The Jewish Influence on Comic Books

Upon reading Ari Kaplan's 'From Krakow to Krypton, I realized that many of the early comic book creators such as Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, and Stan Lee, were Jewish. At first I was surprised that I had not known that, but as I read more, it became clear that they had not publicised their religious affiliation due to Anti-semetic feelings that were common in 1930s America. In fact many of these men had gone so far as to change their name to avoid poor reception of their work.

The fact that the early comic book creators were Jewish apparently had an effect on their characters. One example that was given was the connection of Superman to a common Jewish immigrant. He came from another world where he had to escape persecution to a new world where he has to hide his identity and assimilate into the new culture. Though this is a good storyline for a super hero comic, it certainly does reflect the experience of a Jewish immigrant.

Other superheroes share a similar Jewish quality. The mythical Jewish creature, called Golem, is a superhuman being that saves helpless citizens from anti-semitic attack. While most superheroes were not based on this creature, they certainly do resemble him in one way or another. After all, a super hero comes to the rescue of those who cannot help themselves. This is further supported with the superhero involvement in World War II commonly seen in 1940s comics.

Finally, Stan Lee's character The Thing has some distinctly Jewish qualities. He is a Golem-like being. He comes from a neighborhood that faces bullying, and he is different than his fellow team mates. Many Jews could probably relate to The Thing's experience. At The Thing's creation in 1961, there was no intention of him being Jewish; however, he was further developed into a Jewish character in 2002.

Although the comic book creators of the Golden Age did not intend to have Judaism or Jewish experience influence their work, much of those themes can be seen in their characters. Superman and the Thing are two such characters. It seems that the creators put some of their own experiences into their character creations. In a way they vicariously show their Jewish-ness through their super hero characters reflecting one aspect of who they are. It is possible that the Jewish aspects in the comic books of the Golden and Silver ages helped America become more tolerant and understanding of Judaism.

The Super Man

I found the origins of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman to be quite interesting. I always thought of creations like this to just suddenly come to its creators, but as Ari Kaplan explains in 'From Krakow to Krypton', it took many incarnations to finally arrive at the Superman character that we know today. As a matter of fact, Superman might not have ever caught on without the final incarnation.

The character of Superman was originally based on characters such as Buck Rogers and Tarzan. Then they made a supervillain character named Bill Dunn who gained powers with the help of a professor Earnest Smalley. The name Superman was acutally derived from Nietzsche's Ubermensch a man who has reached his peak intellectual and creative ability. Siegel and Shuster then decided to make Superman a super hero. The new incarnation was based on characters such as Doc Savage, Flash Gordon, and The Phantom. Superman actually reflected Flash Gordon in that he was an alien coming to Earth fighting human criminals rather than a human in outer space fighting aliens.

The most interesting thing that I learned is that originally Superman had no super powers. Nowadays, we see Superman as almost indestructable with several super powers. He's from another planet after all. I believe that Siegel and Shuster wanted to create a hero that everyday people could relate to especially during the depression. I think that the super powers were added later after the creators lost rights to their infamous character.

The Life of Will Eisner

After class on Wednesday, I was thinking a lot about how Will Eisner identifies himself through his graphic novels. He has an obvious link with Frimme in 'A Contract with God' as pointed out in his preface, and his subsequent novels reflect his life growing up the Bronx during the Great Depression. He even creates scenes in the novels that actually happened to him, such as the one with a young boy and his brother getting picked on by neighborhood kids.
Eisner shows a lot of his childhood in the graphic novels like 'A Contract with God', but he shows his connection to Judaism in later works. It is interesting to see how he defends and defines Judaism in graphic novels like 'Fagin the Jew', and 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'. These graphic novels show his dedication to the credibility and reputation of Judaism by defending characters that were otherwise misrepresented or misunderstood. I feel that Eisner shifted to more Jewish storylines because he wanted to contribute to Judaism as well as to the world of comics.
It is interesting for me as a Psychology major to see how so much of Eisner's life comes out in his work. I feel that most people show their personality and experiences in what they do whether it is intentional or not. He definitely shows his personality and religiousity within the storylines of the graphic novels. Perhaps this has a lot to do with why they are so highly acclaimed.

Will Eisner's 'A Contract with God'

      What surprised me about Will Eisner's 'A Contract with God' is that the storyline was not elaborately planned out but was instead a documentary of the environment in which Eisner grew up in the 1930s. This was a very interesting read for me as a Psychology major because I was able to see how the environment influenced him and how he represented himself in the story. For example, in the introduction, written by Eisner, he explains how he had lost his daughter similarly to Frimme Hersh. This made the novel almost autobiographical. There were some interesting themes in the graphic novel though.
      One theme that I found interesting was this idea of a contract with God in which He would bless or punish depending on behavior. This is a very deep theological topic that addresses the fairness and justice of a supreme being. It made me think quite a bit on the subject.
     Another theme of the graphic novel was telling the story of growing up in the Bronx during the Great Depression. As the introduction said, it shows the never ending struggle to prevail or survive. This was seen in almost every tale. The main character was down on luck and there was seemingly no way out.
    Another theme of the novel was male dominance. In almost every tale there was a case of a man taking advantage of a woman for personal gain or pleasure. Often times this also occurred as marital infidelity.
     The novel definitely addresses the ugly side of life growing up under such hard socioeconomic conditions. This reflects on what it was like for Eisner growing up in a Jewish community in the Bronx during that time.

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