The leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour party will now be the newest superhero on the block to boast of his own comic book.

Independent graphic novel publishers SelfMadeHero sent out an open call to comic book creators for submissions with the Labour leader as the subject, and received a flood of entries depicting the politician as everything from Corbynman battling Daily Mail drones to Corbyn the Barbarian facing off against Maydusa (inspired by leader of the Conservative party, Theresa May).

Contributors to the anthology include established cartoonists such as the Guardian’s Steve Bell, Martin Rowson and Stephen Collins along with independent writers and illustrators. Many of the stories feature Corbyn making and wielding jars of jam — the politician’s culinary hobby — and using them as weapons.

Emma Hayley, managing director of SelfMadeHero, says the project was “born out of Corbyn’s rise in popularity and his status as a cultural phenomenon.”

SelfMadeHero has been publishing original and adapted graphic novels in several genres since 2007. Adaptations include those of works by such authors as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and H.P. Lovecraft. A separate series of biographical comics features personalities such as Cuban leader Fidel Castro, American musician Johnny Cash, British author Agatha Christie and Somali Olympian Samia Yusuf Omar.

Corbyn, however, is not the first politician to have his own comic book; ex-president of the United States Barack Obama starred as a muscle-bound, loincloth-clad warrior in the Barack the Barbarian series in which he and his ally Hilaria (Hilary Clinton) battle nemesis Red Sarah (Sarah Palin).

The Corbyn Comic Book will be launched at a Labour party conference in September.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, August 27th, 2017