Israel & Israelis in Comix

Introduction

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While I can't hope to be comprehensive or exhaustive in a 40-minute presentation, I will try to provide answers to such questions as "who?", "what?" "where?" & "when", with respect to what I feel are the most interesting comics that have depicted Israel & Israelis during the 75-year history of the modern comic book.

Before I do so, though, I think it's important to ask the 5th "W" question : "WHY?". Specifically, why should any of us librarians even be interested in looking at this format when no more than 10% of your library patrons - whether you're representing a public, school, synagogue, or university library - even walk into a comic book store at least once a year.

Rather than answer that question, I'll deem it as irrelevant. Comic stories are no longer restricted to the ghettoes of the funny pages in newspapers and comic books found in comic shops. They're also found in graphic novels on bookstore shelves, on countless websites and in popular magazines.

Below is the 2nd page of "Hebron : A Look Inside" by comic journalist Joe Sacco. This appeared in Time Magazine 6 years ago (Mar. 12, 2001).

This is page 1 of "The Underground War in Gaza", also by Sacco, which appeared in The New York Times Magazine just 4 years ago (July 3, 2003). The article is still on the New York Times website and was found on the website of SRI International.

Generally speaking, Sacco tends to portray Israelis (and, in particular, Israeli politicians and soldiers) as cruel, manipulative, sadist outsiders who are oppressing the indigenous, caring, freedom-fighter Palestinians.

I'll come back to Sacco later, but in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that one of the reasons I'm not one of his biggest fans is a piece he did which ridiculed librarians and patrons alike called "Voyage to the End of the Library" (Yahoo #3, April 1990), reprinted in Alternative Library Literature 1992/1993 : a biennial anthology Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., p. 30-38 and Notes from a Defeatist Fantagraphics Books, 2003, p. 109-118).

Buy Notes from a Defeatist

1930s

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On the left is the original page 15 of Tintin au Pays de l'Or Noir, written & illustrated in Belgium by Hergé (Georges Prosper Remi), serialized in Le Petit Vingtième (September 28, 1939 - May 8, 1940 / September 16, 1948 - February 23, 1950) and then published as a an album by Casterman in 1950 - just 2 years after the UN partition vote.

The delay between May 1940 and Sept. 1948 was due to the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Hergé and his editors thought it wouldn't be prudent to continue a story which involved a German villain while the Nazis controlled the Belgian press.

On the right is the version redrawn in 1972 for the Methuen (British) translated edition. Methuen decided that references to British mandate Palestine were far out of date and a fictional Arab country was used for the setting instead.

To see larger versions of the scans, click on the images.

Below are both versions of page 16.

Buy Tintin and the Land of Black Gold

1940s

2008-04-13T20:19:00.015-04:00

Among the earliest depictions of Israel in comix are the retellings of Biblical stories, particularly those which ocurred after the Jews entered into the Holy Land (i.e. from the book of Prophets onward). Numerous Biblical comics have been published since the 1940's, which puts them into a separate category of its own. Therefore, I will limit the scans for such adaptations to the one below, which is the cover of Picture Stories from the Bible #4 (Fall 1943), depicting the prophet Elijah.

Buy Picture Stories from the Bible : Old Testament

During the 1940's Hal Foster wrote & elegantly illustrated a Sundays-only color comic strip about an Arthurian-age knight named Val. In a storyline in which Val travels to the Middle East to get back his special "singing sword", Val ends up in the Israel of the Middle Ages twice, passing by or entering such famous sites as the Jaffa Gate, the Tower of David and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Though he doesn't seem to encounter any Jews during this pilgrimage, he does help fend off a group of Saracens (i.e. Muslims) who are attacking a fellow knight. This occurs in the strips published on May 25th & June 1st in 1941, reprinted in Prince Valiant : Companions in Adventure (Nostalgia Press, 1974) and Oct. 12th & Oct. 19th in 1941, reprinted in Prince Valiant : The Love of Aleta (Nostalgia Press, 1974).

Buy Prince Valiant : Companions in Adventure (with Prince Valiant : In The Days Of King Arthur)

1950s

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During the 1950s, the superhero genre fell out of favor with comics readers. In response, several comics publishers switched to such genres as romance, science-fiction, Western and horror.

Mini-biography comic stories still got published, including the one below (from Boys' Life Magazine, Dec. 1956, p. 54).

Although war stories continued to be published in American comics, most of these took place during wars that Western countries fought, usually involving the American military. An exception is "An Army Is Born", which appeared in War War #16 (Feb. 1953) and was illustrated by Paul Reinman. This story takes place during a battle at Letrun during the 1948 War of Independence. The story shows how a lack of training and poor equipment made it difficult for the volunteer soldiers who fought there. At the end of the story, Mark sacrifices himself by blowing himself up near an approaching tank. Although the closest parallel for American readers of the time would have been the Japanese kamikaze pilots of WWII, it still seems odd to see a visual of an Israeli deliberately blowing himself up (even though it occurs on a battlerfield and not on a bus or in a cafe).

1960s

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During the 1960's, superhero comics made a comeback, partly due to their incorporation of sci-fi elements, such as time travel, aliens, and robots.

In the following Superman comic, Superman (and cub reporter Jimmy Olsen) travel back to the days of ancient Israel to help save Samson. While there, Jimmy introduces the Israelites to Beatles music. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #79 (Sept. 1964).

Buy Jimmy Olsen #79

One of the new series developed was Green Lantern, a comic about an intergalactic police force. When it was decided to introduce a race of identical-looking blue-skinned aliens who would oversee these Green Lanterns, someone thought it would be a great idea to model these Guradians of the Universe after Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion. Though they've never had a series of their own, the Guardians have sporadically appeared in comics published by DC right up to this year, 35 yerars after Ben-Gurion's death.

A short-lived series that debuted in the '60s was The Fightin' Five (Charlton Comics, 1964-1967 ; reprinted 1981-1982), about a multi-cultural team of spies. Among the specialists is Irv "The Nerve" Haganah (called Irv David in the story).

1970s

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In Jan. 1973, Yaakov Kirschen's comic strip Dry Bones debuted in The Jerusalem Post. It has become one of the oldest & well-known continuously-published English-language syndicated comic strips about Jewish & Israeli life. Although the artwork is simplistic and often consists of little more than a talking-head monologue or a dialogue between two talking heads, it is the sharp wit and timely obersvations that have gained it a worldwide following. Since 2005, Kirschen has published his new cartoons on his blog in full color, in addition to selected "classic" ones. His website allows him to comment on his cartoons and he welcomes comments from visitors to his site, as well.

Buy What a Country!: Dry Bones Looks at Israel

Buy Trees: The Green Testament (also by Yaakov Kirschen)

In Italy, a series of fumetti books by Roberto Raviola (aka Magnus), Lo Sconsciuto, told the story of a fictional mercenary. The following pages, which are self-explanatory, are from book 6 - Vacanze a Zahl.

One of the superheroes introduced in the '70s by Marvel was The Living Mummy. However, the character didn't become very popular and not many stories were published. In the first few pages of the first story, The Living Mummy (a seemingly Egyptian archetype) encounters a pair of Israeli soldiers. Although it would seem like a modern version of Egyptian-Israeli conflict, that isn't the case. The mummified hero turns out to be African, the leader of an enslaved tribe, giving him a historical connection to the Jews and, thus, Israelis. Though at first, the Mummy seems ready to retaliate against the soldiers (who felt threatened by his monstrous appearance), the Mummy changes his mind after seeing the female soldier close up (Supernatural Thrillers #5, Aug. 1973).

Buy Supernatural Thrillers #5

In another story ("A Choice of Lions", Supernatural Thrillers #10 Dec. 1974), the Living Mummy finds himself stepping into the middle of a one-sided battle between a female Israeli soldier and a tank. Recalling his own need to prove himself as a warrior long ago, the Mummy helps even the odds, allowing the lone Israeli soldier to blow up the tank and pass her "test".

