Jewish Comics

Hanukkah comic book guest-starring Ragman - a self-censored post

2012-01-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/36457/uncensor

█████ and the ████ #14 ████████ a ████████ █████ ███████ up ██████ ████ ██████'s ██████ █████████ ██████

Here's a censored image of the final page in which we see Ragman (in his civilian guise, Rory Regan) lighting the Chanukah menorah.

The image is © DC Comics 2011 and is reproduced without their permission, but also without my charging anyone to view it. As with any material I promote on this blog, I highly encourage you to go out and buy a copy for yourselves so you can see all of the pages, instead of just this censored one.

Lily Renee & Trina Robbins at MOCCA in NY - tonight (now)

2011-11-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

Apologies for this late listing, but I have a double excuse.

(1) I didn't realize the event was happening until Tuesday.

(2) I have a bit of a virus, so I haven't been able to spend much time blogging lately.

Meet comic book pioneers Lily Renée Wilheim and Trina Robbins as they discuss and sign an extraordinary new book.

Lily Renée, Escape Artist is the inspirational story about the remarkable life of Lily Renée Wilheim and her tenacious escape from Nazi occupation to become one of the leading female comic books artists of the post-war era.

The two remarkable guests, Lily Renée, a sprightly and fascinating octogenarian, and Trina Robbins, a comic book historian and pioneer in her own right (Wonder Woman writer, 60s underground comix groundbreaker, etc.) provide an insightful and entertaining look at the contribution of women in the comic book industry of the last 70 years--a quintessential American story.

Time : Thursday, November 3, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location : Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art - MoCCA
594 Broadway - Suite 401 (between Houston and Prince)
New York, New York

Admission : FREE

The Jewish Side of NYCC on Sukkot

2011-10-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of the annual New York Comic Convention (aka New York Comicon aka NYCC). It is also the first day of the Jewish holiday Sukkos (aka the Festival of Booths). This is not the first time that NYCC has coincided with a Jewish holiday. In 2008, NYCC coincided with Passover.

Sukkot is one of the Jewish holidays which is divided into "yom tov" and "chol ha-moed" days. The yom tovim are days during which one may not do certain prohibited activities (e.g. use electricity, handle money), but one may do such activities during the "chol ha-moed" period.

The first 2 days of NYCC this year coincide with the "yomim tovim", while the third day is on the Jewish Sabbath (which has prohibitions, just like yomim tovim). However, day 4 (arguably the most fun day because it's also "kids day") is a chol ha-moed day, so Orthodox and observant Jews need not feel excluded this year.

Those who feel bad about missing out on Comicon while they're observing the holiday traditions may thematically combine their "Jewish self" with their "inner geek" by reading one (or both) of the recommended comics (which I'll plug at the end of this post) inside their sukkahs.

For those who will be attending NYCC, I'd like to point out the creators and publishers of Jewish-content comics who will be in attendance as well as recommended Jewishy panels.

The Panels

Fri. Oct. 14
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: 1B01
Will Eisner's The Spirit and Bob Kane's The Batman
Like their creators Will Eisner and Bob Kane, The Spirit and The Batman had an intertwined and complex relationship. DeWitt Clinton High School classmates, Will and Bob helped each other in their early comics careers. As fate would have it, each came up with an iconic non-superpowered costumed adventurer who owed a lot to the films noir of Orson Welles and other cinema pioneers. Investigating how these two masters interacted, interrelated, and worked is sure to be fascinating. Join Michael Uslan (producer of the Batman films), Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes), Dennis O'Neil (Batman writer and editor), Chris Couch (The Will Eisner Companion), and moderator Danny Fingeroth (The Stan Lee Universe and Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero) as they explore the similarities and differences between the characters and their creators.

3:45 pm - 4:45 pm
Location: 1A23
Joe Simon: My Life in Comics
What was it like to be targeted by the Nazi party? What was Stan Lee like as a teenage kid? How did it feel to have your comics torn apart by a Congressional committee--on live television!? And what was the real origin of the Red Skull? These secrets and more, revealed by the man who lived them--Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America, first editor at Marvel Comics, creator of Sick magazine, and a genuine living legend. Joe turned 98 years old on October 11, and this is his only appearance at a comic book convention. So come out and wish him a happy birthday!

Sat. Oct. 15
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: 1B03
Comics Studies Conference 3: Requiem for Weisinger: The Life and Work of Superman Editor Mort Weisinger
Comic book historian and illustrator Arlen Schumer (The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) presents the work of Mort Weisinger, editor of the Superman line for 30 years (1940-70), through Weisinger's own words and artist Curt Swan’s images, with the participation of Mort’s son, Dr. Hank Weisinger.

