Stephen Colbert Cameo in Marvel's Spider-Man
Colbert Report Host Gets 8-Page Marvel Comics Story as President Nom
Oct 6, 2008
By now, Marvel comics fans are familiar with seemingly random appearances of Colbert Report host Stephen Colbert in their comics. If they aren't already fans of his enormously popular nightly follow-up to Comedy Central's Daily Show with John Stewart, fans have surely seen Colbert's face sprinkled on billboards and benches in the backgrounds of Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic 4 and other Marvel comics staples.
Stephen Colbert a Self-Confessed Comic Geek
In a rare TV-meets-comics crossover, Stephen Colbert has been appearing for months in mainstream Marvel comics as a presidential nominee for the Marvel Universe. Billboards and bus ads garnish the pages, often with Stephen Colbert's face and a 'Colbert '08' slogan. Occasionally Stephen Colbert appears on a television set in the background of the action.
It's no secret that Stephen Colbert is a big fans of comics. His comics alter-ego Tek Jansen has his own series that debuted in July 2007. Stephen Colbert long declared himself a geek, and in the ultimate shout out of brotherhood, Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada sent Stephen Colbert Cap's shield, following the death of Captain America.
Colbert Gets 8 page Story in Amazing Spider-Man #573
Unlike in Tek Jansen, Colbert appears as his mocking-conservative alter ego in Spider-Man. Writer Mark Waid said in an interview with New-a-rama that he was inspired by Colbert's performance on The Colbert Report when crafting the dialogue between Colbert's comic persona and veteran characters J. Jonah Jameson and Spidey. Waid added that the Colbert team responded enthusiastically to the script, replying with "No notes! Go for it!"
The 8 page story is illustrated by Patrick Olliffe and will have a variant cover done by Joe Quesada himself. Marvel doesn't want to spoil the surprise of the story, but says elements reference the classic Spider-Man #50. Amazing Spider-Man #573 goes on sale on October 15, 2008 and is titled 'Lo, There Shall Come This Man, This Candidate.'
Stephen Colbert for President of the Marvel Universe
While Stephen Colbert's pundit persona's presidential bid may have been cut short, there's no short supply of support for his run in the Marvel Universe. The Spider-Man 8-page story is only the latest in Colbert's comic book campaign for president of the Marvel Universe. The story centers on the need for Colbert to secure New York in his bid for 270 electoral votes. His campaign even has several blogs dedicated to it on both Marvel and Comedy Central's websites.
In the fictional campaign Joe Quesada is listed as Colbert's running mate. The crossover event marks 2 unusual rarities in the comic book world: pop-culture crossovers and naming of a president. Marvel comics is usually not keen on naming the president of the fictional universe, since the Marvel timeline is much different than real time. For the same reason, many pop culture and mainstream media events are not typcically referenced.
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