Buy Supernatural Thrillers #10

In 1972, Israeli cartoonist Dudu Geva published a short English-language cartoon called "Super Golda" in the publication Lillit, which was reprinted via the Jewish Student Press-Service. Rather than duking it out with dangerous super-powered criminals, Super-Golda-Meir must battle ... intellectuals who criticize her government policy!

"Introducing Mind-Wave and His Think Tank!" (Daredevil #133, May 1976) guest-starred real-life Israeli celebrity (& alleged super-psychic) Uri Geller.

Buy Daredevil #133

"The Warning of the Wonder Twins" (Super Friends #7, Oct. 1977) introduced the Israeli superhero Seraph, a walking Biblical stereotype, seen here teamed up with Superman, whom he rescues from a gravity field.

Buy Super Friends #7

The following year, 15-year old Uri Fink wrote & illustrated the short-lived Israeli superhero series Sabraman.

He also published an illustrated mini-biography. Though the writing and artwork of both are understandably amateurish, Fink's skill would improve over the years and he would become of the most successful & well-known names in the Israeli comics scene.

1980s

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During the 1980s, there were 3 stories which depicted ancient Israel.

In France, Massada : La Première Guerre Des Juifs Contre Les Romains (Dargaud, 1987) retold the story of the revolt on the mountain fortress which ended in mass suicide.

Buy Massada

Joe Kubert published a series of 2-page stories featuring Yaakov and his friend Isaac for the Lubavitch children's periodical Moshiach Times. Some of these have been reproduced online and a collection of them were published in the book The Adventures of Yaakov & Isaac (Mahrwood Press, 2004). "The Kutim" takes place during the time of Alexander the Great.

Buy The Adventures of Yaakov & Isaac

In 1981, the 26th book in the Astérix series was published - L'Odyssée d'Astérix, which was translated into English as Asterix and the Black Gold. Though credited to both Rene Goscinny (who was Jewish) and Albert Uderzo, in truth the story was written solely by Albert Uderzo, as Goscinny had already passed away. The story involves a quest to retrieve oil which is used as an ingredient in the special potion that gives Asterix and his townspeople their magical strength. The quest takes them to Israel, where Asterix and his companion Obelix befriend Joshua Ben Zedrin and Samson Alius (Rosenblumenthalovitch).

Buy Asterix and the Black Gold

A second Israeli superhero comic was attempted in 1987 - Uri-On written & illustrated by Michael Netzer (nee Nasser).

Though Shaloman lives in Israel (where he spends time as part of an Israeli mountain when he's not helping those in need), his adventures often take him elsewhere. An exception is the Shaloman story "Intifada and Israeli Commandos" (Shaloman #2, 1989).

Buy Shaloman #2

Israeli superheroes rarely have a series of their own and, when they do have them, they are usually short-lived. Most of the comics that have Israeli superhero comics are rather formulaic. The Israeli superhero(es) assist(s) the non-Israeli superhero(es) in defeating the villains (who are often Arab or Palestinian terrorists).

Two other superhero characters who were introduced during the '80s were :

Dust Devil (Blasters Special #1, 1989)

Buy Blasters Special #1

Sabra (Incredible Hulk #256 Feb. 1981)
Though Sabra could have become a positive portrayal of an Israeli woman in comics, her character is often written into stories where she ends up being a threat &/or exercises poor judgement. It's unclear whether this is just an unfortunate coincidence -or- whether this reflects how Marvel's writers feel about women, in general -or- whether this reflects how they feel about Israel & Israelis. Perhaps it's a bit of each.

Buy The Incredible Hulk #256

The incidence and usage of Mossad agents in comics is similar to that of Israeli superheroes - they are usually simply guest characters who help foil the plans of the "evil Arabs". In several stories, the writers choose to make the agents female.

Among the Mossad agents introduced during the '80s are :

"Rose" (Punisher #7 March, 1988)

Buy Punisher #7

Rachel Elazar (Jon Sable Freelance #22-24, 1985, reprinted in The Complete Jon Sable Freelance Volume 5 (IDW, 2005)

Buy Jon Sable Freelance #22 #23 or #24

Buy The Complete Jon Sable Freelance Volume 5

Beth Stein (Cloak and Dagger #11 March 1987)

Buy Cloak and Dagger #11

Sharmin Rosen (Batman #426 Dec. 1988)

Buy Batman #426

Yousuf Tov (Super-Villain Team-Up #16 May 1979)

Buy Super-Villain Team-Up #16

an unnamed group of agents (Justice League of America #226 May 1984)

Buy Justice League of America #226

Jacob Ram (Mark Hazzard : Merc #3 Jan. 1987)

Ibrahim and a group of Sephardic agents (G.I. Joe Special Missions #2 Dec. 1986). It should be noted that depictions of black Israelis and Sephardic Jews are rare in comix.

Buy G.I. Joe Special Missions #2

In the short piece, "Casting Stones" (World War 3 Illustrated, reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Best War Comics, Carroll & Graf, 2007, p. 511-512), Eric Drooker both compares King David's slinging a rock at Goliath with the rock-throwing of Palestinian youth during the Intifadah and suggests that "King David" (Israel) has turned into a giant "Goliath" due to its greater military strength compared to the Palestinians living in the occupied territories.

Buy The Mammoth Book of Best War Comics

In 1982, an Israeli peace organization appropriated a page from an American war comic story, removed the English captions and dialogue, and replaced them with Hebrew, thus creating the 1-page story "Pilot B", incorporated into a flier advertising an upcoming event.

Weird War Tales #83 (Jan. 1980) included the 8-page story "Prison of the Mind", in which an Israeli soldier who is captured during the Yom Kippur War is released after being mind-controlled through surgery. The enemy Syrian soldier tries to use him for political assasination (a la Manchurian Candidate).

Buy Weird War Tales #83

In Teen Titans #24 (Oct. 1986), an Israeli commando - Israel Harel - rescues hostages on an airplane before being shot by one of the terrorists. His body is later recovered and he is transformed into the super-powered being Pteradon and recruited into a team called the Hybrid.

Buy The New Teen Titans #24

In Scout #12 (Oct. 1986), which takes place in the future, the Israeli military lends a hand to the American military by lending them a "Big Moishe" - a manned, heavily-armed, gigantic robot. Sergeant Rosa Winter (an American) teams up with Avner Glanzman (Israeli) to take on a charismatic cult leader who has hidden out in the mountains.

Buy Scout #12

During the 1980s, Dutch cartoonist Bernhard Holstrop (aka Willem) put together a collection of short "country studies" by creating illustrations based on photographs from newspapers and magazines and then assembling them together like a collage. The only words in these narratives are words that were in the photos themselves. "Jerusalem" was one such narrative.

Although such work may not seem original, Willem could take creative license in how he redrew any particular image, adding details, removing details, or exaggerating for effect. He made deliberate choices in which photos to recreate (& which to exclude), how many to use in total, how many pages to use, how many illustrations on a given page, the size of specific images (which varies throughout the piece) and the order of the images. Though the totality cannot be casually dismissed as totally anti-Israeli, it cannot be labelled as totally pro-Israeli either. The only clear-cut point-of-view to be found in the piece is at the top of the 3rd page, where Willem juxtaposes the logos of major oil companies.

Buy The New Comics Anthology

1990s

2008-01-07T21:53:00.013-05:00

During the '90s, a Christian anthology of comix stories (Aida-Zee #1, Nate Butler, 1990) included a story featuring Bukki, Warrior of Ancient Israel - a Samson-like man of strength who helped defend Israel from the Philistines circa 1050 B.C.E.

Buy Aida Zee #1

In one of the storylines in the syndicated Dick Tracy daily comic strip, Dick teams up with Israeli policeman Detective Stern.

In a 2-part Green Arrow story ("...And Not a Drop to Drink", Green Arrow #57-58, Feb.-Mar. 1992), the title character assists Mossad agents who have travelled to the U.S. on the trail of terrorists who have stolen radiocative material.

Buy Green Arrow #57 or #58

The Israeli military was depicted in both a serious and a humorous way during the 1990s.

In The New Two-Fisted Tales #1 (1993), legendary underground cartoonist Spain Rodriguez tells the story of the rescue of airline hostages in Entebbe, Uganda, based upon a script by Jessica Steinberg.

