From the Tumblr of bansheewhale; presented without comment.
In honor of Jewish Comics Day, I would like to present to you a short compilation of Jewish superheroes beating the shit out of Nazis/Nazi analogs.
Tag Archives: superheroes
“This is the Avengers, not the God Squad!” (Sequart.org)
(The following article by Mario Ribeiro first appeared at Sequart.org on 5/5/2016 as “They Were Lost in Space-Time and Then They Found God.” It is presented here with his permission.)
Written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Al Milgrom, the Lost in Space-Time saga ran from West Coast Avengers #17 to 24. The real meat is between 18-23, with the others serving as a prologue and an epilogue. Now, before we go any further, keep in mind that this was published in 1987. For modern readers, mainstream superhero comics from the eighties, with very few exceptions (Moore, Miller, Morrison) are old-fashioned and childish with terrible writing (exclamation points, thought balloons, tons of exposition, obvious plots, unrealistic dialogue) and crude, ugly, lazy art. Vanilla heroes fighting cardboard villains, with no depth or subtlety. They are silly, I get it, that’s exactly how we felt back in the eighties about Silver Age comics and that’s how readers in 2046 will feel about today’s comics. But, whenever they come from, if we accept them on their terms we can often find incredible beauty in execution and ideas.
Accepting them on their own terms doesn’t mean accepting them unconditionally. Lost in Space-Time has many flaws, and I won’t enumerate them all. Suffice to say that the first issue (17) is pretty bad, even for its time. The text clashes with the art more than once, one of the villains is Cactus (“he causes fear in every other living thing”) and the main plot is basically filling till the last three pages, when the real story actually begins.
But, before we move forward, we must provide some context. The West Coast Avengers, lovingly called Whackos, consisted of newlyweds Hawkeye (the group’s chairman) and Mockingbird, plus Iron Man, Tigra and Wonder Man. Hank Pym, looking for redemption after the Trial of Yellowjacket storyline, didn’t join the team, but lived in the compound in civilian capacity, doing scientific research and some house-keeping. The Thing and Espirita (then still called Firebird) were candidates for the sixth slot, but neither joined the team.
What is missing from the first 16 issues is the big concept. It is a good read, but the fights against uneventful villains like Ultron, Master Pandemonium and Graviton are not that exciting. Still, Englehart and Milgrom do wonders with their characters, particularly Wonder Man, Tigra and Hank Pym. Wonder Man finds the confidence to be a real hero when he overcomes his fear of death; Tigra finds confidence and a tail as her personalities are merged and she regains control of herself; and Hank sees no other choice but to kill himself. And then it’s time for the big concept.
Continue reading “This is the Avengers, not the God Squad!” (Sequart.org)
Washington University Podcast Covers Religion and Comics
WUSTL’s “Hold That Thought” podcast featured an episode this week on “Religion and Comic Books: A Tangled Web.” Based at Washington University in St. Lewis, “Hold That Thought” spoke with Assistant Professor of Classics and Religious Studies Roshan Abraham on what they initially considered the odd pairing of topic and medium. Abraham assured them that the linkages are numerous, from mythology to canonicity to Christology.
After the podcast, Abraham was kind enough to give a shout out to some of S&S’s own contributors:
https://twitter.com/roshabra/status/715266027513364480
@roshabra @religioncomics @adlewis @arreyJB You are much too kind, sir! Looking forward to hearing more from you on comics!! 😁
— Dr Christy Blanch (@christyblanch) March 31, 2016
Superpowered, Mormon, and Gay: Brian Anderson’s STRIPLING WARRIOR
Last week, The Advocate provided coverage on the third in the Stripling Warrior comic book series, a superhero title featuring gay Mormon protagonists. As Advocate writers Neil Broverman and Jase Peeples note, Elders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints generally do not recognize the existence of homosexuals in their membership; while the attraction may be acknowledged, a committed relationship based on such impulses constitutes apostasy. QED: no homosexuals. As the lyrics to the Broadway stage show Book of Mormon quip, “It’s a cool little Mormon trick.”
