Oprah's story begins in 1957 on Easter Sunday, the momentous day on which two church ladies with folksy speech impediments prophesy her rise to fame. Though Oprah is standing under a cross, she looks like she's possessed by the devil. Since this is an illustrated biography, maybe the best way to convey that she's a "beautiful young child" would be to draw her that way.


The thing the author decides to "get out of the way" on pages 2-3 is Oprah's entire adult life, or the part in which she actually does remarkable things. Think about the highlights of Oprah's career, then decide if you'd put Kirstie Alley in a bikini in the top 13.


Let's jump back 50 years and learn a little more about the woman who will grow up to interview Kirstie Alley about her (temporary) weight loss. It seems spending a few years with her loving grandmother has only made little Oprah scarier. Since her mom is busy trying to climb out of the panel, a giant telephone has to step in to break up the angry staring contest between Oprah and her baby sister.


After a brief interlude at her dad's house, where Oprah is treated well, she's returned to her mom. Like much of the comic, this page is sprinkled with excerpts from Maya Angelou poems. Tastefully portraying childhood sexual abuse in a comic book is a tall order, but this is pretty well done. Though, the illustrator does make it look like Oprah is literally locked in a cage.


To deal with the pain of having a "self-absorbed" mother and attending a school where someone forgot to draw many of her classmates' legs, Oprah "runs wild." This entails hooking up with some guy in an alley and dressing like she's in a Britney Spears video.


This page cleverly illustrates Oprah's transformation from tube top-clad hussy to buttoned-up bookworm. It would probably be easier for Good Oprah to read those Photoshopped books if she opened her eyes.


The illustrator has an "ah-ha" moment and decides to draw himself into the story to justify skipping important chunks of his subject's biography. Who knew Female Force comics are written by Eminem?


In 1998, Barbara Walters presents Oprah Winfrey with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys (video evidence proves Barbara actually hadn't been attacked with pepper spray that night.) The last few pages of the comic just show Oprah greeting fans along with quotes lifted from her acceptance speech.


Finally, Oprah fulfills her life's mission by single-handedly getting Barack Obama elected, which was certainly a triumph for "truth, justice, and the American way." Still, the comic book would have been more entertaining if Oprah's "female force" involved moving things with her mind or shooting lasers out of her eyes.

"Why is Stephenie Meyers [sic] drawn so skinny in the upcoming Female Force biography of her life?" our reader asks, "The woman is plus sized for goodness sakes! Strange choice for a series meant to inspire girls." I'm not quite sure what to think of this, to be honest, as my first instinct was "well, yeah, but it's a comic book," followed quickly by, "but does that make it okay?"

There is something a bit off about presenting a comic book meant to celebrate women and inspire girls wherein the heroine's body is presented in a somewhat dishonest manner, and the message being sent does seem to be, on some level, that we even need to airbrush and PhotoShop cartoon images of famous women in order to make them presentable for audiences. Still, I'm not quite sure what to make of all this. What do you think, commenters?

Twilight's Stephenie Meyer Immortalized...In A Comic Book [LATimes]
Stephenie Meyer Reveals Details Of New Dream About Edward Cullen [Twilight Gear]
[Female Force]

The 32-page comic about Sarah Palin's rise from PTA president to vice presidential nominee, which sells for $3.99, is part of the company's "Female Force" series. A comic about Hillary Clinton was released yesterday and issues dedicated to Michelle Obama and Caroline Kennedy will be released later this year. Writer Neal Bailey said that while he wasn't originally a Clinton supporter, while researching and writing the book he came "to admire and be utterly fascinated by what is obviously the most underrated figure in modern history". As for Palin, two versions of the comic were written, but the ending in which she triumphantly assumes the vice presidency was tossed. [The Guardian, Media Bistro]