Buy The New Two-Fisted Tales #1

In "Fiddler on My Face" (Cud #5, Dec. 1993), author-illustrator Terry LaBan puts himself into a parodied version of the Broadway show Fiddler on the Roof, itself based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem. In this tale, the villagers of the shtetl aren't at the mercy of Coassacks during a pogrom, but instead are saved by a heavily-armed modern Israeli paratrooper. Though unexplained, it's probable that he arrived through a rift in the space-time continuum.

Faced with the impending threat of an onslaught of sword-wieleding soldiers on horseback, Yossi Ben Moshe of the Elite Israeli Commandos guns them all down, leaving a mess of corpses on the ground.

Threatened no longer, Terry decides to immigrate to the Promised Land - not Israel, but the United States! However, he soon discovers that it isn't quite as promising as he was led to believe.

Buy Cud #5

Four Israeli superhero characters were introduced during the '90s. As with the ones of previous decades, the stories they were used for tended to be formulaic and uninteresting.

Among these superheroes were :

Golani (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #53, Feb. 1994)

Masada, who hears voices in her head - the voices of those gave their lives in the name of Judaism, from whom she dervies her super-powers (Youngblood Strikefile #6, Aug. 1994)

Buy Youngblood : Strikefile #6

Sentinel, a member of an international team of superheroes called U.N.Force (UNForce #5, 1993)

Buy UNForce #5

The Hayoth - a team of Israeli superheroes, composed of Golem, Dybbuk, Judith and Ramban (The Spectre #15, Feb. 1994)

Buy Spectre #15

In The New Warriors #58 (Apr. 1995), Sabra is assigned bodyguard duty for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during a trip to the U.S. to negotiate for peace with Syria's Hafez Assad. This time, Sabra's seemingly irrational behavior (attempting to kill the leaders of both countries) is caused by her being brainwashed during an operation.

This may be the only depiction of Yitzhak Rabin in an American comic book.

Buy New Warriors #58

Although, there were no Jewish characters in any of the Star Trek films or television shows, one of the Star Trek comic series - Starfleet Academy - had a half-Jewish, half-Muslim character named Kamilah Goldstein. However, she was killed in the 5th issue. The first pages of 6th issue (May 1997), show her funeral in Jerusalem.

Buy Stat Trek : Starfleet Academy #6

The miniseries The Nostradamus Chronicles (1997) attempted to show, in pictures & words, how many of Nostradamus' predictions have seemed to come true. Among the verses chosen is Quatrain III verse 97, which seems to predict Israeli statehood.

Buy Nostradamus Chronicles : 1917-1945

In Japan, the "godfather of manga" (Osamu Tezuka) serialized one of his lengthy (over 1000 pages) masterpieces Adolf ni Tsugu. For its English translation, the story was divided into 5 books. The major themes dealt with in the story are militarism, racism, and nationalism. Specifically, it examines how these ideologies can become dangerous, particularly when they are combined, as was the case with both Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany (the settings for the first 4 books). It might have been easy for Tezuka to conclude that the modern equivalent of those regimes is the state of Israel.

However, Tezuka seems to have chosen not to go that route. Instead he aimed his critical pen at Arab nationalism, comparing the anti-Semitism of its extremist proponents with that of their Nazi predecessors.

Buy Adolf : 1945 and All that Remains (book 5)

Desert Storm Journal combined docu-drama with historical facts. In its 2nd issue (Dec. 1991), the main character - an American journalist - finds himself in Israel where his daughter is working as a volunteer during the days of Iraqui bombardment.

In this simplistic, pre-Palestine 2-page piece, comics journalist Joe Sacco depicts the actions of Palestinians cheering the bombing of Israeli targets by Iraqui scuds, while transcribing an excerpt from Menachem Begin's book The Revolt. By doing so, Sacco tries to demonstrate that the Palestinians of the present are reacting in the same ways that the Jews of pre-1948 Israel did prior to statehood. This piece was reprinted in War Junkie : Illustrated Tales of Combat, Depression & Rock 'n Roll (Fantagraphics, 1995, p. 120-121).

Buy War Junkie : Illustrated Tales of Combat, Depression & Rock 'n Roll

Although Sacco's Palestine miniseries sold terribly in its comic book form (Sacco claims that it was Fantagraphics' worst-selling title at the time), his publisher decided to publish the entire 9-issue run and - later - republsuhed the content in 2 trade paperbacks subtitled In the Gaza Strip and A Nation Occupied. These books fared considerably better, both critically and financially. A collected edition was later published and last year a hardcover "special" edition with added content (e.g. original artwork) was also produced. The story "Hebron" from the issue of Palestine was reprinted in The new Smithsonian book of comic-book stories : from Crumb to Clowes (edited by Bob Callahan, Smithsonian Books, 2004).

Among the recognition Sacco has won for his work on Palestine are the VPRO Grand Prix of Harlem Award, the Firecracker Award and the American Book Award.

According to a Worldcat search performed on June 18th, 2008, at least 837 OCLC libraries (or library systems) own at least 1 copy of Palestine (the collected edition).

In this text-heavy page from Palestine #3, Sacco compares illegal Palestinaian homebuilding to illegal Israeli homebuilding.

Buy Palestine : The Special Edition

Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner recounted the period during which Harvey battled cancer in the graphic biography Our Cancer Year (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1994). During that year, Joyce travelled to the Middle East to meet with idealistic youth who were trying to work towards peace. She ended up being in Israel during the first Gulf War.

Buy Our Cancer Year

Author-illustrator Peter Kuper (formerly of Cleveland) spent a year in Israel when he was a child. In his short piece "Promised Land" (Bleeding Heart #2, March 1992), he reflects on how his views and feelings towards the state have evolved.

Buy Bleeding Heart #2

2000s

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Uzi by Nimrod Reshef is an action-packed 4-part miniseries that introduces Uzi, a former elite unit's combat soldier who finds himself in the middle of an all-out war between Heaven and Hell, as well as one between the Israeli police force and the Russian mafia. Uzi has some exemplary Sephardic characteristics, although nothing is told specifically in the story about his ethnicity. Furthermore, the title shows a connection to the world of Kabbalah and traditional Jewish mysticism.

In contrast to earlier depictions of the Mossad, the current decade's comic book Mossad characters seem to be more morally questionable and mysterious.

In The Crew #3 (Sept. 2003), "Moishe the Cleaner" is actually ex-Mossad and he mentions how teh Mossad "retired" him. It's unclear whether they had to retire him for following orders on a job or for disobeying orders.

Buy The Crew #3

In Spectacular Spider-Man #8, the titular character is suddenly confronted by heavily-armed Israeli soldiers and a trenchcoated agent who seems to know more than he should and who might only assist the local authorities as long as it suits his agenda.

Buy Spectacular Spider-Man #8

Semantic Lace is a science-fiction graphic novel that takes place in a future Israel, in which cybernetically-linked robots are used by the military to aid in defense.

Buy Semantic Lace : Ghost Story

Israel2 was a Hebrew webcomic by Moshik Gulst that was free to view online. It seems to be a science-fiction story.

A new Israeli Hebrew superhero comic series appeared this decade - Adire Tkelet. It remains tio be seen if it will be any more successful than its predecessors Uri-On or Sabraman.

Former Sabraman creator Uri Fink co-wrote & illustrated a graphic novel which takes place in a world in which the world's greatest comics artists & writers immigrated to Israel, where they produce stories about the superhero known as The Golem. The cover image (of a non-exitent Golem comic is an homage to the famous cover of Action Comics #1 which depicts Superman smashing a car into a hillside.

An animated golem video (with singing by Yasmin Even) may be found at http://www.multiverse.co.il/kaboom/golem/Main1.htm

Rising Stars was a well-developed, carefully planned limited series, lasting 2 years over 24 issues. In the story at the end of the 2nd volume ("Selah", Rising Stars #16 Sept. 2001), Laurel Darkhaven, a guilt-ridden, angry "special" decides to use her superpower to bring peace to the Middle East by uniting the Jews & Muslims in grief - after she destroys their holiest sites in Jerusalem. The "special"called Poet offers her an alternative method of achieveing peace. He asks her to use her power to make the barren land of the Middle East (not just Israel) fertile, bringing much-needed water to the dry desert climate. She succeeds at her taks and peace reulst, but at a high price. Using up all of her energy, Laurel dies in the process.

