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.
It's upsetting to know that the author's had to keep their 'jewishness' secret. I understand they didn't have first intentions of making their characters jewish but the authors themselves couldn't really express themelves until later, (like modern times), because Jews wern't excepted even in American society. Your post pretty much exaplained it all.
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