Sunday, October 16
10:45 am - 11:45 am
Location: 1A15
MoCCA Presents: Michael Uslan, The Boy Who Loved Batman
Presenting the true story of Michael Uslan, and how a middle class boy from New Jersey grew up to be an executive producer of one of the most successful film franchises of all time. Uslan has been the executive producer, along with his partner Benjamin Melnicker, of the Batman series of films, starting with 1989’s landmark Batman to the most recent installment, the second highest grossing film of all time, The Dark Knight. He has written comic books, comic strips, a children’s book, a book on Rock and Roll with Dick Clark, graphic novels and most recently, his critically-acclaimed autobiography, The Boy Who Loved Batman. Signing to immediately follow at MoCCA Booth #2631

Note: Michael Uslan is also known for his lecture "Pow! Zap! Oy! How Jewish Immigrants Created Super Heroes".

1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
Location: 1A15
Spotlight on Chris Claremont and Paul Levitz: Superheroes: Fact and Fiction
Join the award-winning writers of The Uncanny X-Men and The Legion of Superheroes. Have your questions answered and learn the inside scoop on these two fabulous teams, how they came into their own in their 70’s, influencing comics, movies, videos, television. Chris Claremont is best known for his time on Marvel Comic’s X-Men, were he created such characters as Rogue, Gambit, Mystique, and Kitty Pryde. Paul Levitz is the long-time writer of The Legion of Superheroes for DC Comics.

Note : Paul Levitz gave Colossal Boy (Gim Allon) his Jewish background and scripted the 1-page story Tradition for DC's 9-11 book.

Publishers

Abrams Comicarts - booth 1144
Published titles include Auschwitz, Hereville : How Mirka Got Her Sword and Yiddishkeit.

First Second Books - booth 1730
Published works include Klezmer : Tales of the Wild East, Resistance, Vampire Loves and Little Vampire.

NBM (Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing Inc.) - booth 1831
Published works include A Jew in Communist Prague, Brownsville and The Big Khan.

Creators

Neal Adams (illustrator of "The Ventures of Zimmerman" (parody of Bob Dylan) and "Son O' God", which appeared in the pages of National Lampoon)

Ernie Colon (illustrator of Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography, as well as the second series of Mendy and the Golem comics)

Peter David (who infamously used the names of seder plate items for aliens in a Star Trek novel and who wrote the stories for The Incredible Hulk #386-387 ; see
http://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-386.html and http://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-387.html)

Danny Fingeroth (author of Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero)

Keith Giffen (author of the Ragman miniseries that reintroduced the title character as a Jewish superhero and also creator of the characters Dreidel and Rabbi Zone, who both appeared in the pages of the last issue of the series The Heckler)

Rebekah Isaacs (illustrator of the series Drafted)

Phil Jimenez (illustrator of a Heroes online comic featuring an Israeli Mossad agent named Hana Gitelman)

Joe Kubert (author-illustrator of the graphic novels Jew Gangster and Yossel : April 19, 1943, as well as the Sgt. Rock : The Prophecy miniseries)

Peter Kuper (author-illustrator of the short biographical story "Promised Land" in Bleeding Heart #2, as well as the book-length autobiographical Stop Forgetting to Remember : The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz)

Stan Lee (Jewish comics legend who co-created the Fantastic Four, which has a Jewish character called The Thing and who appeared in the story "What if the Original Marvel Bullpen was the Fantastic Four?" in What If? #11)

Paul Levitz (author of "Tradition" in DC Comics' 9-11 September 11th 2001)

A. David Lewis (author of The Lone and Level Sands, a graphic novel adaptation of the story of Exodus) will be at booth #1546

Miriam Libicki (author-illustrator of jobnik!) will be at booth S9

Rob Liefeld (illustrator of stories in the Youngblood series, which included the Israeli superheroine Masada)

Todd McFarlane (co-plotter of the story "Remains" in Spawn #103)

Clifford Meth (author of the illustrated story "I, Gezheh" in Aardwolf #1).

Jimmy Palmiotti (co-creator of the short-lived golem series The Monolith from DC Comics)

Arlen Schumer (author-illustrator of Captain Israel)

Bill Sienkiewicz (illustrator of the story "Night Screams" in X-Men #159, in which Kitty is saved from Dracula by her Star of David necklace)

The 2 Sukkot-related comics which I made reference to at the beginning of this post are :

Jewish Hero Corps #2 (written by Alan Oirich ; illustrated by Ron Randall)
"The Secret of the Solar Succah"

-and-

The Escapists #2 (written by Brian K. Vaughan ; illustrated by Jason S. Alexander and Steve Rolston)

Yiddishkeit panel in New York City on Wednesday

2011-10-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

Having just recovered from eating too much apples and honey during Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish New Year, which was celebrated 2 days ago), Jews around the world will be preparing to ask G-d's forgiveness this coming Friday night (i.e. during Yom Kippur).