Buy Rising Stars volume 2

In the science-fiction series Drafted, a group of the aliens kidnap the entire city of Jerusalem, as part of their plan to enlist the aid of the earth's humans in an upcoming war.

Buy Drafted volume 1

Jalila is one of a group of Arab comic books which was first published in Arabic and later followed by English editions. In the pages of Jalila, reference is made to the end of the "55-year war". Since the story was written in 2003, the "55 years" refers to the nunber of years since Israel's War of Independence. The two enemy groups that the titular superhero Jalila must battle are the United Liberation Force (i.e. Palestinian Liberation Organization) and the Zios Army (i.e. Zionist army).

Buy Jalila #1

During the "Obsidian Age" storyline in JLA (Oct. - 2002, the Justice League travels back through time in search of Aquaman. They encounter a group of ancient superheroes, including a Superman-like alien called The Anointed One, who (unlike Superman) was raised by the ancient Hebrews and who has Hebrew words tatooed (or painted) onto him.

Buy JLA : The Obsidian Age : Book One

Matchman Comics was an online comic series created for the specific purpose of promoting DoubleSign.Com, an online matchmaking service. In issue #8 ("Match Shtick"), Matchman puts the kibosh on a gang of thugs who are engaged in kidnapping nice young Jewish girls from the kibbutzim in Israel, only to sell them to the highest bidder back in the Five Boroughs.

In the Christian comic book series Power Mark, the titular character assembles a multinational / multicultural group of children to assist him in telling the Bioble stories via state-of-the-art virtual reality technology. Among the youths he enlists is Yosi of Israel. Though he lives in Israel, looks Jewish and wears a yarmulke, no mention is made of his Jewish background or beliefs, he is never shown referring to the Bible as the Torah or Tanakh and neither he nor his parents question the idea of his joining a Christian missionary group.

Buy Power Mark #3

As a way to promote the television series Heroes (especially during the periods when the show is on hiatus), NBC comissioned a series of weekly brief comic book stories that were available (in Acrobat format) for downloading exclusively via the NBC website. Since that time, a collection of the first 34 stories has been colelcted into a printed hardcover graphic novel.

In the case of the character Hana Gitelman (aka Wireless), the character was introduced via the online comic stories and she had a more siginificant role (as well as more dialogue and "screen time") in the comics than she ever had on the TV show itself.

Hana was introduced in the story "Wirless Part 1", in which readers are shown that she is rejected from serving in the paratroopers unit out of fear that her judgement could not be trusted.

In the story "The Death of Hana Gitelman", Hana sacrifices herself while destroying a spy sattelite that endangered the lives of all of the super-powered mutants.

Buy Heroes : Volume One

Y : The Last Man also has a tough, strong-willed female soldier character - Alter Tse'elon. In the first issue (Sept. 2002), a plague kills all the males on the planet, which allows Israel (whose female soldiers have the most ground forces battle experience of any Middle eastern nation) to secure its borders in a way it was unable to do before. However, when it is discovered that a single man has survived the plague, he is seen as a strategic advantage that Alter insists must belong to Israel alone.

In a flashback sequence in Y : The Last Man #48 (Aug. 2006), Alter's pre-plague life is shown, including the incident that led to her promotion.

Read the entire first 32-page issue of Y (in Acrobat format)

Buy Y : The Last Man : Unmanned (book 1)

In "Blow Up"(411 #1 June 2003), a grieving Israeli air force pilot comandeers a jet after his daughter is killed as a result of a suicide bomb attack. Rather than use the jet to exact vengeance, he uses it to issue a creepy warning to both sides that the violence must end.

Buy 411 #1

With Families of Altered Wars, author-illustrator Ted Nomura imagines various "what if "war scenarios, such as "what would the world have been like had World War II continued into 1946?" Issue 109 (June 2003) contains part 5 of the story "Raumkreg", in which a "pre-Israeli air force" is formed for covert operations, thanks to the work of a former U.S. Army Master Sergeant. The issue also contains part 1 of the Brotherhood of Tigers storyline "Jenin : 2002".

In the page shown below, Nomura provides a brief, true history of the Israeli Air Force before continuing with his speculative fiction.

The back cover of the comic depicts 3 of the fictional planes in color with brief descriptions.

Among the characters in the graphic novel Cairo (Vertigo, 2007) is Tova, an Israeli Special Forces soldier trapped on the wrong side of the border. She just wants to go home, and she'll punch, kick, or shoot whoever she has to to get there.

Buy Cairo

In the 29th issue of G.I. Joe : America's Elite (Nov. 2007), which will be reprinted in G.I. Joe America's Elite Volume 5: WWIII Omnibus, the team successfully prevents an assasination attempt on the Israeli Prime Minister when he delivers a speech at the Western Wall.

Pre-order G.I. Joe America's Elite Volume 5: WWIII Omnibus

Although cartoonist Stephen Pastis usually inhabits his humorous comic strips with anthropomorphic animals. Howver, for this special strip, Pastis sends a message of consolation and humanity instead of humor and borrows from the minimalist style of Yaakov Kirschen, depicting a simple television set without showing any faces.

Buy Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My!: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury, which contains reprints of the comic strip, as well as Stephan Pastis' commentary.

Shabot 6000 is one of the few free online Orthodox Jewish humor comic strips in America.

In 2007, the French-languge graphic album Moussa et David : Deux enfants d'un même pays was published by Tartamudo. It tells the story of a Palestinian boy and an Israeli boy who become friends through playing soccer together.

You may look at all the pages as a very fast slide show by going to http://www.tartamudo.com/files/images/extraits/Moussa%20&%20David%20rapide.gif

Below is a video of the highlights of the book, set to Arabic and Jewish music.

BD MOUSSA et DAVID! un cri d'espoir
Uploaded by vinzdesign

Buy Moussa et David

Carlos Latuff is a controversial Brazailian cartoonist.

Among his series of illustrations is the touching "Forgiveness", 2 of which are shown below.

It is doubtful that the scene below would occur, since an Orthodox male is forbidden from holding hands with women (except for his wife).

However, Latuff has also produced inflammatory artwork, such as the cartoon below (found at http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/344000.html, illustrating the thoughts of reknowned Israel-basher Norman Finkelstein.

Another inflammatory cartoonist whose work is getting noticed is Katie Miranda. Two examples of her comic strip narratives are below.

"Israel Man & Diaspora Boy" is a very recent online comic by Eli Valley which adds a visual element to certain pro-Israel / anti-non-Israeli-Jews statements that were made by famous Zionists, such as Jacob Klatzkine.

Between 2005 and 2006, writer Eli Eshed and cartoonist Uri Fink (best known for Sabraman and Zbeng were responsible for the online humor comic strip The Golem : Adventures of an Israeli Super Hero.

Uri Fink also published the eponymous one-shot comic Fink!.

Fink! is a mixture of stories using different subjects, purposes, and styles.

In "Hum-Maus", Fink appropriates the anthropomorphic style & symbolism made famous in Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer-Prize-winning work Maus. However, in Fink's version, Israelis (bulls) are introduced and they end up treating an innocent Polish Jewish family as if they were a fanily of terrorists.

In 2 other separate stories, Fink incorporates the look and feel of an Archie comic. In one story, Archie and the gang stand in for haredi Jews, while in another they are Muslim teenagers.

Buy Fink!

Etgar Keret's graphic novel Pizzeria Kamikaze (2006) has been adapted into a feature film titled Wristcutters. Both the graphicnovel and the film involve a special section of teh afterlife reserved for suicides.

