The chaotic world of comic books is full of oddities. On that survived in a strange way is Prez, America’s First Teen President!
The year was 1973. DC Comics had a problem: Marvel was publishing many comics that the newsstands were full of them and DC Comics was barely visible on the racks. Publisher Carmine Infantino had to do something and he ordered more series, most of them were collections of reprints, but a few contained original characters, like Prez.
Created by writer Joe Simon (Captain America‘s co-creator) and artist Jerry Grandenetti, Prez: First Teen President of the U.S.A. introduced a teenage boy named Prez Rickard. He was named “Prez” because his mother dreamt of him becoming President one day. How prescient of her.
Prez Rickard for President
Prez was an enterprising young man. He decided to fix all the clocks in his town. You see, Steadfast is a place known for having an abundance of clocks, and none were on time. It’s a problem, especially with the elections coming and nobody really knowing when things start or end. It took him two weeks, but Prez had made the promise to fix the clocks and he did it. That made him quite popular.
This act also caught the attention of Boss Smiley, a corrupt politician, who was in a bad position and, thinking Prez would be easily manipulated, proposed to the young man to help him become Senator. How was this possible? In 1971, the passage of the 26th Amendment lowered the minimum vote age to 18. Then, an amendment is passed allowing teenagers to also be elected to public office.
At first, Prez is blinded by Smiley’s savvy political act, but a young American Indian named Eagle Free opens his eyes to what Smiley is really doing. Of course, the criminal swore to stop the teenager, but it was already too late as Prez won the 1972 Congressional election. In fact, the youth of America has taken power in Congress and doesn’t want to stop there, passing an amendment to the Constitution that lowers the required age of the President from 35 to 18.
1976, running on the new Flower Party ticket, Senator Prez Rickard is the third-party candidate who disrupts the status quo. He is elected and that’s just the beginning of his problems. Now, he has to stay in power and fight a right-wing militia, chess players(!), vampires and werewolves, and–of course–Boss Smiley.
That would quickly become difficult as the series was canceled after only four issues.
What Happened to President Prez?
Following the cancellation of Prez: First Teen President of the U.S.A., there was a fifth issue that was later included in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2, and Prez met Supergirl in a story that was declared out-of-continuity. But that was the end of Prez Rickard’s adventures for two decades.
In 1993, writer Neil Gaiman and artists Michael Allred and Bryan Talbot revived the Teenage President, in a way. The story published in issue #54 of the Sandman series called “The Golden Boy” delivered the conclusion of Prez’s adventures. More cynical than the original series, this take on the character included a bloody assassination attempt that led to Prez’s girlfriend’s death, and when he finished his second term of office, Prez just disappeared from public life. And then he died.
The story is connected to the Sandman, it was at that point that Morpheus was introduced. He offered to Prez a way to travel the universes to help other Americas in need.
This would not be the last time Prez Rickard would be mentioned in other DC Comics series. In 1995, Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower wrote a one-shot story about a teenager seeking the elusive ex-President of the United States, believing he was his father. He was also referenced as the President on Earth-47 and a past President on Earth-23, during the New 52 era.
The whole concept of the Teenage President came at a time when Joe Simon was writing for a new generation of new readers, exploring the hippie culture following his Brother The Geek series. Times have changed, but DC Comics still tries to connect with young readers and, in 2015, introduced a new “Prez.” Written by Mark Russell and drawn by Ben Caldwell, the six-issue miniseries focused on Oregon teen Beth Ross who is elected President of the United States of America…in the year 2036. Her Vice President was Preston Rickard.
Prez certainly is an oddity in DC Comics’ history.
The adventures of Prez, the original series, the Sandman story, Ed Brubaker’s one-shot, and Supergirl crossover, have been collected in one book: Prez – The First Teen President.