2 days before that, though, certain Jews (and interested non-Jews) will be gathering at The Graduate Center to listen to a panel of (mostly) Jewish people discuss Yiddish history and culture. Specifically, they will be discussing a new graphic anthology recently published by Abrams titled Yiddishkeit : Jewish Vernacular and the New Land. Yiddishkeit, edited by Paul Buhle and the late Harvey Pekar z"l is descibed as :

the last fully realized work by the late Pekar [which] unveils the lasting influence of Yiddish on American culture.

On the panel will be :

playwright and author Allen Lewis Rickman, National Yiddish Book Center founder Aaron Lansky (whose quest to save Yiddish is featured in one of the anthology's stories), cartoonist Ben Katchor, anthology contributor Danny Fingeroth (who authored the book Disguised as Clark Kent : Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero), Sabrina Jones, Jewish Currents editor Larry Bush, and anthology co-editor Paul Buhle.

Date : Wed., Oct. 5, 2011
Venue : The Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street)
New York, NY 10016
Cost : $10.00
Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=GOT7

Yiddishkeit made Quimby's Top 10 Weekly list (at #6) for the week of Aug. 31st and its cover was chosen as the Book Cover of the Week by Jewish Book World's Naomi Firestone-Teeter on August 10th.

An excerpt by Neal Gabler may be found at http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/books/76190/yiddishkeit/.

Original artwork (which is for sale) by Dan Archer may be viewed a http://www.archcomix.com/buy-artwork/.

What have people been saying about Yiddishkeit thus far?

Choice review excerpts below (with links to the full commentary).

Gilles d'Aymery, Swans Commentary
"Neither pedagogic nor didactic, the scripts are superb, the drawings splendid, and as Paul Buhle wrote in his Editor's Note, 'the culture of Yiddish is so inherently vernacular that comics art provides a perfect venue for an exploration of issues and personalities.' A significant historical and cultural book not to be missed."

David from New York, Amazon.com
"a scholarly book, this isn't; a thorough and enjoyable book this is. Don't think Talmud; think The Wise Men of Chelm as if Chelm were the USA. I can't think of a better introduction to Yiddishkeit."

Sephora Markson Hartz, Secular culture and ideas, rethinking Jewish
"In the end, Yiddishkeit is worth reading not because Pekar is a dazzling storyteller, but because he is,as Buhle notes, an 'idiosyncratic' one. The force of Harvey Pekar’s personality has always been his greatest asset, as is his life-long interest in giving new life—and pressing new relevance—to seemingly marginal subjects. True, you may dispute some of Pekar’s assessments of Yiddish culture, but nevermind. You’ll find yourself blissfully enchanted by his eccentricities."

Steven Heller, Imprint
"Rich in lore and folkways, the book trace the influence of Yiddish from medieval Europe to New York's Lower East Side. Yiddishkeit means 'Jewishness,' as in a 'Jewish way of life.' "

Rick Klaw, Nexus Graphica
"Perhaps the most unusual and unexpected graphic work of the year, the impressive Yiddishkeit successfully peels back centuries of scholarship and dogma while revealing the nuances of the colorful language and its impact on contemporary society."

Paul Kupperberg, Comicmix.com
"Yiddishkeit is an introduction to dozens of lost or forgotten Yiddish authors, and a compelling overview of just how influential the Jews and their particular way of seeing life were in shaping American pop culture (from MAD Magazine to Woody Allen)."

Josh Lambert, Forward
"Like the collection of kitschy coffee mugs and refrigerator magnets that Shandler analyzes as epitomizing that phenomenon, 'Yiddishkeit' aims to interact with and influence the relationship between Yiddish culture and people who don’t read or speak the language. Specifically, the book promulgates a familiar set of ideas about Yiddish: that it was 'focused on the here and now rather than on airy philosophical discourse,' as pop historian Neal Gabler says in his introduction; that it was an incubator for communists, socialists, anarchists and other leftists, which is what Buhle tends to emphasize, and that it was the medium for a rich and neglected modern literary and performance tradition and has indelibly marked American popular culture forever after."

David Luhrssen, Express Milwaukee
"Yiddishkeit is by no means a comprehensive study of Yiddish film, Jews in Hollywood or the leavening effect of the Jewish sensibility on the dour culture of WASP America. But it's a fun and informed read—one that will make many of us search for more material on the various subjects it touches."