Buy Pizzeria Kamikaze

The story "Love, Raed" is notable in at least 3 ways : (1) It is written by Jason Franks (i.e. not by a Palestinian) ; (2) there are almost no Jews in the story, which is told from the point-of-view of a Palestinian youth ; (3) the story appeared in an anthology of "tainted love" comix stories not in an anthology of religion comix stories or political comix. The motivation for Fatima to become an extremist is only partly explained by her political conviction and sense of justice. An important motivator for her is the acdeptance of her ex-lover's politics (which she had disagreed with) --- even after he had broken off the relationship with her.

To order Tango #7 (Love & Sedition), go to http://www.cardigancomics.com/

After 9/11, many cartoonists came together to cathartically express their sense of loss, while at the same time producing stories and art that could be used to raise money for worthy charities.

The story excerpted below involves a meeting of peace-seeking leaders in Heaven. Among those leaders is Israel's former Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Buy 9-11: Artists Respond, Volume 1

The decsription for this issue reads in part "After an aggressive protest breaks out in front of the Judeo-Islamic Party's headquarters, Katherine Yahweh is forced to confront one of the most sensitive issues facing her party: the Israeli/Palestinian conflict." If you have access to the Internet while in the United States, you can get a free Wowio account and then read the entire 2nd issue for free by going to http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=4088/

Watch a trailer for the issue.

Buy Election #2

Mostly about an American youth who gets involved in a terrorist cell, the graphic novel Johnny Jihad (2003) has a single page depicting an Israeli soldier (reprodcued below). In that scene, the soldier executes a youth wearing a khafiyeh and then smiles.

Buy Johnny Jihad

In Hungry Heart (2007), a Russian-born Israeli immigrant to Canada must contend with her lover's continued online long-distance romance with an Israeli woman.

The "exit wounds" of this next book's title seems to refer not to the physical wounds that result from weapons of war, but rather to the emotional wounds that we suffer when a loved one "exits" out of one's life without warning, reason, or compassion. Such abandonment is felt by the book's central protagonist, Kobi, as a result of Kobi's vagabond father, who never actually makes an appearance in the story itself.
Exit Wounds (Montreal : Drawn & Quarterly, 2007).
An online study guide for the graphic novel may be found at http://exitwoundsinfo.livejournal.com/

Buy Exit Wounds

"Opportunities Lost" by the aforementioned Katie Miranda seems to be based upon an interview, making it similar to Joe Sacco's style of comics journalism.

Homeland (Chicago : Nachshon Press, 2007) utilizes both beautifully-rendered painted illustrations and photographs to tell the history of the state of Israel from ancient times to events as recent as 2006. It has already won such awards as the National Jewish Book Award, was chosen as for the USA Book News Best Books for 2007, was a Gold Medal Winner of the 2007 Moonbeam Book Awards and is a 2008 AJL Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teen Readers. According to a Worldcat search performed on June 18th, 123 libraries (or library systems) own at least 1 copy of the title.

Buy Homeland

Another submission for one of the 9/11 anthologies was this one-pager showing the world united in horror (including Israel) upon learning of the attack upon the twin towers.

Buy 9-11: Artists Respond, Volume 1

Pilgrimage : Two Weeks in G-d's Countrty (2005?) is a sketchbook-style journal of Neil Kleid's trip to Israel, where he visited a number of sites including the Tower of David. The Tower had been inspirational for Kleid at an important stage of his life. This will be discussed in greater detail in Kleid's forthcoming graphic memoir Migdal David.

To purchase Pilgrimage, go to http://www.rantcomics.com/PILGRIMAGE.html

Cargo : Comic Journalism Israel-Germany was an attempt at cartooning exchange. German cartoonists came to Israel and reported on their experience, while Israeli cartoonists visited Germany and submitted their pieces. The page below is from "Ticket to God" (by Jens Harder) and shows how the protest against the effort to hold the World Pride Day march in Jerusalem united Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders who would otherwise be hard-pressed to even meet together in the same room. Unsaid by Harder is how the organizing of World Pride Day also united the GLBT community across varied backgrounds, cultures, religions and political lines.

Buy Cargo : Journalism, Israel - Germany

David Choe's illustrated travelogue of his time in Israel and Gaza ("Yoffee Toffee" in Rosetta : A Comics Anthology, 2002 ; reprinted in Bruised Fruit, 2002) includes his description of the Black Israeli community in Dimona.

Buy Rosetta volume 1

"States of Mind" is a well-done capsule account of how two differently-oriented Birthright Israel participants went to Israel with a specific point-of-view and came back with their resolve strengthened. This one-pager by Richard Tenorio was published in the magazine Moment(Summer, 2005).

By contrast, Birthright participant Sarah Glidden's How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less is a longer, contemplative work-in-progress examining what happened to Glidden on her trip, how she felt about what she saw, heard, and learned and how she struggled to properly evaluate the information that was thrust upon her and the others in her group.

Buy How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less : Orientation or
How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less : The Golan Heights

In this biographical story, which appeared in a 9/11 anthology, Joyce Brabner is shown talking to one of the Israeli activists she met in Israel. An incident that was mentioned by the activist in Our Cancer Year is illustrated in the story (i.e. how her peacenik friend was assaulted simply for wearing a shirt that promoted the message of peace).

Buy 9-11: Emergency Relief

The following page is from a sketchbook entitled Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians : For My Parents by activist-artist Seth Tobocman.

Buy Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians: For My Parents

In the short piece "Maloposka" (from the Winter issue of Guilt & Pleasure), Yirmi Pinkus reflects on memory and the associations attached to specific places.

Nekudat Mifgash (meeting spot) is a 3-part autobiographical story of young Eliyahu Misgav, a former Yeshiva student who decides that he wants to learn to become a graphic designer while maintaining his Orthodox way of living. The story was submitted as his final project to the board of the Holon Institute of Technology and Design Academy.

Sipur Varod (by Ilana Zeffren) is a Hebrew-language graphic autobiography by an Israeli lesbian - a specific type of comix biography that seems to be rare.

In this page from "Eucalyptus Nights" (from the Spring 2006 issue of Guilt & Pleasure), Miriam Katin shows a prejudiced officer's attitudes towards Israeli Sephardim. Sephardim are not shown in comics very often and when they do appear, it is usually not a flattering portrait.

These next 2 pages from Ah, Gilgamesh, or Swim at Your Own Risk are another example of such portrayal. The first page shows Tatiana's lover making a self-depreciating joke about a Kurd and explaining that he seemed to be destined to be a lowly mechanic.

The page below shows them on a date at the theatre, where he is warned not to start any trouble. When Tatiana seems puzzled by the usher's rude comment, he explains that - in Israel - he is considered "black", while she is considered "white".

Last year, Peter Kuper's semi-autobiographical hardcover graphic novel Stop Forgetting to Remember was published. Although Kuper spent a whole year in Israel during his father's sabbatical there, he gives the experience scant attention - the bottom 5 panels of page 158, in which he shows how alienated and victimized he became as a result of the language and cultural barriers, which seem to have been especially difficult since he was just a child at the time.

Buy Stop Forgetting to Remember: The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz

Miriam Libicki was an American-Jewish teen when she decided to make aliyah (move to Israel) and to immediately serve in the Israeli army. Considered unfit for combat-type duties, she was assigned clerical work, becoming what is called a "jobnik". Now living in Vancouver, Libicki has translated her experience in Israel into a comic book series, the first volume of which has been collected into a trade paperback.

5-page reviews pages of the first five issues may be found at http://www.realgonegirl.com/comix.html.

Miriam is also responsible for an illustrated journal which deals with the time she spent in Israel during the second Lebanon War and an illustrated essay titled "Towards a Hot Jew : The Israeli Soldier as Fetish Object" (which was published in the March / April 2006 issue of New Voices).

Works not yet published (as of June 2008)

2008-01-04T22:52:00.013-05:00

Joe Sacco is working on a book about an incident in Rafah, tentatively titled Foootnotes in Gaza. Though it was supposed to be on shelves this month, it has been delayed.

Tania Yuditskaya and Eugene Zhilinsky are jointly working on a graphic novel called Rendez Vous avec un Miracle (Appointment with a Miracle), to be self-published via their Tchai imprint.

