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academic, articles and essays, contributors, from the Internet

Jews and Comics: The Decade in Review

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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.

Haaretz logoAlas, 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).

HerevilleAnderman 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.

Jewish Comix Anthology*****

Steven M. Bergson is a blogger at http://www.jewishcomics.blogspot.com and has reviewed several graphic books for AJL Reviews (Association of Jewish Libraries). He edited the first volume of  Jewish Comix Anthology (Oakville, ON : AH Comics, 2014).

art, from the Internet

L.A. Artist Merges Comics, Superheroes, Modern Judaism, and Women

Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik's"Tree of Mothers and Daughters
Detail from Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik’s”Tree of Mothers and Daughters,” 2015. The artwork is on view at exhibition “Women of Valor.”

Last month, Shana Nys Dambrot wrote a piece for the Artbound section of KCET’s website, spotlighting the work of Southern California artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik. Dambrot explores his latest work, a show for the National Council of Jewish Women,  and its incorporation of the superheroic with Jewish moral responsibility via papercut techniques:

The thing about superheroes is that they are a way for us regular folks to imagine being better — to imagine being strong enough to help others and fix the world, as well as being dedicated enough to understand how important it is to use our powers for good.

Currently a teaching fellow at American Jewish University’s Dream Lab, Brynjegard-Bialik feels, “Comic superheroes exist outside of the ‘natural’ world. Be they visitors from other planets, or people whose powers stem from strange scientific accidents; they have weaknesses and flaws, and their struggles are often a metaphor for the human experience.”

His “Women of Valor” show concluded November 30th but its catalog can still be viewed online through his site.

from the Internet

Panels Challenges Readers: Engage Comics About Other Religions

Over at Panels this week, writer Andi Miller contributed to their “Panels 2015 Read Harder Challenge” by tackling comics and religion (an intersection we at Sacred and Sequential, of course, appreciate):

The marriage of text and image does magical things with all sorts of topics, but when creators tackle religion, we have an opportunity to read some of the most enlightening, affecting stories around.

In addition to recommending a number of high-quality titles (e.g. Sandman, The Rabbi’s Cat, etc.), Miller also steers readers to Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels, edited by S&S’s own A. David Lewis and Christine Hoff Kraemer.

academic, from the Internet

The Marriage of Theology and Graphic Novels

Earlier in the year, the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Rev. Derek R. Davenport proposed a rather intriguing hypothesis: that graphic novels were ideal for theology. He admits that it’s not the most intuitive or necessarily comfortable fit — but it’s a text-and-medium marriage that was meant to be.

As people of faith, we don’t know what to do with art. We surround ourselves with it, invest huge sums of time and money creating it, and then we ignore it.

[…] So let’s do a thought experiment.

Imagine that there was an art form specifically created to address the issue of our relationship with God. Imagine that it was created apart from official church ties, allowing it to maintain freedom from iconoclastic tendencies. Imagine that it could integrate multiple genres like drawing, painting, poetry and literature. Imagine that it had the breadth to explore even questions that some might consider inappropriate or offensive.

This is the graphic novel.

The Reverend is quick to point out that it’s not a direct correlation: not all graphic novels are engaged in theology nor are all graphic novels that could be engaged in theology of high quality. But, nevertheless, the relationship is there (and he nicely tips his hat to S&S at the same time).

Read more of Reverend Davenport’s work on religious symbols and symbology here.