Mae "mes2000", Amazon.com
"The visual treatment of literary and biographical topics in 'Yiddishkeit' is fun, but very truncated: for example, it offers a 3-page summary of Aaron Lansky's memoir 'Outwitting History,' (which I think is actually a better treatment of Yiddish in America) and a 12-page 'retelling' in graphic form of the 1937 Yiddish movie 'Greenfields.' "

Laura Miller Salon.com
"this fabulous rich volume has much to tell everyone about the roots of our national humor, drama and vernacular language."

Noel Murray, The A.V. Club
"There’s a lot of quality material here, though, including a series of concise, anecdotal one-pagers written by Joel Schechter and drawn by Spain Rodriguez. And Pekar fans will appreciate getting one more chance to read his impassioned, sometimes cranky opinions about the artists America embraces and the ones they unjustly ignore."

Allan Nadler, Jewish Ideas Daily
" The result is a stunningly colorful but dizzyingly messy comic bouquet to secular Yiddish culture."

Publishers Weekly
"The art is provided by a number of notables, including Spain Rodriguez, Peter Kuper, and Sharon Rudahl, every bit of it brimming with the charm and flavor of its subject and seamlessly meshing with the text to create a genuinely compelling, scholarly comics experience."

Tom Spurgeon, the Comics Reporter
"Its existence in comic shops is as wonderfully odd and potentially jarring in its own way as some of the weirder and more depressing stuff that shops offer up."

Happy (Jewish) New Year from Edge City

2011-10-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

Terry Laban (and co-writer spouse Patty) once again wish their loyal readers a "Shanah Tovah"(good year) via a week-long themed storyline in their syndicated comic strip Edge City.

This year, the Ardin family considers attending a different synagogue for the high holy days (since Abby's parents will be in Florida).

To view the strips, go to the following links (each of which will be valid until 30 days after its publication).

http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Edge_City&feature_date=2011-10-02
http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Edge_City&feature_date=2011-10-01
http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Edge_City&feature_date=2011-09-30
http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Edge_City&feature_date=2011-09-29
http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Edge_City&feature_date=2011-09-28
http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Edge_City&feature_date=2011-09-27
http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Edge_City&feature_date=2011-09-26

Or read the compilation below (until / unless I get a "please remove" e-mail from the copyright holder).

pre-order a digital copy of "The 36" - only 5 days left

2011-08-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

The 36 is one of the latest Jewish graphic novel projects which is being helped out by Kickstarter. However, the deadline for raising the funds (goal total : $10,000 USD) is less than a week away (Aug. 8th). That means that if the $10,000 is not raised in time to meet the deadline, the project may be delayed or could remain unfinished.

What's The 36 about?

Below is the description from the entry at Kickstarter :

The 36 is a graphic novel based on the Kabbalistic belief that there are 36 people in the world upon whom it is saved by their simple existence. In times of need, these people emerge from anonymity and save us, then fade back into their lives.

Noam, our hero, is one of those people. Armed with the fabled staff of Moses (used to split the Red Sea), Noam would love nothing more than to fade into anonymity; he just doesn't know what he has to do to finish his duty as one of the 36.

The first 5 pages of the book may be viewed at http://the36.net/read_it.shtml

You may also watch the colorful promotional Vimeo video at http://vimeo.com/18154022 or by clicking on the inline image below.

The 3 "low reward" options seem quite reasonable to me.

For just $10, you will receive a digitally-delivered PDF copy of the Trade Paperback for "The 36" (Chapters #1-5).

For only $6, you will receive a digitally-delivered PDF copy of "The 36" Chapters #1-3.

A mere $1 will allow you to receive a digitally-delivered PDF copy of "The 36" Chapter #1.

There are other reward levels, as well. However, I wanted to point out that you may read the whole story (5 chapters), just by paying $10 (if the fundraising goal is met by the deadline).

Remember : the deadline for this Kickstarter project is just 5 days away.

To go to the pledge page for the 36 (pledges do not become payments unless the project is fully funded ; payment is via Amazon.com), please visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/760993222/the-36-a-graphic-novel-based-on-jewish-mythology.

Jewish Side of SDCCI 2011

2011-07-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) is day 3 of the annual San Diego Comic Convention International.

As usual, there are plenty of Jewish cartoonists and creators of Jewish-content stories in attendance.

There are also panels which might be of interest to those interested in Jewish cartoonists &/or Jewish comic stories.

The most relevant panel at this year's convention is obviously the following Sunday noon-time session :

12:00-1:00 Jews 'n' Comics: A Past and Present History
From Ben Grimm to The Golem and more, comic book historian and illustrator Arlen Schumer (The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) surveys the specifically Jewish creation of the American superhero and its antecedents in older, ancient myths, as well as the significant contributions Jews have made to the evolution of comic book art in the 20th and 21st centuries -- including his own superhero creation, Captain Israel!
Room 24ABC

Other panles at the convention included / will include :

Thursday

10:30-11:30 Spotlight on Joyce Brabner

Is she the glacial, humorless activist as portrayed in the film American Splendor or just the person who published the first comic on the Internet? Come hear Comic-Con special guest Joyce Brabner talk about her latest projects, including finishing the work of her late husband Harvey Pekar and dealing with his legacy.