Partial plot summary : "And tomorrow morning, as it has been for years, the Rabbi will be receiving the needy. Among the 10 lucky ones, granted the audience, are Nili, Jesse, Marine, Yves, the Artist, the Dean. Even Leonid Pozner, the infamous Russian mafioso will be there with a very particular wish of his own.

Rabbi Arie is a "Miracle Maker". He will solve all their problems: love, money, health...

Everyone on the list will get his or her wish granted.
Even though the long awaited appointment will never take place."

Character sketches (such as the four below) may be found at http://tchaipub.googlepages.com/001_RDV.html.

This sample page (in French) was found at the Tchai Toronto Livejournal.

A collection of Rutu Modan's short comix stories titled Jamalti and Other Stories is scheduled to be released later this year. In the title story, a nurse comes to the aid of a wounded suicide bomber after he sets off his bomb.

Pre-order Jamilti and Other Stories

Neil Kleid's biographical memoir about himself and his developmentally disabled brother, Migdal David, or David's Tower is still in the works. It will include scenes that take place in Israel. You may read the first 12 pages at http://www.seraphicpress.com/archives/2005/09/migdal_david_1.php

In the Fall of 2008, a bilingual (Polish-Hebrew) anthology titled Kompot will be co-published by Dimona (Israel) and Kultura Gniewu (Poland) containg 11 stories by 10 cartoonists : Zeev Engelmayer, Daniel Goldstein, Yaron Niski, Rachely Rotner, Amitai Shenderovich, Joanna Karpowicz, Łukasz Mieszkowski, Krzysztof Ostrowski, Michał "Śledziu" Śledziński and Jakub Szczęsny. The comic album will represent different approaches towards Polish-Jewish stereotypes. It is the result of workshops which took place in October 2007 in Poland.

Jon Papernick is adapting his novel Who by Fire, Who by Blood into a graphic novel. The story deals with covert funding of certain extremist Israeli groups and activities by members of a powerful American-Jewish family. You may read the first chapter at http://www.jonpapernick.com/public/pdf/ComicWHO%20BY%FIRE.pdf (Acrobat format).

Teargas in the Morning looks like it will be a brash, angry memoir that portrays Israel & Israelis in a harsh manner. It will be written & drawn by Katie Miranda, whose cartoons & illustrations have been published in the pages of Palestine Times.

A graphic novel adaptation of Waltz with Bashir is due out by the end of the year. The animated documentary, which presents a look at the first Lebanon War and the massacres at the Sabra and Shatilah refugee camps, received a lot of attention this year at the Cannes Film Festival, won six Israeli Academy Awards, best foreign film at the Golden Globes, and is now nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film.

Below is a video of the trailer for the film.

Pre-order Waltz with Bashir

Bibliography of articles

2008-01-01T22:53:00.010-05:00

Actus Tragicus (Israel) : Guest Artists. 1998. Comics Journal, November, 35-36.
Describes a presentation at the Fourth International Comics and Animation Festival (Sept. 24-27, 1998), by Rutu Modan, Yirmi Pinkus, Mira Friedmann, Batia Kolton and Itzik Rennert.

Altman, Mory. 2006. Jewish storytelling in pictures. Jewish Independent, October 20, reprinted online at http://www.jewishindependent.ca/archives/Oct06/archives06Oct20-02.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Profile of Miriam Libicki (author-illustrator of jobnik!).

Anderman, Nirit. 2003. An uncensored alternative to mainstream comics. Haaretz, August.
Report on the 3rd Israeli Comics Cartoon & Animation Festival. The article also discusses the work of Miri Kluner ("Anti") and the comics collectives Dimona and A4.

---. 2005. `Death Fugue' on the streets of Berlin. Haaretz, Dec. 14. Reprinted online at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=657523 (Accessed May 3, 2009).
Review of the anthology Cargo : Comics Journalsim : Israel - Germany.

---. 2008. Getting into the picture. Haaretz, Aug. 12. Reprinted online at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010694.html (Accessed Aug. 18, 2008).
Report on the 8th Animation Comics & Caricature Festival in Tel Aviv.

--- and Goel Pinto. 2007. Comics / Irresistiblix. Haaretz, May 31. Reprinted online at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/865508.html (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Discussion of the children's Asterix series of graphic books, Arabic & Hebrew translations, L'Odyssée d'Astérix and Rene Goscinny's Jewish background.

Ari. 2006. Q:What makes a superhero Jewish? A:Female genital mutilation. http://arimiller.blogspot.com/2006/07/qwhat-makes-superhero-jewish-afemale.html (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Discussion of the Israeli superhero Sabra, who has appeared in stories published by Marvel Comics.

Attenberg, Jami. 2008. Interview : Joe Sacco. Print Magazine, February, reprinted online at http://www.printmag.com/design_articles/joe_sacco_interview/tabid/295/Default.aspx (Accessed May 29, 2008).
A brief interview, in which Sacco discusses his creative process, technology, and how time-intensive his projects are.

Beaty, Bart. 2006. Cargo: Comic Journalism Israel-Germany, Various [review]. The Comics Reporter, Feb. 24. http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/eurocomics/4339/ (Accessed May 3, 2009).

Ben Mordechai, Avi. 2002. Comic errors : anti Semitism and bias in the media reach mainstream comic books. Amit Magazine Winter, reprinted at http://web.archive.org/web/20031217004735/http://www.amitchildren.org/Magazine/Winter2002/comic.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Critique of Joe Sacco's comic book series Palestine.

Buhle, Paul. 2003. Comics grow up (again). New York Press 16(48) http://www.nypress.com/16/48/books/books.cfm (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Among the 3 books reviewed are Johnny Jihad : A Graphic Novel and Portraits of Israelis & Palestinians (for My Parents).

Campbell, David. 2005. Kobra Week! SUICIDE SQUAD #45, 46, 47 DC Comics 1990. http://daveslongbox.blogspot.com/2005/07/kobra-week-suicide-squad-45-46-47-dc.html (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Review of the 3-part Suicide Squad story which introduced the Israeli superhero team The Hayoth. Contains some profanity.

Comic-Con Magazine. 2008. Rutu Modan [interview]. Winter, 18-21.
Interview with the author-illustrator of Exit Wounds who will be a special guest at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International being held in July.

Davis, Barry. 2002. Think young, think Fink. Jerusalem Post October 17, Magazine Section, 18.
Profile of Israeli cartoonist Uri Fink and his comics Sabraman, Fink! and Zbeng.

Elder of Ziyon. 2006. AP puff piece on anti-Israel / anti-US comic book. http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2006/06/ap-puff-piece-on-anti-israelanti-us.html (Accessed May 29, 2008).
Blog post analyzing the comic book series Jalila : Defender of the City of All Faiths.

Eshed, Eli. 2001. The Israeli comics site. http://web.archive.org/web/20020623203939/http://members.tripod.com/ELI_ESHED/Hebrewcomics.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Discusses comic books that have been published in Israel, both Hebrew tranlsations of foreign comics and original works. Many of the comics appeared in magazines that were not exclusively devoted to comics. Among the comics discussed are Harpatkot Lanoar, BUCKI, Aribei Hakotel Hamaaravi, Sabraman, Zbeng, Profil 107, Fink, Uri'On, Dry Bones, Rav Sha'anan Neged B'no shel Godzilla, Bipolar and The Golem.

---. 2001. חלב ועד םברמן‎ מיואב בן. [From Yaoav Son of Milk to Sabraman] http://www.sf-f.org.il/ (Accessed Aug. 26, 2001).
Hebrew article about Israeli superheroes, including those who have appeared in comics books (e.g. Sabraman and Uri-On).

---. 2001. מסברמן ועד לרב שענן – הסופר-גיבורים הישראליים. [From Sabraman to Rav Sha'anan - The story of Israeli superhereoes]http://www.sf-f.org.il/ (Accessed Oct. 27, 2001).
Hebrew article about Israeli superheroes, including those who have appeared in comics books (e.g. Sabraman and Uri-On).

---. 2003. חולות אדומים : מלחמת יום הכיפורים כסיפור קומיקס http://notes.co.il/eshed/2863.asp
Hebrew article discussing comics that have shown the Yom Kippur War.

