Wednesday is the last comic book release day before the election, and several publishers are celebrating with election-themed specials. While 2016’s political comics haven’t all been winners (remember neo-Nazi Captain America?), some of those election week issues turned out pretty great.
Faith #5
Valiant Entertainment’s plus-size superhero Faith has a cult following, an optimistic and feminist comic with a similar tone to the CW’s Supergirl. Issue #5 is a 48-page election special split into three stories, one of which features Hillary Clinton.
Faith #5
Some conservative retailers refused to stock Faith #5 due to its positive portrayal of the Democratic candidate, although the comic’s creators claim it isn’t an official endorsement.
Catwoman: Election Night
Catwoman’s election day special is about the mayoral race in Gotham City, featuring a contest between the Penguin as a fairly obvious analogy for Donald Trump, versus a more traditional candidate named Constance Hill.
Catwoman: Election Night
The Penguin runs on a classic platform for Gotham citizens: cleaning up the streets and dealing with the city’s crime problem. The fact that he’s a former mob boss doesn’t seem to matter—except to Catwoman, who decides to investigate both candidates.
The last 10 pages of Election Night are dedicated to an epilogue for DC’s Prez, the sadly shortlived political satire comic about a teen girl who accidentally gets elected president. Touching on the topics of gun control and birth control legislation, this short story is as fun as the rest of Prez‘s truncated run, a lively comic that feels like a more cheerful look at the world of Transmetropolitan.
Bitch Planet #9
Undoubtedly the most hard-hitting comic on this list, Bitch Planet is never not political. Inspired by vintage exploitation movies, it’s a dystopian adventure set in a futuristic offworld prison known as Bitch Planet, where women are sent for failing to “comply” with society’s standards. Each issue is bookended by feminist essays from guest writers, and the current storyline is titled “President Bitch.”
Any further details would be spoilers, but if you’ve missed the past few issues, now is a good time to catch up. Bitch Planet #9 is a gamechanger, ramping up the action in an already complex and thrilling story. It’s also the least literal “election comic” on this list, avoiding direct comparisons to Trump or Clinton in favor of the Bitch Planet‘s long-running political themes.
Flintstones #5
To everyone’s surprise, DC’s new Flintstones reboot is a darkly hilarious social satire. It’s a weird mixture between the silly dinosaur puns of the original cartoon, and morbid humor about capitalism and war.
Flintstones #5
Titled “Bedrock the Vote,” issue #5 goes into the backstory of the Flintstones’ 1960s suburb-inspired hometown of Bedrock, which was founded on the destruction of a stone age race known as the “tree people.” It still feels weird to say this, but The Flintstones is one of the best mainstream political comics being published right now, and at times it can be genuinely moving.