From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books
Arie Kaplan
Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth Winner for 2009
Michael Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000) depicts an early comic-book industry dominated by Jews. Kaplan shows that the novel hews closely to the truth. Jewish businessmen were instrumental in shaping the industry. M. C. Gaines essentially created the comic book by reprinting newspaper strips in magazine format, and his son, Bill, later founded E.C. Comics and launched MAD. But it was on the creative side that Jews really shone, turning to the somewhat disreputable medium when they were barred from newspaper strips and advertising. Superman was created by two Jewish kids from Cleveland, and Batman by young Bob Kane (n? Kahn). In the 1960s, the superhero genre was revived by Marvel Comics' Stan Lee (n? Lieber) and Jack Kirby (n? Kurtzberg). Later, Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus (1986, 1991), along with industry pioneer Will Eisner's graphic novels of American Jewish life, brought mainstream approbation to comics. Jewish influence continues-Kaplan reveals Jewish themes in Neil Gaiman's acclaimed Sandman series-and indeed, the history of Jews in comics is essentially the history of comic books. - Gordon Flagg