---. 2004. Hebrew comics - A history. http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/h/hebrewc.htm (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Discusses comic books that have been published in Israel, both Hebrew translations of foreign comics and original works. Many of the comics appeared in magazines that were not exclusively devoted to comics. Among the comics discussed are Harpatkot Lanoar, BUCKI, Aribei Hakotel Hamaaravi, Sabraman, Zbeng, Profil 107, Fink, Uri'On, Dry Bones, Rav Sha'anan Neged B'no shel Godzilla, Bipolar and The Golem.

---. 2004. Hebrew superheroes. http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/h/hebrewsh.htm (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Discussion of Israeli superheroes in popular culture, including comic book superheroes Sabraman and Uri-On.

---. 2005. האיש שגילה את "דרך בורמה" http://notes.co.il/eshed/11239.asp
Hebrew article about the Burma Road, which was indispensible during Israel's War of Independence, including comics about it.

---. 2006. אגדת מבצע אנטבה http://notes.co.il/eshed/20786.asp (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Hebrew article about retellings of the story of the Entebbe raid in popular culture (including comics).

---. 2006. חיילינו בשדה הקרב: המלחמה ב-קומיקס העברי http://www.e-mago.co.il/Editor/calt-1175.htm (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Hebrew article discussing comic stories that have depicted Israeli soldiers. Among the stories mentioned are "Derekh Burma", "Holot Adumim" and "Degel Ha-kheniyah".

---. 2006. שבע הארצות / סקירה על מעשה בראשית מאת אברהם גיא, הוצאת מפה. http://www.e-mago.co.il/Editor/calt-1205.htm (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Hebrew aticle that discusses the work of Avraham Guy, author of Ma-aseh Bereshit and Ha-tselem.

---. 2008. מגידי גזר ועד ליוסקה מאיור :מלחמת העצמאות בקומיקס [From Gidi Gezer to Yoska Meir : The War of Independence in Comics]. http://notes.co.il/eshed/43710.asp (Accessed May 28, 2008).

Fein, Lewis A. 2002. Murder for mature readers : Palestine's comic book. http://web.archive.org/web/20021015015412/http://jewishworldreview.com/0802/palestine_toon_book.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Critique of Joe Sacco's comic book series Palestine.

Fogel, Sheva. 1991. An Interview with Michael Netzer. Comics Journal, April, 35-36.
Michael Netzer, formerly known as Michael Nasser, worked for mainstream American comics publishers and later created the series Uri-On in Israel.

Freedenberg, Rachel. 2008. Comic expressions. J : The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, May 9, reprinted online at http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/35208/format/html/displaystory.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Among the artists discussed is Miriam Libicki (jobnik!).

Goldwert, Mark. 2003. It's a bird, it's a plane -- it's Sabra! New Jersey Jewish News, July 7, reprinted online at http://web.archive.org/web/20040817234323/http://www.juf.org/news_public_affairs/article.asp?key=3352 (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Spotlight on Marvel Comics' Israeli superheroine character Sabra.

Haaretz. 2005. Haaretz cartoonist Dudu Geva dies of heart attack aged 54. February 15.
Profile of the Israeli cartoonist whose comics included "Yosef and his Brothers", "Ahalan and Sahalan", "The Knight Zik" and "The Duck".

Hernandez-Rosenblatt, Jason. 2008. Holy Land, Batman! Forward January 4, A2, reprinted online at http://www.forward.com/articles/12383/ (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Profile of the The Israeli Museum of Caricature and Comics in Holon.

Hollander, Ricki. 2003. New York Times turns to comic-book journalist on Arab-Israeli conflict. http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=35&x_article=495 (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Critique of Joe Sacco's 4-page report "The Underground War in Gaza", published in the pages of the New York Times Magazine.

Kahn, Ariel. 2006. Creative dialogue. Jewish Quarterly, Autumn, reprinted online at http://www.jewishquarterly.org/article.asp?articleid=235 (Accessed May 29, 2008).
A look at several graphic novels and comix stories by Israeli creators including Jetlag, Pizzeria Kamikaze and Placebo Man.

---. 2007. Exit Wounds [book review]. Jewish Quarterly, Autumn, reprinted online at http://www.jewishquarterly.org/article.asp?articleid=304 (Accessed May 8, 2008).

---. "From Darkness into Light: Reframing Notions of Self and Other in Contemporary Israeli Graphic Narratives." The Jewish Graphic Novel : Critical Approaches Ed. Samantha Baskin & Ranen Omer-Sherman. New Brunswik, NJ, 2008. 198-213.

Khalifa, Omar. 2007. Joe Sacco on Palestine. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/73771037-8B2F-42DD-BCF0-4F2A8D8ADF18.htm?FRAMELESS=true&NRNODEGUID=%7b73771037-8B2F-42DD-BCF0-4F2A8D8ADF18%7d (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Interview of Joe Sacco, discussing his comic book series Palestine and the trade paperback compilations.

Kirshner, Sheldon. 2007. Israeli illustrator breaks into the graphic novel market. Canadian Jewish News, November 8, 56.
Profile of Israeli cartoonist Rutu Modan, author of Exit Wounds.

Martin, Charles D. 2004. "He stalks two worlds" : The Yom Kippur War and blaxploitation in Marvel's Living Mummy series (unpublished paper, presented at the annual conference of the Popular Culture Association / American Cultural Association).
Discussion of "The Living Mummy" - a superhero character who starred in the comic book series Supernatural Thrillers. In the series, the mummy had been the leader of an African tribe which was enslaved by the Egyptians. Thus, the mummy has a hatred for Egyptians and can be sympathetic to Israelis (whose ancestors had themselves been enslaved by Egyptians).

Max, Danielle. 2005. A comic occasion. Jerusalem Post, Auguest 31, 24.
Spotlight on the 5th Animation Comic & Caricature Festival.

Melrose, Kevin. 2006. What will petition mean for Marvel's Israeli hero? http://blog.newsarama.com/2006/08/02/what-will-petition-mean-for-marvels-israeli-hero/ (Accessed May 29, 2008).
Article about the character Sabra, who occasionally appears in some of Marvel's comics titles and the online petition to give her a series of her own.

Michaelson, Jay. 2007. The graphic (novel) side of Israel. Forward January 19, B1, B3, reprinted online at http://www.forward.com/articles/the-graphic-novel-side-of-israel/ (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Review of the graphic novels Pizzeria Kamikaze and Exit Wounds.

Netzer, Michael. 2005. Lecturing the workshop. http://www.theliquidreport.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=25 (Accessed June 9, 2008).
Michael Netzer's account of how he turned his "workshop on creating comics" at the 5th annual Israel Comics aand Animation Festival into a lecture on the history of comics and how its creators will change the world. Netzer makes mention of his own Israeli comic (Uri-On), Uri Fink, Sabraman, Zbang and a comics exhibit that was held at the Israel Museum.

Pasamonik, Didier. 2006. Israël, une Terre enragée. http://www.actuabd.com/spip.php?article3863 (Accessed May 28, 2008).
French article about graphic books that have depicted Israel and Israelis. Among the titles discussed are Les Olives noires, JuifsArabes, Palestine, La Cité de Dieu and Le Ciel au-dessus de Bruxelles.

---. 2006. Uri Fink : « "Une Région enragée" est en quelque sorte une réponse au livre de Joe Sacco. ». http://www.actuabd.com/spip.php?article3866 (Accessed May 28, 2008).
An interview (in French) with Israeli cartoonist Uri Fink. Among his works that are discussed are Zbeng, Jungle Book, Profile 107 Une Région enragée and Sabraman.

Perry, Ashley. 2006. Comic book journalism. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3193303,00.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Article about the comic anthology Cargo, in which Israeli cartoonists write about Germany and German cartoonists write about Israel.

Pitchon, Avi. 2008. Comic boom. Jewish Quarterly, Spring, reprinted online at http://www.jewishquarterly.org/article.asp?articleid=365 (Accessed Aug. 18, 2008).
Overview of the contemporary Israeli comics scene. Among the cartoonists mentioned in the article are Dudu Geva, Rutu Modan, Amitai Sandy, Meirav Shaul, and Dula Yavne.

