FROM OBAMA TO ROMNEY, it’s one of Google’s more overtly political Doodles.

Check out the tech titan’s search home-page today and readers see a stylish and star-spangled “Google” logo formed from a guitar and the words “This Land Was Made for You and Me” — lyrics, of course, from the enduring Woody Guthrie folk song, “This Land Is My Land.”

The Fourth of July Doodle marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. But then look beneath the logo, and viewers see that Google has included its own declaration — of digital independence.

The line beneath the search bar reads: “Celebrate freedom. Support a free and open Internet.” Click on that hyperlink and we are taken to Google’s “Take Action” page, which features a one-minute video that spotlights quotes — about life, liberty and the pursuit of digital democratization — from well-known political figures past and present, as well as everyday people.

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“Perhaps the most open network in history and we have to keep it that way,” says the quote from President Obama.

“The Internet is possibly one of the greatest tools for democratization and individual freedom we’ve ever seen,” read the words from former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“With the Web, I’ve found independence,” says 17-year-old New Yorker Lucy Adams.

As the electric riffs of the National Anthem crackle along — more evocative of low-grade Hendrix than Guthrie — the video pulls back to reveal that these red-and-blue quotes are arranged to form a verbal American flag.

A share-able verbal American flag, which has been put into the public domain — to alter or pass along as you see fit.

All to urge you to sign up for the “open and free” campaign.

“THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN” is now officially on track not to embarrass itself.

That was not a given, as some industry observers wondered whether the fourth Spidey film — and the second Peter Parker origin story in a decade — would become box-office road kill in a superhero-saturated season. “The Avengers” has grossed more than a billion dollars globally, and “The Dark Knight Rises” (opening July 20) threatens to do the same.

The good news for Sony’s latest “Spider-Man” (which opened Tuesday) is that the film grossed $7.5-million from midnight screenings — roughly matching the total that 2007’s “Spider-Man 3” took in en route to a $151-million opening weekend.

The caveats, of course: “Amazing Spider-Man” benefits from some jacked-up IMAX and 3-D ticket prices, and five years later, midnight showings have only grown as a big draw.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” — which has already grossed more than $50-million overseas — is now projected to gross as much as $120-million for its first six days.

Hardly a monster take, comparatively, for a superhero.

But no embarrassment, either.

[STAN LEE: His Top 10 Quotes About Spider-Man]

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Andrew Garfield is positioned from a second Spidey film if "The Amazing Spider-Man” continues to perform well at the box office. (Columbia Pictures - JAIMIE TRUEBLOOD)

IN RECENT YEARS, Comic Riffs has enjoyed a handful of occasions to talk Spider-Man with his co-creator, Marvel mastermind Stan Lee.

(Reed Saxon / AP) As Spidey has turned 50 this year, Lee — who created the webslinger with the great Steve Ditko — has reflected on what it means to have a character remain so popular in the public consciousness. Lee has also commented on casting decisions, directors’ choices — and the paternal feeling he has for Peter Parker.

So today, as Marc Webb’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” swings into theaters, Comic Riffs collects — from our interviews — our 10 Favorite Spider-Man Quotes as Shared by Stan Lee Himself:

SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF: Stan Lee s suspended in 2009 at the "Scream Awards" in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello / AP)

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“I never realized that Spider-Man would be around for a half-century. I didn’t think he would till I started getting invited to lecture at colleges, and interviewers asked me about Spider-Man. And once he began to appear on radio and on television, I didn’t need a house to fall on me.”

— LEE, on the character’s burgeoning popularity in the ‘60s

SMALL PRESS EXPO’s galaxy of special guests just keeps glowing brighter.

SPX announced Monday that the New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly and the Eisner-nominated cartoonist Adrian Tomine have been added to the lineup for September’s event.

The Paris-born Mouly and her husband, “Maus” creator Art Spiegelman, launched the great RAW series in the ‘80s, which offered a showcase for such talents as Chris Ware — who was announced earlier as a guest at this fall’s SPX. She has helped foster and cultivate at least two generations of top indie cartoonists — including Tomine; started the imprint Toon Books; and has art-directed scores of memorable New Yorker covers over nearly two decades.

The Sacramento-born Tomine, who possesses a beautifully precise style, broke through in the ’90s with his excellent Optic Nerve comic series. His engrossing graphic novels include “Shortcomings,” and he’s a contributor to the New Yorker.

KATE BEATON, Jeff Kinney and Roger Langridge are among the multiple nominees for the 2012 Harvey Awards, which will be presented Sept. 8 at the Baltimore Comic-Con, the awards committee announced Monday.

(HARVEY AWARDS / 2012 ) Beaton (“Hark! A Vagrant”), Kinney (the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series) and Langridge (“Snarked” et al.) are all up for both the Best Cartoonist award and the Special Award for Humor in Comics.

Among other multiple nominees are Laura Lee Gulledge (“Page by Paige”), including Most Promising New Talent; Paolo Rivera (Daredevil); Jason Shiga, whose “Empire State: A Love Story (Or Not)” received five nods; “Habibi” author Craig Thompson , including Best Cartoonist; and J.H. Williams (Batwoman).

The ballot deadline is Aug. 17; the final voting is limited to comics professionals.

Baltimore Comic-Con will be Sept. 8-9; the featured guests this year include Stan Lee, Brian Bolland; Frank Cho; Steve Conley; Amanda Conner; Garth Ennis; Joe Kubert; John Romita Jr.; Frank Quitely; and Mark Waid.

Here’s the list of all the Harvey Award nominees:

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