This Exists: Maureen Dowd Inspires ‘Incredibly Fantastic’ Comic Book Adventure

In the mind of comic-book author Benjamin Marra, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd is basically a snarky Clark Kent. He’s given the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist the superhero treatment with his bizarre new comic,
The Incredibly Fantastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd. In it, his redheaded heroine breaks national stories, battles bad guys, and parades around in racy underwear, all while maintaining journalistic integrity.

The time is 2003, and Dowd is “trying to blow the lid off the Valerie Plame scandal before her big date with George Clooney.” In order to do this, the comic—labeled “A Work of Satire and Fiction”—has the columnist wrestling with intruding laptop thieves while wearing only lingerie, discussing the merits of anonymous sourcing while wearing only lingerie, and scheduling power lunches while wearing only lingerie.

Her fully-clothed exploits are just as risky. She meets with fellow Pulizter-winning Times columnist Thomas Friedman, whom she foolishly assumes is her ally. Spoiler alert: he’s not.

Meanwhile, the comic’s author doesn’t seem to be in danger of winning any Pulitzers himself. Here’s a sample bit of dialogue that Marra imagined Dowd would have with a burgling villain:

Dowd: Hey!! That’s my laptop!! All my writing is on there!!

Robber: That’s exactly the reason I’ll be taking the laptop with me!

Oh no! If you’re anxious to see whether Dowd ever retrieves her laptop (and thus her entire career), you can buy the comic from Marra’s own article about it here. (h/t Vulture)

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