1:00-2:00 Abrams ComicArts
For over 60 years Abrams has been the premiere art book publisher. With the launch of Abrams ComicArts in 2009, the tradition of excellence continues with award-winning original graphic novels by Brian Fies,

Jason Shiga, and Barry Deutsch, as well as monographs on such seminal creators as Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, and Jaime Hernandez. Charles Kochman (editorial director), Sheila Keenan (senior editor), and Neil Egan (designer) talk with celebrated graphic designer Chip Kidd (Shazam! The Golden Age of the

World's Mightiest Mortal) about their current titles and reveal details and images from their upcoming collaborations with Dan Clowes, Derf Backderf, Kazu Kibuishi, and Dave McKean, as well as other projects and surprises.

Friday

3:30-4:30 Spotlight on Eric Drooker
Visual artist and Comic-Con special guest Eric Drooker will project hundreds of his magical images and explore how his early years as a street artist in New York City inspired his award-winning graphic novels Flood! and Blood Song. He'll discuss the process of designing the animation for the recent hit film Howl, starring James Franco, and how he adapted it for the new book, Howl: A Graphic Novel. Best known for his numerous cover paintings for The New Yorker, Drooker will tell hilarious-but-true stories of how he wound up getting published.

Saturday

11:00-12:00 Will Eisner: Visionary
Will Eisner -- artist, storyteller, entrepreneur -- played a central role in comics from the Golden Age to the Computer Age. During his career, Eisner reinvented sequential art and himself to overcome obstacles and create new media. A combination of idealist and realist, he led the way and helped create the comics and graphic novels that we know today. Learn about Will Eisner from those who personally knew and worked with him. Join moderator Charles Brownstein (executive director of the CBLDF, author of Eisner/Miller), Denis Kitchen (artist, author, publisher, Eisner's agent and longtime friend), Paul Levitz (writer, former president/publisher of DC Comics), Scott McCloud (artist, author, theoretician about comics and sequential art), Diana Schutz (executive editor, Dark Horse Comics), and Jeff Smith (writer/cartoonist, Bone, Rasl) to learn more about the "Father of the Graphic Novel." Room 9

12:00-1:00 Comics Arts Conference Session #10: The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of Weisinger
Comic book historian and illustrator Arlen Schumer (The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) presents the work of Mort Weisinger, editor of the Superman line for 30 years (1940-1970), told in Weisinger's own words and artist Curt Swan's images. Room 26AB

1:00-2:00 Remembering Harvey Pekar

The legendary Harvey Pekar died in July 2010, leaving behind a huge legacy of work with a veritable who's who list of comics collaborators on his American Splendor and graphic novels. Joyce Brabner and Danielle Batone join editor Charles Kochman, artist Joseph Remnant (Harvey Pekar's Cleveland), and moderator Jeff Newelt to talk about Harvey's life and comics career. This is an open invitation to anyone whoever worked with Harvey or cared about him to come and share their memories.

1:30-2:30 Spotlight on Peter Kuper
From MAD to World War 3 Illustrated, Comic-Con special guest Peter Kuper (Spy vs. Spy) has for three decades been blowing up spies and politicians and creating graphic novels ranging from Franz Kafka adaptations to autobiographies that would scare Kafka. Get an inside look at how he comes up with Spy vs. Spy ideas and his other idiotic projects! Room 8

2:00-3:00 Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski
Comic-Con special guest J. Michael Straczynski (Thor movie and comic, Superman Earth One, World War Z movie, Babylon 5) talks about...well, we're never quite sure. He's fairly incomprehensible. Have you heard him? Stunning, really. Can't make out a word. We imagine he'll be talking about writing for movies, TV, comics and so on, but honestly, he could be talking about hydroponics for all we can tell. Translators may be provided if we can ever figure out what language he's speaking. Room 7AB

6:00-7:00 Spirituality in Comics: Is Mass Media Our New Church?
In comics, movies, and even Broadway musicals like The Book of Mormon, spiritual themed work seems to be unexpectedly coming from the least religious of sources. Panelists Sergio Cariello (The Action Bible), Buzz Dixon (Hits and Misses), Mike Shields (Blue Blazes), and Russell Dalton (Marvelous Myths: Marvel Superheroes and Everyday Faith) discuss how a new media world of comics and pop culture is exploring timeless truths. Special giveaways for those in attendance. Brought to you by the Christian Comic Arts Society. Room 4

