because . . . she tried to ban "Grand Theft Auto"!

It is clear that this bio will not be compared to the works of David McCullough; this is further accentuated when one looks at the bibliography and sees that Bailey didn't exactly do a broad search. Seventeen of the 25 entries listed are from Wikipedia - and no books are listed as sources. It would have been interesting to see some info gleaned from Hillary's own autobiography, "Living History," or a tome from one of her detractors, like "Rewriting History," by Dick Morris. Then we could get a better idea of what motivates her and why both she and those who oppose her are so passionate.

Instead, Bailey has almost done the impossible. He has turned the life story of one of the most controversial, polarizing figures of our time and - with a passionless approach - made her seem almost bland.

That said, the comic does touch on a lot. Often forgotten tidbits like how Hillary began her political life as a Republican and what made her change her mind add some spice to the story.

In the end, what comes across is that even without some sizzle, there is plenty of steak here in the life of a woman that is full of barriers broken and has been historic by any measure.

And while Michelle Obama has replaced her as the new, young, hip first lady and Sarah Palin has eclipsed her as a political rock star (with her base) and perhaps even outdone Hillary as far as arousing passions, it is worth noting that just last year, 18 million people voted for her in primaries in the hopes she would be elected to the highest office in the land. One of the things the comic does successfully is use various examples to illustrate what an enormous, impressive achievement that is.

In the end, the comic succeeds in making clear that Hillary's life is full of historic accomplishments while humanizing her a bit. That makes it worth getting for anyone who wants to learn more about her, despite its flaws.

Aspen has announced that two of their properties are being made into feature films and already have big-name talent attached.

Gale Ann Hurd ("Incredible Hulk") will be producing a "Soulfire" film in concert with Valhalla Motion Pictures. Hurd has said she sees "Soulfire" as lighthearted and bringing "a little magic back to a dark world.

An even bigger announcement is that a film will be made based on the aquatic heroine "Fathom." Perhaps the late Michael Turner's most stunning creation, Jordan Mechner, is working on the script and Megan Fox has been selected to fill out the jaw-droppingly gorgeous heroine's bathing suit.

Which leaves Comics Guy asking if you have a big budget and Megan Fox underwater in a bikini, do you really need a script?

in trouble?

The New York Post reports that the "Spider-Man" musical is in serious trouble and almost certain to miss its announced date of Feb. 25, 2010, to begin previews.

In fact, at the beginning of last week, there were rumors the whole thing was going to be scrapped.

Sony, which produced the "Spider-Man" movies and Marvel have both lost faith in lead producer David Garfinkle (who may be canned by the time you read this) for his inability to rein in Julie Taymor ("The Lion King"), who has a history of blowing through budgets.

"She'll spend days and days on one minute of stage time," said a source who worked with Taymor on "The Lion King." "It will be a brilliant minute, but it's expensive."

Such delays can strain even a show with a $45 million budget. In fact, another source says that since Taymor has "gotten pretty much everything she's wanted," the budget could easily hit $50 million.

Garfinkle is also blamed for having trouble raising money and not starting a big advertising push yet.

"It's a $45 million show - they need money and they're invisible," one anonymous source says.

Production sources say there'll be a massive ad blitz for "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" this fall.

E-mail comicsguy@phillynews.com