On composition , the NYCC panel was call up “ Jews and Comics : A Cottage Industry . ” After an hour or so of lively discourse , though , a practiced one might have been “ Superman : So is he Jewish or What ? ”
Such was the sort of argumentation take seat in this biblically - themed discussion of the generation of artists from the golden years of comics . The ones who created the superhero , the supervillain , and asJerry Robinson(creator of the freakin ’ Joker ) describes , “ were almost 99 % Jewish . ”
The panel was moderated by David Hajdu , author of last year ’s fantastic “ The Ten - Cent Plague : The Great Comic - Book Scare and How it Changed America . ” Panel member included Arie Kaplan ( From Krakow to Krypton : Jews and Comics ) , Danny Fingeroth ( Disguised as Clark Kent : Jews , Comics and the Creation of the Superhero ) , Simcha Weinstein ( Up , Up and Oy Vey ! : How Jewish History , Culture and Values Shaped the Comicbook Superhero ) and Robinson , the nonmigratory living fable of the control panel . Or as Weinstein , the biggest rabbi / fanboy I ’ve ever met aver : “ I get to beg to god but Jerry IS a idol . ”
The generation ( pun intended ) of this dialog box was a way of paying homage to the veterans of the gilded old age of comical books , many of whom entered into the biz because the anti - semitism of the day foreclose them join the profession that are Jewish stereotypes today . The other stereotype , of overbearing Judaic mothers hounding their daughters about when they would settle down with a nice doctah or a lawyah would take a few more decades .
But the word bit by bit dissolved from speculating how many writers and inkers were Jewish to how many of the classic superheroes were Judaic themselves . Certainly there is the obvious parallel of Moses and Superman . Both men from noble birth whose parents shove them into a vessel ( wicker basketball hoop / rocket ship , same difference ) to be raised by a foster family and eventually become the savior of mankind . “ Though it would be very intemperate to circumsize Superman , ” Rabbi Weinstein noted .
Also , like a god , Superman ’s powers make him nearly omnipotent . It ’s tricky not to paint yourself into a street corner write a Superman story , probably why so many of his narrative staunch from the drama of mass expecting too much from him .
For Jews , historically the outsiders or victim in nearly every lodge they have been a part of , the superhero is the ultimate symbolic representation of assimilation . There is nothing more American than Captain America ( except peradventure Stephen Colbert draped in nothing but the American flag ) , and he was make by two nice Jewish boys from New York . Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ’s spirit were pretty far removed from Wonder Bread ™ bloodless - sentinel - fencing Americana , so they make a living , respiration , ass - boot embodiment of the American flag as a mode to correspond in . And mainstream America feed it up .
Still , the three authors on microscope stage , all of whom interviewed many gold - geezerhood comics hoi polloi during the innovation of their Book , enjoin the artists they talk to were always hesitating to admit there was a direct Judaic subtext in the comedian . When Marvel post Captain America off to battle Hitler and his Nazi oaf , it was to sell batch of comic books , not to end the Holocaust .
And until latterly , there were very few superheroes who could have been identified openly as Jews . DC made Batwoman Jewish as a way of diversifying their universe . Marvel outted Quicksilver as one of the chosen people in the 1993 series Infinity Crusade . Even the matter had his very own Bar Mitzvah in 2002 . And many other superheroes and villain have been key as either practitioners of the Jewish
faith or at least give birth derivation of Jewish pedigree , include Kitty Pryde / Shadow Cat , The Atom , Volcana and Harley Quinn .
Then of course there is Magneto , a Holocaust subsister . Perhaps no villain in all of Comicdom has more involved motives than he . One fanboy during the Q&A stick to the discussion made an excellent point that Magneto may in fact be the ultimate Zionist . His dream of Avalon , a harbor for sport to dwell their life free of persecution is eerily similar to the story of Israel . Only Theodor Herzl did n’t have the power to pull wires metal . Though we might ’ve realise a Jewish homeland a plenty earlier if he did .
Like all symbolism - rich fiction out there , the panel member gibe that many coefficient of correlation between Jews and superheroes are believably skilful if you do n’t take too much into them . Superman is not Jewish . ( He ’s not Christ either . I ’m talking to you , Bryan Singer . ) He ’s a fictional alien with super strength and the power to take flight .
Fittingly , the only white - hirsute god the panel members could correspond on was sitting right on stage with them . His name was Jerry Robinson .
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