Sunday

10:00-11:15 The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel
As always, we gather to remember the man some still hail as The King of the Comics, Jack Kirby. If you don't know who that is, you have no business being at this convention. Moderator Mark Evanier discusses the life and times of Kirby with Walt Simonson (Thor), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), Richard Kyle (Graphic Story World), and Mike Royer (inker of lots of Kirby comics). Room 5AB

10:00-11:00 Diversity and Fandom 102: How You Can Make a Difference
In the wake of campaigns like Racebending.com's protests and the rise of safe spaces like Racialicious.com, fans, consumers and creators from underrepresented groups have more outlets for speaking up. This panel explores how those voices can be added to conversations with geeky business interests and fan communities. Actor Dante Basco (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hook), showrunner/writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach (The Middleman), author Malinda Lo (Huntress), Arturo Garcia (Racialicious.com), Phil Yu (AngryAsianMan.com) and USC Professor Henry Jenkins (CivicPaths Project) promise a lively discussion, moderated by Racebending.com. Room 24ABC

3:45-4:45 The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child, Animated by a Child
Bill Plympton (two-time Oscar-nominated animator, Idiots and Angels), 11-year-old prodigy animator and child film critic Perry Chen, his mother Dr. Zhu Shen (producer), Karina Bessoudo (Toon Boom Animation, vice president of marketing and communications), and Kevin Sean Michaels (director) share insight and a sneak preview of the film Ingrid Pitt: Beyond The Forest and the cross-generational collaboration that was formed to create it. The short animated film illustrates the miraculous true story of the late actress Ingrid Pitt (Where Eagles Dare) who, in 1945, escaped at age 8 from a Nazi concentration camp in Poland to later become one of the UK's biggest movie stars. Also screening will be a trailer for the new documentary on animator Bill Plympton, Adventures in Plymptoons! Moderated by Pat Swinney Kaufman (executive director for the New York State Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development) and Lloyd Kaufman (president/co-founder of Troma Entertainment, author of Sell Your Own Damn Movie). Room 5AB

******

Creators who will be present at the convention (most of them exhibiting &/or on panels) include :

Sergio Aragones (who illustrated the "Fanny Hillman : Jewish Madam" books and adapted the Jonah story for Testament)

Ernie Chan (illustrator of the 1-page "Lilith The First Vampire"story in Vampire Tales #4)

Peter David (who infamously used the names of seder plate items for aliens in a Star Trek novel and who wrote the stories for The Incredible Hulk #386-387 ; see
http://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-386.html andhttp://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-387.html)

Alan Davis (author of the "Nazi Excalibur"storyline in Excalibur #9-11)

Barry Deutsch (author of the Eisner-nominated Hereville which won the 2011 Sydney Taylor Award {Older Readers category})

Tony Dezuniga (illustrator of the stories "Black Crossing" and "There Comes Now Raging Fire" in Strange Tales #176 & #177)

Colleen Doran (illustrator of a one-page illustration in The Death Gallery, in which Death is at a concentration camp)

Eric Drooker (author-illustrator of the comic story "Casting Stones" in World War 3 Illustrated, reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Best War Comics, Carroll & Graf, 2007, p. 511-512)

Garth Ennis (author of the limited series Unknown Soldier, in which the title character, in a flashback to WWII, is shown massacring Nazi guards at Dachau)

Mark Evanier (author of a Crossfire story for a Free Comic Book Day comic involving a Holocaust survivor who tries to kill a suspected Nazi war criminal)

Jordan B. Gorfinkel (author-illustrator of Everything's Relative) ; Mr. Gorfinkel is probably not an exhibitor this year, but you might spot him walking by.

Phil Jimenez (illustrator of Wonder Woman: Donna Troy #1 and the Heroes online comic " Wireless Part One)

Peter Kuper (author-illustrator of the short biographical story "Promised Land"(Bleeding Heart #2), as well as the book-length autobiographical Stop Forgetting to Remember : The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz)

Scott Kurtz (author-illustrator of PVP, the Eisner-award-winning online comic strip which in 2006 made a joke about the Superman Returns movie being "a Jewish conspiracy to convince Christians that Jesus was gay")

Stan Lee (Jewish comics legend who co-created the Fantastic Four, which has a Jewish chartacter called The Thing and who appeared in the story "What if the Original Marvel Bullpen was the Fantastic Four?" in What If? #11)

Paul Levitz (author of "Tradition" in DC Comics' 9-11 September 11th 2001)

Miriam Libicki (author of the jobnik! series, the first volume of which has been collected in trade paperback)

