Comic Legends: Why There Was Never a Governator Comic

CBR

By Brian Cronin

Published Dec 25, 2016

In this Comic Book Legends Revealed, was there actually going to be an Arnold Schwarzenegger comic book? And why did it never come out?

Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the six hundred and seventh week of examinations of comic book legends and whether they are true or false.

Here's Part 1 of this week's Comic Book Legends Revealed! Let's continue!

COMIC LEGEND:

There was nearly a "Governator" comic book.

STATUS:

True

Reader Andy R. wrote to me about this one a couple of weeks ago. He wanted to know if it was true that there was almost a comic book starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a superhero during his time as the Governor of California.

Yes, Andy, that is actually true, and it was Arnold Schwarzenegger's own personal issues that killed what would have obviously been one of the greatest comic books ever made.

Andy Heyward's A Squared Entertainment, in conjunction with Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment and Archie Comics were putting out a line of comics called "Stan Lee Comics" and one of their projects was "The Governator", scheduled to be released in 2012. It was announced soon after Schwarzenegger left office as the Governor of California in 2011.

The former bodybuilder and action movie star would be the comic book superhero known as the Governator, and his arch-rivals would be the G.I.R.L.I.E. Men (Gangsters Imposters Racketeers Liars & Irredeemable Ex-cons). Yep, you read that right.

Here are some promo drawings for Entertainment Weekly...

(Click here to enlarge).

It was going to be a television animated series, as well as a comic book (the comic book would come out first).

However, in May of 2011, with the news being released that Schwarzenegger's wife was divorcing him after learning that he had gotten one of their maids pregnant years earlier, well, the project was dead in the water, as it was hard to sell him as a wholesome hero any more. A Squared Entertainment press release noted, "“In light of recent events, A Squared Entertainment, POW, Stan Lee Comics, and Archie Comics, have halted production [on the "Governator"]."

So there ya go, Andy! Thanks for the question!

Check out my latest TV Legends Revealed at CBR: Did "Star Trek: The Next Generation" almost kill off Commander Riker, only to replace him with...Lieutenant Riker?!

Check back on Sunday for part 3 of this week's legends!

And remember, if you have a legend that you're curious about, drop me a line at either brianc@cbr.com or cronb01@aol.com!