Barack the Barbarian #1

"This is Barack the Barbarian! I am asking you to follow him as you would follow me. Onward, sisters--to the Pit of Contention and Woe!" - Hilaria

You know how ten years ago, SNL would regularly take concepts that were perfectly suited for three-minute sketches, and then get greedy and expand them into 90-minute films? So we ended up with gems like Superstar and A Night at the Roxbury?

Barack the Barbarian seems sort of like that. The idea of a political satire of the 2008 presidential election set against the sword and sorcery genre isn't a bad one--although, how well it's executed here is questionable--but it seems like an idea for a one-shot at most. Maybe even just a short story in an anthology. But an ongoing series? I think the joke's going to get really old, really fast. Assuming it hasn't already.

The story opens with Barack the Barbarian arriving in the town of Warshingtun with only his sword and his donkey, where he quickly runs into oddly familiar places and people. There's Hilaria (obvious) and her army of amazons, Manny the Fixer (Rahm Emanuel), the evil Boosh and his vizier (Bush and Cheney) who are holding the Goddess (Michelle Obama?) captive in a tower, the Old Warrior (John McCain), and Red Sarah, who's based on...well...

Some might call this outfit sexist or disrespectful, but you know what? I really think Sarah Palin could pull it off. And I'd very much like to see her try.

Anyway, as with any political satire, the issue is full of in-jokes and not-so-veiled references to various political institutions. Next issue promises the Labyrinth of Pundits, and it's not hard to guess who will show up in that one.

Here's the real problem with the issue, though: It's just not funny. It's amusing. But again, sort of like how a brief SNL sketch is amusing, but becomes considerably less so as it drags on.

To be fair, there are a few clever moments, like when Barack and Manny discuss offering Hileria the viziership in exchange for her support (Barack: "Offer a prize we have yet to win?" Manny: "Standard practice.") As well as scenes like this:

Regardless, though, it never rises above, "Hey, look, it's the president of the United States in a loincloth carrying a sword. Laugh." There's a reason why SNL sketches, JibJab videos, etc. are only a couple of minutes long, as opposed to ninety minutes. And so the idea of Barack the Barbarian as an ongoing series kind of makes my head hurt.

Ever since putting President Obama on the cover of The Amazing Spider-Man in January made Marvel a small fortune, publishers have been rushing to think of ways to capitalize on his popularity. This is a trend that really needs to stop. You can only use the same gag so many times before it's tired and hack, and really just irritating. Hopefully, Barack the Barbarian will finally make the comic book industry take a step back and realize that maybe they've taken this just a bit too far.

Or not.