Scott Lobdell (author of stories which appeared in X-Men #-1 and Uncanny X-Men #319, both of which dealt with Magneto's past)

Todd McFarlane (co-plotter of the story "Remains" in Spawn #103)

Ron Marz (author of the story "Crown Heights"in Witchblade #121, in which Sara and Patrick investigate the brutal murder of a rabbi in Crown Heights but find the strict Jewish community secretive and uncooperative)

Steve Niles (author of the golem story Criminal Macabre: Feat of Clay)

Jimmy Palmiotti (co-creator of the short-lived golem series The Monolith from DC Comics)

Chari Pere (author-illustrator of the webcomic Of Biblical Proportions) ; Chari was at booth #1930 on Friday, but I don't know where she'll be for the rest of the con.

Ben Raab (The Lost Tribe graphic novel, which debuted at the 2006 Comicon ; info with art at http://www.benraab.com/lost_tribe.html)

Trina Robbins (author/illustrator of "The Triangle Fire" which was the cover story for the 2nd issue of Lilith Magazine)

Jerry Robinson (Batman series artist who also did illustrations forBible Tales for Young Folk)

Jon Rosenberg (author-illustrator of the webcomic Goats), which includes the Jewish character "Jon", as seen in the strip from Nov. 24, 2005)

Bill Sienkiewicz (illustrator of the story "Night Screams"in X-Men #159, in which Kitty is saved from Dracula by her Star of David necklace)

Gail Simone (who wrote the story "Li'l Krusty in Give a Hoot, Stay in School" in Simpsons #62)

Louise Simonson (co-author of issues of a Superman storyline {Superman : Man of Steel # 80-82}, in which Superman went to the Warsaw Ghetto)

J. Michael Straczynski (author of the Spider-Man story "You Want Pants with That?" and the Rising Stars story "Selah")

Roy Thomas (who had the Thing battle the Golem in Marvel Two-in-One #11 and introduced Jewish superheroes Nuklon {Infinity Inc. / JLA} and Golem {The Invaders})

Judd Winick (author-illustrator of Pedro and Me and Caper #1-4)

Marv Wolfman (author of The Tomb of Dracula #27, The New Teen Titans #24 and Homeland : The Illustrated History of the State of Israel)

comix side of the AJL convention

2011-06-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

"Librarians on the loose"? Indeed!

This week, the Association of Jewish Libraries is holding its annual conference in Montreal.

Among the presentations that will be given on Tuesday, June 21st are :

Hereville by Barry Deutsch

-and-

From Life of Esther Visualized to Hereville : The Portrayal of Jewish Females in Comic Books, Comic Strips, and Graphic Novels.

The latter presentation will be given by Steven M. Bergson (the blogmaster of this very blog).

In conjunction with this presentation, a companion blog will be launched at http://jewishwomenincomix.blogspot.com.

Comments are welcome.

Jewish cartoonists & infertility

2011-05-21T20:47:00.000-07:00

This week (May 15-22) is Canadian Infertility Awareness Week. For more info, please go to the site of the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada.

In honor of CIAW, I am posting information about 2 comics which have been used to tell the stories of Jewish women artists who had problems getting pregnant and sought help at fertility clinics to no avail.

In 1994, Diane Noomin, wrote and illustrated the autobiographical story "Baby Talk: A Tale of 4 Miscarriages", which was published in the anthology Twisted Sisters 2: Drawing the Line.

In 2010, Phoebe Potts wrote and illustrated the autobiographical graphic novel Good Eggs, which dealt with her marrying a Gentile artist, considering becoming a rabbi, and trying to get pregnant.

Jewish Side of TCAF 2011 - May 7th & 8th

2011-05-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend, readers, writers, artists, publishers and fans of comix will converge at the Toronto Reference Library to take part in the the FREE Toronto Comic Arts Festival (which this year coincides with Free Comic Book Day).

Among the talented people who will be at TCAF this year are a small number of comix professionals who have done work that has already been mentioned at the Jewish Comics Blog.

* Willow Dawson, a talented Canadian artist, who has illustrated the anthology No Girls Allowed : Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure, written by Susan Hughes and published by Kids Can Press. The anthology includes the story of Esther Brandeau, the first Jewish person to immigrate to Canada.

* Barry Deutsch, author of the Eisner-nominated Hereville which won the 2011 Sydney Taylor Award (Older Readers category)

* Sarah Glidden, author-illustrator of the autobiographical How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less!, which is nominated for the 2012 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list

* Michael Jonathan, author-illustrator of the fictional webcomic Eros Inc. (starring Mot Fleishman) and the autobiographical webcomic Michael Jonathan is Jewish. Both of the webcomics have been collected into minicomics.

