As some of you may be aware, the world lost another Kennedy this past Tuesday night. Ted Kennedy, the longtime Democratic Senator of Massachusetts, passed away at age 77, after a battle with brain cancer. The Senator will be remembered as a champion of civil rights and equality along with his brothers, as well as for his stance on international issues, which helped broker trade deals between the United States and Southern Ireland; he also assisted in bringing peace to Northern Ireland while he was at it. Now, along with his many achievements in life, he will add something else to his belt after his passing: he will have a comic book devoted to him.
Bluewater Productions, the same folks who brought us comic books about Sarah Palin, Barack, Michelle, and even Bo Obama, will now add Ted Kennedy to that list of names. In a twist Bluewater certainly could not have seen coming, their press release promoting the issue was released the very day that news broke of his death. They immediately issued an addendum to the release to reflect the news when it broke, and to ensure to everyone they were not simply capitalizing on the situation.
When Bluewater planned out the first year of biographies, Kennedy’s name was always at the top of the list. In fact, this issue has been in production since March and was solicited to retail shops through our national distributor in June. We will, of course, pay final respects to this American icon by adding a page to the completed issue to close the last chapter of his remarkable life.
We mourn his passing with the rest of the nation.
While this may be a tricky situation, I am happy to see Bluewater going forward with the publication. As Politico reported on Wednesday, the book chooses to focus more on Kennedy’s accomplishments than his defeats in the political spectrum, while also tying in his relationship to brothers, Robert and John. This allows it to stand as a tribute to Ted Kennedy quite easily. Bluewater did get a bit lucky with their timing in other ways, as the comic is not out of the copy-editing stage yet, giving them time to add a page reflecting on his passing without having to pulp any already printed books. The comic, a part of Bluewater’s “Political Power” series, is currently solicited for release in November, although it may be delayed slightly to make whatever changes they need to make.
