| Bomb Queen: Time Bomb: Countdown To Armageddon | |
|---|---|
| Date |
|
| No. of issues | 4 |
| Main characters |
|
| Publisher | Shadowline Image Comics |
| Creative team | |
| Writers | Jimmie Robinson |
| Artists | Jimmie Robinson |
| Letterers | Kristen Simon |
| Colourists | Paul Little |
| Creators | Jimmie Robinson |
| Editors | Melanie Hackett(issue #1–2) Jade Dodge(issue #3–4) |
| Original publication | |
| Published in | Bomb Queen |
| ISBN | 978-1-5343-2037-6 |
| Translation | |
| Publisher | Jim Valentino |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Bomb Queen: Bombastic: The Divine Comedy |
| Followed by | Bomb Queen Versus Hack/Slash(one-shot) Bomb Queen: End of Hope: The Day the Heroes Died(miniseries) Bomb Queen: Ultimate Bomb: Trump Card]l(midquel) |
Bomb Queen: Time Bomb: Countdown To Armageddon (originally published asBomb Queen VI: Oh-BOMB-Ah! andBomb Queen vs. Obama) is asatiricallimited seriesgraphic novel written and illustrated byJimmie Robinson that was released in four parts from 2009 to 2011 byShadowline andImage Comics as the sixth volume of theAmerican comic book seriesBomb Queen, set in theImage Universe. Part 1 released September 30, 2009, Part 2 released November 24, 2010, Part 3 released December 15, 2010, and Part 4,Final War, released January 26, 2011. Anomnibus edition released June 15, 2011.
Set sometime following the election ofBarack Obama, the series follows a now-pregnantBomb Queen as thesupervillainness wages asmear campaign against theU.S. President after he announces ablockade of New Port City, throwing out her previousstatus quo in the process. Preceded byBombastic: The Divine Comedy, it is followed by the story arcEnd of Hope: The Day the Heroes Died, as well asUltimate Bomb: Trump Card,set betweenTime Bomb andEnd of Hope.
The series has received a universally positive critical reception.[1]
The superheroes of theImage Universe are lining up to congratulateU.S. PresidentBarack Obama, but NOT thesupervillaindictator of New Port City. When the new administration targets her criminal city for closure along withGuantanamo Bay, the seething with bloodlust Bomb Queen tracks downblackmail information on the President.[2][3][4][5]
After killing two superhero assassins sent into New Port City by the President, while continuing her mediasmear campaign of him, Bomb Queen returns with new twists and mayhem as she is revealed to be three monthspregnant, purportedly with the President's child after raiding asperm bank he had once visited. CanWashington D.C. put the evil Queen back in her bottle, or will this be Obama's first comic book defeat?[6][7][8][9]
After Bomb Queen forces Editor Girl into a scenario where she must sacrifice herself to save/revive the heroes of theImage Universe whom Bomb Queen's minions would kill/had already killed (includingShadowHawk andFirebreather), President Obama scrambles to prove his innocence when the evil Bomb Queen alleges he is the father of her unborn child. With the President on the defensive, the Queen unleashes her perfect media charm upon America's scandal-hungry media, much to the White House's detriment.[10][11][12] The issue also includesProof byAlex Grecian andRiley Rossmo as a backup story.
