Therefore, a politician must be able to strike fear into their hearts. I shall become… Ron Paul! Well, that’s how it could have happened, anyway. Ron Paul tells ComixMix that his favorite superhero is the “Berlin Batman,” aka “Baruch Wayne,” from an Elseworlds story by the awesome Paul Pope.
In a tale now notorious among libertarians, Pope had his bohemian alternate-universe Batman rescue the manuscript for Ludwig von Mises’ Human Action from the Nazis. Given that Ron Paul’s major fund-raising coup was itself linked to V for Vendetta, this may make him Our Comic-Bookiest Presidential Candidate.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Klug // Dec 10, 2007 at 6:31 pm
What is the likelihood that this is Paul’s actual favorite character as opposed to a smart aide’s idea?
2 Julian Sanchez // Dec 10, 2007 at 6:37 pm
The Von Mises Batman issue really was one of those water-cooler topics among libertarians around the time it came out; I don’t imagine that Ron Paul is a big comics fan generally, but I would not be at all surprised if he had heard about it before, and maybe even read it.
3 Nikos A. Leverenz // Dec 11, 2007 at 2:10 am
Let’s get real. Assuming that the bit of reportage at the beginning of the NYT Magazine profile is accurate, Ron Paul would probably only know Batman because it predates Korea. He didn’t even know what GQ magazine was about! (Then again, I do have a copy of the Batman issue, having sought it out after seeing it featured in the Mises Memo. I am 40 years younger than he, though.)
The man is an absolute marvel, and my spirits are lifted that more and more people are tuning in to him and turning on to the message of peace, prosperity and freedom.
4 Tom Scudder // Dec 11, 2007 at 10:56 am
Also: the blimp.
5 Julian Sanchez // Dec 11, 2007 at 11:34 am
Nikos-
Wait, are you actually expressing incredulity that a libertarian might be more familiar with obscure Batman comics than with GQ?