In a comics twist, Obama faces mystic threats

With two giant mergers dominating comic book news the last couple of weeks (see below), perhaps the most unusual team-up has proven to be a surprise hit for Dynamite.

That book is "Army of Darkness: Ash Saves Obama." What is Ash saving our 44th president from? Birthers? Hostile health- care opponents at a town hall? Glenn Beck?

None of the above. In a situation that is a bit contrived but that writer Elliot Serrano makes work, Ash finds himself having to save President Obama from mystic threats unleashed at a comic- book convention, beginning in the first issue with a comic written in an ancient forgotten language that when finally spoken sets loose the forces of darkness.

While it will never be accused of being Shakespearean, the book is entertaining. Serrano capture's Ash's unique personality and seems to have Obama's voice down as well. They seem to go together like peanut butter and chocolate: the Everyman S-Mart worker and the most powerful man on the planet, one defining hotheadedness and the other exuding cool.

Serrano even has a semiplausible setup for the story: Comic fan Obama, while on a visit to a new Detroit green car factory, decides to meet his young base and pick up some comics at a convention in the city. Serrano even uses the setting to comment on the proliferation of Obama comics and merchandise at shops and cons and whether it is a good or bad trend. From there, Obama is portrayed as gracious and good-natured with those he meets until Ash comes on the scene and all hell breaks loose.

Things look to get even crazier in issue #2 as Obama accidentally comes into possession of a piece of the Necronomicon, which is guaranteed to launch him on a journey that will make trying to pass health-care reform look like a piece of cake.

Luckily for him and readers, Ash has his back.

The big news this past week was the announcement of a major restructuring at DC Comics. The publishing company will be part of a new division called DC Entertainment that now will report directly to Warner Pictures.

Current DC Comics president and publisher Paul Levitz will segue into a new role as "writer, contributing editor and overall consultant to DC Entertainment," according to an announcement by DC.

The move is seen as an attempt to have more synergy between the publishing side of its comic properties and the animation, TV and film side. It has long been a source of frustration by many that except for Batman, DC has struggled to bring its iconic characters to the big screen.

It's ironic that Levitz's role is being diminished because Warner Bros. wants to take full advantage of its feature film opportunities, because no one fought harder to ensure that creators benefited from those opportunities than Paul Levitz.

As comic Web magazine Newsarama reported, Levitz long claimed his proudest achievement was helping work out with then-publisher Jenette Kahn what would become the standards of compensation for creators, including royalties for freelancers, reprint payments, art returns (which artists generally sell for additional funding). He also guaranteed that creators got credit on the covers of books.

Marvel Comics head honcho Joe Quesada gave an exclusive interview to Comic Book Resources about the Disney/Marvel deal. Here's what he said:

"Right at this moment, Marvel shareholders still have to vote their approval on Disney's offer. So, while we've made the big announcement, there are still a few more steps involved until it's final and there are some laws and agreements that govern what I can discuss at this time. That's really all there is to it, and I hope everyone understands that it's nothing more than these are the legal rules we have to play by.

"Once the deal is closed I'll be able to speak more about it, but for now I'll answer what I can. All I ask is that if you can all be patient, there will be plenty of great stuff to talk about in the very near future."

His comments seem to suggest that lower cover prices, a Marvel/Pixar collaboration, and Marvel publishing classic Disney properties are likely, as are possible comics based on modern Disney hits like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and teen-centric properties like "High School Musical."