All posts by A. David

academic, events

Jews & Comics NYC panel: “Might Makes Right?”

Concurrent with this year’s New York Comic-Con, a “Comics and the Jews” panel was hosted at the Center for Jewish History’s auditorium by the American Jewish Historical Society, Forward magazine reports. The discussion featured Karen Green  of Columbia University, Paul Kupperberg formerly of DC Comics, From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books‘s Arie Kaplan, Danny Fingeroth formerly of Marvel Comics and author of Dressed as Clark Kent, and former publisher of DC Comics Paul Levitz. The familiar origins of American comics as a urban Jewish product were recounted, as was a compelling intercultural anecdote:

“I got into a discussion some years ago with a group of Arab editorial cartoonists who were probably as liberal a group as you can have in the Arab world,” said Levitz. They were visiting a State Department thingamaboby and one of them asked: ‘Aren’t all these super heroes just about the American belief that might makes right.’ I can see it, but I believe these [cartoonists] believe the American principle that we are born with gifts and talents and it’s what we choose to do with our gifts and talent….” Fingeroth interjected: “…is to use that power wisely and justly.”

Read more about Forward‘s 2013 coverage of Karen Green’s work on cartoonist Al Jaffee and the Columbia library here.

controversy, online

Palestine Square Explores “The Role of Comics in the Palestinian Narrative”

Cartoonist Naji al-Ali’s Handala, “the quintessential mark of Palestine solidarity.”

The Institute for the Palestine Studies’ blog Palestine Square recently featured coverage by writer Khelil Bouarrouj entitled, “The Role of Comics in the Palestinian Narrative.” In it, Bouarrouj considers the impact of works including Joe Sacco’s Palestine,  Leila Abdelrazaq‘s Bawaddi, Harvey Pekar and JT Waldman’s Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, and Palestinian-American Marguerite Dabaie‘s Hookah Girl, among others.

Read more here.

from the Internet

Understanding the Refugee Crisis through Comics (Panels.net)

(The following article by Monica Friedman first appeared at Panels.net on 9/15/2015. It is presented here with her permission.)

Empathy by Design

Nobody desires refugee status. No one asks to flee their homeland in terror, to inculcate themselves into a foreign nation where they may not speak the language, or understand the customs, or expect a warm welcome from the citizenry.

When humans become refugees, we can’t distill their experience down to some reactionary common denominator. To understand the suffering and pain that would inspire someone to leave behind their worldly possession and flee the only place they’ve ever known, we need to hear their stories.

From “Syria’s Climate Conflict” by Audrey Quinn and Jackie Roche

Comics, as always, are an accessible medium for sharing those stories.
Writer Audrey Quinn and artist Jackie Roche created “Syria’s Climate Conflict” to explain to English readers the origins of the Syrian civil war. Prolonged drought caused the death of livestock and the withering of crops, resulting in starving farmers relocating to cities ill-equipped to serve their needs. Tensions ran high, the government responded violently, and the country exploded, but the most powerless victims—those living in fear and hunger, blameless, seeking only survival—lost the most. This gorgeously watercolored comic stands as a stark and sharp piece, demonstrating the global nature of local trouble. Globally and locally, the Syrian government’s response to the questions asked by the Syrian people were unexpected, and those asking such questions were unprepared for the consequences. Continue reading Understanding the Refugee Crisis through Comics (Panels.net) →

academic, online

Comics and Religious Education in “Studies in Comics”

The latest issue of the Studies in Comics journal from UK-based publisher Intellect features an article by Rae Hancock entitled, “More Credo, Less Capes: Why and How We Should Use Comics in the Religious Education Classroom.” The abstract, copied below, promises for lively debate among related scholars; look for responses and further coverage to come.

Research into religion and comics is flourishing and has called attention to the various ways in which religion features across the medium. However, consideration has not yet been given to the role of comics with religious dimensions in the Religious Education (RE) classroom despite significant attention having been paid to their use in schools through subjects such as English. Nonetheless comics are being used outside the classroom to communicate religious ideas and references to the medium are beginning to appear on exam specifications with the intention that candidates engage with religious representations in the media and popular culture. As such, seeking ways to bring comics with religious dimensions into a subject that concerns itself with ‘learning about’ and ‘learning from’ religion allows comic scholarship the potential to be genuinely impactful. A compulsory subject without a strict, prescriptive curriculum, RE is at once accused of indoctrination and called upon to be at the forefront of the battle against extremism. This article presents an overview of the contemporary RE climate in English state secondary schools, then builds on the rationale of why we should use more comics in RE and suggests approaches to using selected comics. The examples considered are necessarily broader than those typically discussed by scholars as they are chosen based on their pedagogical appropriateness. Consideration is given to the theoretical and practical challenges facing the rationale and it is concluded that in order to continue to explore, refine and validate the usefulness of comics in RE the body of sources used needs to expand and become representative in its breadth. Further, continuing to examine why and how we should use comics in the classroom has the potential to deepen and improve the quality of RE and provide comics scholarship opportunities to examine practical applications of the medium.

Hancock, Rae. “More Credo, Less Capes: Why and How We Should Use Comics in the Religious Education Classroom.” Studies in Comics 6.1 (July 2015): 25-41. Print.

from the Internet

Graphic novel “Our Friend Satan” Meets Funding Goal

Last week, Imagomedia succeeded in their campaign to raise funds for their Our Friend Satan graphic novel, the first 18 pages of which can be viewed for free on their website.

The book, also planned as a short, live-action film, features Satan in the midst of “a midlife crisis.” In turn, he moves to sue the Papacy for defamation of character.

Fans of The Chronicles of Wormwood, Battle Pope, or Holy F*ck will want to check this out in May of next year.