President Obama, Sarah Palin team up to take on comic book legend Archie

Monday, January 24th 2011, 3:05 PM

Writer Alex Simmons and artist Dan Parent bring President Obama and Sarah Palin to Archie's Riverdale...

...in issue #617 of Archie, on sale this Wednesday.

If only the rest of the country was more like Riverdale .

At least the fictional version of the Bronx suburban neighborhood populated by Archie and his pals -- where President Obama and Sarah Palin can find common ground.

In the unlikely storyline of Archie No. 617, in stores this Wednesday, the rivals bridge their partisan divide and descend on Riverdale High School to straighten out the mess left behind when Archie and Reggie each claim one of the politician's support in a student body election.

"It really gets back to the idea of 'can't we all get along,' " says Archie Comics co-CEO Jon Goldwater. "Both [Palin and Obama] want what's best for America, so we came up as an idea of how we put the President and the woman who I consider the de facto head of the Republican Party in a story set in Riverdale, which is an inclusive place where everybody gets along."

Cynics, though, wonder if the company has ulterior motives for planting two of the most famous figures in the world on the cover of a comic book.

"It's going to be interpreted as both [a sales stunt and a political statement], says Robert Conte, owner of Manhattan Comics in midtown. "You're going to have the natural curiousity-seekers wondering why Obama and Palin are in the same comic, but it's also a way for young readers to get to know a little more about politics."

Conte says comic book publishers elect to put Obama and Palin on covers all the time - especially since as public figures they're owed no royalties.

In recent months, issues of "Steam Punk Sarah" - a parody with Sarah Palin as a terminator -- and "President Evil" - starring Obama in a Resident Evil sendup, have been big sellers at Conte's shop.

"It's very very tricky," says Goldwater of the idea of introducing political figures into a comic book for kids. "But the fundamental belief I have is that both people want what's best for this country, so that was the genesis of this storyline."