President Obama believes he can finally beat the scandalous Bomb Queen, but the supervillain is ready to show the world the TRUE meaning of the darkest evil, throwing out herstatus quo entirely and blowing up New Port City along with theWhite House, declaring all of America the new location to send the world's evil. leaving the despondent President, left lacking his arms and one eye, to address the American people, as Bomb Queen gives birth to her son, actually the biological son ofGeorge W. Bush, whom she names George Damien Bush, intending for him to one day become theAntichrist.[13][14][15]
In August 2009, on announcing the sixth volume ofBomb Queen, tentatively entitledBomb Queen vs. Obama,[17] setting the titularsupervillainness againstU.S. PresidentBarack Obama following the pair meeting during theepilogue of the previous miniseriesThe Divine Comedy (Bombastic),[18] series' writer-illustratorJimmie Robinson stated:
"Bomb Queen cannot exist under Obama's watch anymore thanGuantanamo Bay, orAbu Ghraib. To say Obama supports a criminal dictator on American soil is akin to condoning torture – which he does not. So the inspiration for the story was clear early on. Obama will attempt to shut down New Port City and the Queen will attempt to crush [him]. Folks thinking I'm jumping on some kind of Obama bandwagon clearly have not read the series. It's been about politics from day one, page one. Now, don't get me wrong I personally support the President, I'm glad he's in office, I voted for him. However, I have to write for my character – and she hates Obama. Just likeStephen King orClive Barker, who write horrific characters and do not identify with them, so do I, or any writer worth their salt. So this volume was another test for me as a writer to go outside of my personal beliefs and script a story from a villain's perspective. Still, there's another part of the story, which is a spoiler I can't reveal, that came to me as inspiration from one of my readers. Yes, that's right, a long-time reader put my feet to the fire on a few issues and it made me think. Not just about the spoiler aspect, but about the series as a whole. As a result of the Obama storyline, readers can expect a shift in the "Bomb Queen" paradigm. While [I'm] unsure how readers will react to the change that's coming, [I] does believe that after 25 issues, the series is ripe for such a change."[19]
There would be a fourteen-month delay between the first and second issues ofBomb Queen VI, between September 30, 2009, and November 24, 2010,[20] with Robinson featuring Obama recruiting several of the heroes of theImage Universe to take on Bomb Queen.[21] Elaborating on Bomb Queen's new "PRwarfare" tactic from the second issue onwards, Robinson described it as:
"Bomb Queen is fighting him on the public front. People love Obama and there is no real dirt on Obama. WithGeorge Bush, Bomb Queen had all kind of blackmail dirt on him. With Obama, there is nothing. He's really clean. To attack him outright physically would make her out to be the true villain and Obama would be in the right, [so] the best offense against Obama would be the charm offense, where Bomb Queen would take her case to the American public. That's where I get to use the platform ofFreedom of Speech andconstitutional rights for a villain. She hashate speech, but you have a right to be hateful if you want – it's just bad taste. She's pretty much saying that in her city, they have the right to be idiots and the current administration doesn't have the right to close them down for that."[21]
Robinson further expressed interest in producing aBattle Pope and Bomb Queen special withRobert Kirkman, and aThe Pro and Bomb Queen special withGarth Ennis, following the in-developmentBomb Queen Versus Hack/Slash Valentine's Day Special set to followBomb Queen VI,[21] and that on describing thesatirical nature ofBomb Queen vs. Obama to his publishers, noted that "they added a caveat. I could NOT kill him. So going with that I set out to hurt him, even maim him and destroy the country under him [since] Bomb Queen, created during the George Bush era, obviously would hate him. And likewise, Obama would not stand for a place like Bomb Queen’s city. New Port City is sanctioned by the government, and that program would be cut under Obama",[1] inspiring later series of Robinson's such asBomb Queen: Ultimate Bomb: Trump Card to see Bomb Queen take on otherUnited StatesPresidents.[1]
Comics XF lauded the characterisation ofBarack Obama as a central character inBook VI as "some of the best writing [inBomb Queen] as a thoughtful, reasonable guy trying to do his best in a crazy world dominated by the [Bomb] Queen",[1] withWashington City Paper noting the President'sBomb Queen appearance as his fourth "hottest comic-book guest star" spot appearance of 2009, behindThe Amazing Spider-Man,The Savage Dragon, andYoungblood.[22]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bomb Queen: Time Bomb: Countdown To Armageddon | Bomb Queen: Time Bomb: Countdown To Armageddon (Bomb Queen vol. 6 #1–4) | June 15, 2011[23] | ISBN 978-1534320376 |
| Bomb Queen Deluxe Edition: Volume Three | Bomb Queen: Bombastic: The Divine Comedy (Bomb Queen vol. 5 #1–6) andBomb Queen: Time Bomb: Countdown To Armageddon (Oh-BOMB-Ah!) (Bomb Queen vol. 6 #1–4) | September 18, 2013[24] | ISBN 978-1607067696 |
You look at[Barack] Obama and the guy is shaft of light in the darkness. Doesn't matter that he's still apolitician, alawyer, and talking rhetoric that can never be fulfilled – all the things people normally hate – but he represents a new direction and people respond to that. Even the criminals of society.Bomb Queen will have a rough time if her city decides to tilt away from supporting her. She is only as powerful as her reign and only considered aQueen /ruler' if the people allow it.