Price, Meredith. 2005. Thinking outside the (dialogue) box. Jerusalem Post, Novermber, Magazine Section, 23-25.
Among the Israeli cartoonists discussed are Guy Abraham (Hatzelem), Uri Fink ("Golem"), Ofer Zamzuri (The Mightiest Blue), Ilana Zeffren (Sippur Varod), Amitai Sandy & Noa Abarbanel (Shirley! : A Sex Comedy), Noga Rauch (From 26 to 27) and Dudu Geva.

Raab, Alon. "Ben Gurion's Golem and Jewish Lesbians: Subverting Hegemonic History in Two Israeli Graphic Novels." The Jewish Graphic Novel : Critical Approaches Ed. Samantha Baskin & Ranen Omer-Sherman. New Brunswik, NJ, 2008. 214-236. Reprinted at http://www.notes.co.il/eshed/55173.asp (Accessed May 3, 2009)

Rivière, Stéphane. 2002. L'Odyssée d'Astérix [annotations]. http://www.mage.fst.uha.fr/asterix/odyssee/odyssee.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).

Sacco, Joe. 2002. Presentation from the 2002 UF Comics Conference. ImageTexT : Interdisciplinary Comics Studies 1(1) http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v1_1/sacco/ (Accessed May 29, 2008).
Palestine author-illustrator Joe Sacco discusses several issues related to his work in comics journalism, including "essential truth", note-taking, page design, image repetition, and utilizing realistic vs. "cartoony" drawings of people.

---. 2008. An interview with Rutu Modan. The Comics Journal 1(288), 29-38.
An interview of the cartoonist of the Exit Wounds graphic novel by the cartoonist who wrote & illustrated the comic book series Palestine.

Sacks, Jason. 2008. Arab in America: A True Story of Growing Up in America [book review]. http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/12053466402515.htm (Accessed May 8, 2008).
"readers get a tutorial of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon through a long unbroken block of text juxtaposed with a map of the two countries. I found the pages a bit daunting to get through, and the layout seems to undercut the drama of El Rassi’s story. When he presents traditional comics narrative, the story works much better. The scene in which he becomes a naturalized US citizen, for instance, is movingly told in comic strip form."

Sandmonkey. 2006. Boycott the X-Men. http://www.sandmonkey.org/2006/07/11/boycott-the-x-men/ (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Tongue-in-cheek rant about the Israeli superheroine Sabra, who has appeared in various comics published by Marvel Comics. Contains profanity.

Schechter, Erik. 2001. Baba, Toobie and the gang. The Jerusalem Report, October 22, 42-44.
Among the cartoonists discussed are Dudu Geva & Kobi Niv ("Ahalan Wasahlan"), Uri Fink ("Toofik and Toobie", "Shabtay", "Zbeng!", Sabraman, Profile 107), the collective Actus Tragicus ("Actus Box"), Danielle Dekel-London ("Hamudi"), Shay Charka ("Baba") and Michael Nezter ("Uri-On").

Schwartz, Roy. 1997. General Paper on Middle-Eastern Themes in American Comics [unpublished paper].
Among the comics and graphic novels discussed are Punisher #7, Punisher #47-48, Tintin in the Land of Black Gold, Bleeding Heart #2, Weird War Tales #83, Desert Storm Journal, Palestine : A Nation Occupied, Palestine : In the Gaza Strip, A Death in the Family, The New Two-Fisted Tales and Mark 1 Comics #1

Shaheen, Jack G. 1991. Jack Shaheen versus the comic book Arab. The Link 24(5) : 1-11, reprinted online at http://www.ameu.org/printer.asp?iid=142&aid=186 (Accessed May 28, 2008).
Among the comics discussed are Batman (issues 426-429) and Punisher #7.

---. 1994. Arab images in American comic books. Journal of Popular Culture 28(1) : 123-133.
Among the comics discussed are Batman (issues 426-429) and Punisher #7.

Shaw, Scott. 2002. Oddball comics. http://www.oddballcomics.com/article.php?story=archive2002-10-11 (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Discussion of the comic book story "Intifada and Israeli Commandos" (Shaloman #2).

---. 2006. Oddball comics. http://www.oddballcomics.com/article.php?story=2006-04-24 (Accessed Aug. 4, 2008).
Discussion of the comic book story "The Red-Headed Beatle of 1,000 B.C.!" (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #79).

Shere, Jeremy. 1997. Comix relief. The Jerusalem Post March 28, 19.
Among the cartoonists and comics discussed are Yimri Pinkus, "Srulik", Ya'akov Kirschen ("Dry Bones"), the Hebrew edition of MAD Magazine, Rutu Modan, Mira Friedmann, Batia Kolton, Etgar Keret, Etai Amit, and Rogel Atfer.

Spurgeon, Tom. 2007. CR holiday interview #1 : Joe Sacco. http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cr_holiday_interview_1_joe_sacco (Accessed May 29, 2008).
Among the topics Sacco discusses in this interview are the genesis of the Palestine special hardcover edition, putting himself into his stories, and society's current acceptance of the comix format.

T., Carly. 2003. Why Sabra kicks butt. http://www.jvibe.com/israel/superhero.php (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Spotlight on Marvel Comics' Israeli superheroine character Sabra.

Teitelbaum, Sheldon. 2007. Sisters of Men. Forward October 5, B1, B4, reprinted online at http://www.forward.com/articles/11732/ (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Discussion of the comic book series Y : The Last Man and the Israeli soldier who plays a prominent role in it - Alter Tze'elon.

Thompson, Harry. "Land of Black Gold" in His Tintin : Hergé and his creation (London : Hodder & Stoughton), 89-96.

Tigay, Chanan. 2006. Why is Israel relevant today? Read this comic book. Jewish Tribune, February 2, reprinted at http://www.jewishtribune.ca/tribune/jt-060202-21.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Article about the graphic history book Homeland.

Tucker, Karen Iris. 2006. Soldier GirI. Forward September 26, reprinted online at http://www.jewishindependent.ca/archives/Oct06/archives06Oct20-02.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Profile of Miriam Libicki (author-illustrator of jobnik!).

Wasman, Wendy. 2007. Exit Wounds [book review]. http://jewishbookcouncil.org/page.php?91 (Accessed May 28, 2008).
A review of the graphic novel by Israeli author-illustrator Rutu Modan.

Watson, Rich. 2006. Review spotlight: AK Comics. http://www.comicworldnews.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?column=chicksandromance&page=102 (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Among the comic series reviewed is Jalila.

Welland, Jonah. 2005. Talking with Amitai Sandy about Israeli comics and Dimona Comix Group. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=4948 (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Spotlight on the Israeli comics collective Dimona, which also discusses Actus Tragicus, Dudu Geva and Uri Fink.

Williams, Kristian. 2007. Down to the human level : the Joe Sacco interview. http://www.mindbuck.com/2007/07/down-to-human-level-joe-sacco-interview.html (Accessed May 29, 2008).
Among the issues Sacco discusses are the concept of the "banality of evil", journalism school, and the book he's currently working on (which takes place in Rafah and deals with an incident that occurred in 1956).

Yankovich, Ita. 2006. It's a bird, it's a plane : it's a Jewish female superhero? The Jewish Press, August 2, reprinted online at http://www.jewishpress.com/print.do/19028/It%27s_A_Bird%2C_It%27s_A_Plane%3A_It%27s_A_Jewish_Female_Superhero%3F.html (Accessed May 29, 2008).
Article about the character who occasionally appears in some of Marvel's comics titles and the online petition to give her a series of her own.

Yee, Dafna. 2003. Beware of "Palestine". http://web.archive.org/web/20040906141953/www.metnyusy.org/israel/DYEE+IE.htm (Accessed May 8, 2008).
An editorial condemning Joe Sacco's comic book series Palestine.

Ynet News. 2005. 'Golem' creators know their field. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3039154,00.html (Accessed May 8, 2008).
Spotlight on cartoonist Uri Fink and popular culture researcher Eli Eshed, the creators of the short-lived Israeli online comic strip "The Golem".