Legions of Nerds Swarm on Obama Comic Book

Massive lines greet Marvel's hotly anticipated release

Yesterday was a very exciting occasion for Barack Obama nerds and comic book nerds alike! Dorkbots of all stripes came together to stand in exceedingly long lines in the freezing cold to get a copy of a Marvel comic book featuring Spider-Man and some random dimpled blue-eyed African-American man who bears a very faint resemblance to our President-elect.

People everywhere lost their minds over the exciting thought of owning a comic book about a fantastical hero who can scale buildings like an insect, and Spider-Man. Even Canadians -- a generally sober and unexcitable lot -- freaked out:

It went on sale in Toronto on Wednesday, but it didn't stay on store shelves for long. The comic sold out at the Silver Snail on Queen St. W. in about 20 minutes, after many people waited in the bitter cold to ensure they got their copy.

A comic book store owner in Taylor, Michigan helped express the immense global importance of this event in terms that even lay readers should understand: "There hasn't been any excitement like this in comics since they killed Superman."

Boy howdy! So what was going on in New York City, or "Gotham," as all the comics nerds like to call it?

Hundreds of people were standing in cold weather on a Midtown Manhattan street on Wednesday morning to get copies of Marvel Comics’s special Spider-Man comic book, in which the superhero meets Barack Obama, who is featured on the cover.

[...] The line outside Midtown Comics began forming before the store opened at 10 a.m. Bronko Spaleta, 38, and “frostbitten, but otherwise good,” stood at the front door, ushering those in line into the store, which can only accommodate about 20 customers at a time because of fire and building safety codes.

It appears that most of the buyers of Amazing Spider-Man #583 managed to secure their precious copies without suffering any harm graver than chilly toes. The fact that the assembled legions obtained their coveted "books" without becoming a fevered mob of violent dorks just proves that Barack Obama really can bring people together.

Sara K. Smith writes for Wonkette. She owns precisely one copy of Amazing Spider-Man #583 with the special inaugural cover.

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