The issue originally hit stores July 18th, 2007, more than one year before President Obama would appear in Image's Savage Dragon and the IDW Presidential biography and more than two tears before Marvel Comics would put him on the cover of the Amazing Spider-Man. 

Obama appears on the first two pages of "Licensable BearTM Enters the Fray", a six-page story in which Licensable BearTM, a little critter who just wants to license out his name and likeness for products, tries to license out his endorsement for a presidential candidate. 

Remember, at that point in time, Obama was an unlikely candidate for the Democratic nomination. The most recent CBS poll had put him with less than a quarter of the Democratic vote, a full nineteen points behind Hillary Clinton. Obama is the only candidate actually depicted in the story, although two other candidates Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton are mentioned. 

The Licensable BearTM series had launched years earlier to a light but positive fan & industry response. However, being released on an annual schedule meant that the series couldn't build momentum. It was clear that issue #4 would be the final issue, and was done primarily to have enough content for a rounded-out trade paperback collection. The trade paperback is now available: The Licensable BearTM Big Book of Officially Licensed Fun. 

With orders even lower than expected, About Comics ordered a mere 1,000 copy printed by the printer. The printing company routinely prints 5% above orders, in case of any damages during printing. There were no such damages this time, leaving a print run of 1,050 copies. Only a few hundred of these are left and will be CGC certified. 

The story was written by Nat Gertler, a two-time Eisner Award nominee. Nat is the publisher of About Comics, the founder of 24 Hour Comics Day, and the co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel (now in its eighth printing.) The art was by relative newcomer Lonny Chant. 

Nat didn't include Barack Obama because of his politics. He just needed one presidential candidate to share the scene with Licensable BearTM. Obama had a name that would have a good rhythm coming out of Licensable BearTM's mouth. That may seem an odd thing to worry about in a print medium, but it was a major consideration. 

Having said that, Nate was a Barack supporter throughout his entire run. That great speech at the 2004 Democratic convention had grabbed my attention, and by then he'd listened to the audiobook edition of his memoir Dreams From My Father, which had shown him that he was at least a thoughtful, intelligent man. 

He wasn't predicting Obama would win. That wasn't the reason he put him in and he certainly wasn't trying to create a collectible. If that was his goal, he'd have put him on the cover.  

About Comics is not by nature a publisher of "collectibles". In ten years of publishing this month marks ten years since the first About Comics publication, the only "alternative" covers they have done has been blank-cover editions of some trade paperbacks, designed to be signed or drawn on at author appearances. As a publisher, they are better known for books of Charles Schulz's non-Peanuts work, books of 24 Hour Comics, and the Panel One and Panel Two books of comic book scripts by top writers. “The issue was originally published with a charity angle.” Stated Nat Gertler

“Since Licensable BearTM as a character was avid in selling his endorsement, he auctioned off the right to put words in his mouth on the cover. The money raised by this auction went to The Hero Initiative, a charity devoted to providing financial aid for veteran comic book creators in need. The winning bidder in this auction was collectible comic book expert and former CGC President/Primer Grader Steve Borock, that and the fact that Steve has been involved in much charity work in our hobby as well as being known for being one of the most honest people amongst his peers, made him the obvious choice to go to when it came to selling the remaining publisher copies of this rare comic. Steve was also an Obama supporter.” 

“I had no idea this comic book would be in anyway important, I just thought I was giving my money to help support the Hero Initiative charity.” said Steve Borock “I feel much honored that my name now appears on this comic and involved in a very small part of this historic time for the United States and the entire world!” 

The book featured is for example only. CGC certified examples will feature first Barack Obama notation on the label. The highest grade you will receive is a 9.8 and the lowest grade will be a 9.0. Highest grades will first go to the highest bidders and then to the bids that came in the order received. Once the auction closes, the books will be sent to CGC for encapsulation and then shipped out.