Stripling Warrior creator Brian Anderson, on the other hand, feels that being gay and being Mormon (as well as being partnered, as he , “are not mutually exclusive.” And, his Kickstarter-supported series, with art by Jame Neish, “steeped within the mythology of the Mormon Church, depicted with healthy, queer sex lives” is intended to “be provocative and impactful.”
More information on the reception and future of the series can be found at Anderson’s So SuperDuper site.
Jews and Comics: The Decade in Review
A little over 7 years ago, Aaron Passman wrote an excellent article for The Jewish Exponent, in which he discussed the growing interest in the topic of Jews and the comic book industry. At the time, the book From Krakow to Krypton (by Arie Kaplan) had just been published. In the article, Passman quoted Kaplan as well as the authors of 3 other similar books (Danny Fingeroth, Paul Buhle, and Simcha Weinstein). He also characterized the subject as “something of a cottage industry,” suggesting that the books, panels,and blogs dedicated to the topic were just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, Passman was rather prophetic in that regard.
Alas, if one were to read Nirit Anderman’s article in last week’s Haaretz (“Supermensches: Comic Books’ Secret Jewish History“), one might think that research on “Jews and comics” mysteriously ended in 2008. None of the five books that have been published after Kaplan’s are mentioned (The Jewish Graphic Novel, edited by Samantha Baskind and Ranen Omer-Sherman; Jewish Images in the Comics by Fredrik Strömberg ; Superman Is Jewish? by Harry Brod; Graphic Details, edited by Sarah Lightman; and The Quest for Jewish Belief and Identity in the Graphic Novel by Stephen Tabachnick). If Anderman wanted a 2016 “hook” to introduce the article, she could have announced that the book “How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses?” by Tahneer Oksman (a study of Jewish women cartoonists’ autobiographical memoirs) is scheduled to be published this month. There is no mention of the travelling exhibitions which have helped to legitimize the field and to present the stories and artwork to the general public (e.g. Heroes, Freaks & Super-Rabbis; Graphic Details; Jomix). It would have been nice if the author had made reference to any of the academic courses on Jewish Graphic Novels which are now being taught (e.g. HUM113 at Union College; RELI217 at Wesleyan University; History 490Q at University of British Columbia).
Anderman discusses several Jewish-content graphic books in the article. However, many of these are several years old. It is impossible to list off every Jewish graphic novel in such a short piece, but one would hope that the most recent publications would have been included. Hereville : How Mirka Caught a Fish recently won the 2015 Sydney Taylor Award (Older Readers Category), the second such win for its author Barry Deutsch. Although Haaretz is an Israeli publication, no graphic books about Israel (e.g. Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me; Jerusalem: A Family Portrait; Exit Wounds; Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City; Mike’s Place) are discussed.
Though not as troubling as the incompleteness of the research, it’s a bit off-putting that carelessness seems to have resulted in quite a few factual errors. Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27, not in Batman #1. Iron Man is misspelled as “Ironman.” The story in which Superman captured Stalin and Hitler wasn’t published in a comic book, but in the magazine Look. MAD didn’t start out as a magazine. It was a comic book, but the publisher switched formats to avoid the restrictions of the Comics Code.
To be fair, I don’t know to what extent the shortcomings of the article may be the fault of the editor assigned to the story. However, ultimately, it is the article’s author who gets the byline and is deemed responsible for it. As someone who enjoys reading about the work of Jewish comics professionals and Jewish comic stories, I was looking forward to reading Anderman’s article after Weinstein posted on Facebook about it. I was expecting the article to be more relevant and up-to-date, but instead came away feeling disappointed. Jews have a rich and centuries-old history, but the immediate history of scholarship on comics and Judaism cannot be glossed over so hastily by any reputable news or academic source.
*****
Steven M. Bergson is a blogger at http://www.jewishcomics.