Obama the superhero takes on lipstick villain Sarah Palin

BARACK OBAMA has spawned a craze for comics about him in the US.

A story based on Spiderman has been followed by several others, including one similar to Conan the Barbarian.

Obama stars in Barack the Barbarian: Quest for the Treasure of Stimuli, to be published in June by Chicago-based Devil's Due Publishing.

He is featured as the muscle-bound, loincloth-wearing president of "Kickassistan". He takes on his nemesis, former Republican vice-presidential candidate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who sports a wolf skin cape, lipstick and her trademark glasses - and little else. Other characters are Sorceress Hilaria, her demi-god trickster husband Bill, Overlord Boosh and Chainknee of the Elephant Kingdom.

Obama, a keen collector of Conan comics, will also feature in Drafted: One Hundred Days, the story of a leader whose future is derailed "when a race from beyond the stars drafted our planet into intergalactic war".