President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he was pretty into comic books in the past.
“I grew up loving comic books. Back in the day, I was pretty into Conan the Barbarian and Spiderman,” Obama said in a recruiting email for Organizing for Action, his progressive nonprofit advocacy group.
“Anyone who reads comics can tell you, every main character has an origin story — the fateful and usually unexpected sequence of events that made them who they are. The same goes for grassroots organizers,” Obama said.
His claim appears to be valid. The Telegraph reported after his 2008 election that Obama “collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics.” The Onion then referenced Obama’s Conan fandom in a satirical article.
Pulp author Robert E. Howard’s original 1930’s Conan the Barbarian stories have been the subject of multiple critical inquiries into the role of race in popular literature. The main character was played on the big screen by future Republican California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Barack the Barbarian” is a comic book series offered by Devil’s Due Comics.