The series was followed by a one-shot, The Fall of Red Sarah.[6]
Publication history
In November 2008, one of Obama's advisers gave an interview to journalist Jon Swaine of The Daily Telegraph titled, "Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know". In the interview, it emerged that Obama collects Conan the Barbarian.[7]
The idea for the series originated with Devil's Due publisher Josh Blaylock who explained that "We didn't want to be completely slapsticky. It is definitely partly a gimmick, but we wanted to do something clever with [the Obama comics trend]."[2] He contacted Larry Hama with his idea for a series called Obama the Barbarian, and Hama described how the idea developed during the course of the phonecall:
First off, you should change it to Barack the Barbarian, and second, I'm not interested in writing a Mad Magazine style parody and that it would have to be more in line with the more polemical stuff of Swift, Twain and Voltaire (not that I can pull off anything like they could,) and third, that my own leanings are towards Barack and that would be reflected in what I write – and Josh said 'fine'.[1]
The writer has said it is more than just a political satire: "I just think of it as sword and sorcery, only the characters look really familiar."[1]
^ abGoellner, Caleb (July 28, 2009). "CCI: Devil's Due Publishing". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved November 26, 2009. Next up was one of Devil's Due's most publicized titles, the political satire and Conan homage "Barack the Barbarian: Quest for the Treasure of Stimuli"