As part of its Presidents’ Day Celebration, Marvel Comics has produced a 6-page digital comic - Gettysburg Distress - starring America’s 16th President, Spider-Man and Captain America. That’s right, Abe Lincoln is a part of the Marvel Comics Universe, just like the Skrulls, Nick Fury, Iron Man and Irving Forbush. Here are Honest Abe’s thoughts on today’s comics and the current marketplace.

TOM: Mr. Lincoln, why did you choose to appear in a Marvel Comics project?

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”

TOM: Did you use an agent to negotiate your appearance?

MR. LINCOLN: “My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”

TOM: Did you know that by appearing in a Marvel comic, they now hold the copyright to your likeness on those pages?

MR. LINCOLN: “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.”

TOM: Did you have any input in picking your creative team or the direction of the story?

MR. LINCOLN: “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.”

TOM: Do you foresee yourself at some point really rolling up your sleeves and duking it out with a few Marvel villains?

MR. LINCOLN: “The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.”

TOM: You don’t have a super-power, except for maybe “super-oratory.” How would you feel about going up against, say, the Red Skull or Galactus?

MR. LINCOLN: “The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me.”

TOM: You haven’t done a lot of PR for your new project. Why is that?

MR. LINCOLN: “I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot.”

TOM: Was this 6-page adventure a complete story or is there going to be a part 2?

MR. LINCOLN: “Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”

TOM: What was it like working for Marvel?

MR. LINCOLN: “No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything.”

TOM: Barack Obama, the current President of the United States, also recently appeared in a Marvel comic. Do you have any advice for him?

MR. LINCOLN: “Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.”

TOM: Given the current state of the global economy and the collapse of the print media, what do you see as the future for the mighty House of Ideas?

MR. LINCOLN: “I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”

TOM: How do you respond to the recent changes in Diamond Comics’ distribution terms?

MR. LINCOLN: “Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite.”

TOM: Thanks, Mr. Lincoln! Good luck in your future endeavors and we’ll keep an eye out for any upcoming mini-series!

Note: All Abraham Lincoln quotes are believed to be accurate and taken from historical sources.

“Gettysburg Distress” by Matt Fraction and Andy MacDonald is available for free-reading at Marvel.com. Registration may be required, but can sometimes be avoided. Poke around on the site for your appropriate way in.
(illustration © Marvel Comics)