* Miriam Libicki, author-illustrator of the jobnik! series, the first volume of which has been collected in trade paperback, the illustrated essays "Towards a Hot Jew: The Israeli Soldier as Fetish Object" and "Jewish Memoir Goes Pow! Zap! Oy!" and the illustrated mini-journals Ceasefire and Fierce Ease.

* David Malki!, author of the Wondermark webcomic, which has been collected in trade paperback. Among the comics that have appeared on the site is one with the punch line "Hannukah bush", one about the Jewish New Year, one that uses the juice/Jews homonym joke and one about Hebephiles.

* Dylan Meconis, author-illustrator of the webcomic Family Man, about a Jewish academic named Luther Levy, who was unable to defend his dissertation because he was not Christian ; volume 1 may be purchased in person at TCAF or ordered online

* Jim Ottaviani, author of Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love and Fallout : J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb

* Paul Pope, author-illustrator of the story "Berlin Batman" in The Batman Chronicles #11 (reprinted in Batman : Year 100), in which Batman is a Jewish painter named Baruch Wane.

* Jonathan Rosenberg, author-illustrator of the webcomic Goats, which includes the Jewish character "Jon", as seen in the strip from Nov. 24, 2005

* Li-Or Zaltzman, cartoonist currently working on a 100+ page coming of age story that takes place in Tel Aviv

Israel and Comics / Discussing the Details

2011-04-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (April 17th), Dan Friedman (Arts and Culture Editor of The Forward) will host a discussion titled "Israel and Comics: Beyond Black and White" about the challenges facing many Jews today, simultaneously hugging and wrestling with Israel.

Here's the official description :

While comics are often drawn in black and white, the work in Graphic Details shows that the relationship of North American Jews to Israel is anything but. With deep affection and sincere struggle these artists illustrate the intertwining of the personal and political, from Sarah Glidden’s conflicted experiences on a Birthright Trip to Miriam Libicki’s service in the Israeli army as “the least-kickass soldier in all of comics.”

Presented in association with the exhibition Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women.

The Toronto exhibition is being presented by the Koffler Centre for the Arts.

Time : 7:00 PM
Location : The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West

Earlier in the day, there will be a program titled "Discussing the Details with Graphic Details Artists"

Toronto-based artists Bernice Eisenstein and Sarah Lazarovic, featured in the Graphic Details exhibition will discuss how graphic storytelling became the medium for narrating their own life experiences. Moderated by Dan Friedman, Arts and Culture Editor of The Forward, the Media partner for Graphic Details.

Neil Gaiman in discussion with Paul Levitz - Thursday at Symphony Space

2011-04-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today's blog entry is a part of this month's Jewish Blog Carnival.

Award-winning comics writer Neil Gaiman will be

appearing on April 14th at the Symphony Space in New York, talking about his life and his writing with Paul Levitz (former publisher at DC Comics).

Neil is probably best known for Vertigo's Sandman series (read the first issue for free at http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/1696_1.pdf, Acrobat format).

Neil also contributed scripts for stories that appeared in the anthology Outrageous Tales of the Old Testament. Cyril Camus recently discussed how Neil's Jewish background contributed both to certain characters and concepts in the Sandman series, as well as to the critical way that he presented his adaptations in the Knockabout anthology (see The "Outsider": Neil Gaiman and the Old Testament in Shofar :An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies vol. 29, N°2).

Among other things, Paul Levitz was the author of "Tradition" in DC Comics' 9-11 September 11th 2001.

Date : Thurs., Apr. 14
Time : 7:00 P.M.
Place : Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street)
Cost : FREE for Columbia Affiliates with ID (RSVP in advance and show ID at Box Office window)
Non-Affiliates: $10; Day of Show $15

Sponsored by the Institute for Israel & Jewish Studies and the Center for American Studies.

As a bonus for visitors coming to this blog from the Jewish Book Carnival, here is a video showing Neil discussing how his Jewish heritage has influenced his writing.

Creators of Jewish Comix at MOCCA Fest - this weekend

2011-04-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

On April 9th and 10th, the annual Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art Festival will be held at the Lexington Avenue Armory (Lexinton and 25th) in Manhttan (New York), between the hours of 11 AM and 6 PM.

Among the creators of Jewish comic stories / art who will be in attendance are :

Jonathan Baylis (author of So ... Buttons mini-comic)

Josh Bernstein (a contributor to the magazine Royal Flush which includes stories of the "Mitzvah 4")

Nick Bertozzi (co-illustrator of Houdini : The Handcuff King)

Richard Codor (author-illustrator of Richard Codor’s Joyous Haggadah, Babushkin's Catalogue of Jewish Inventions and Too Many Latkes)

Willow Dawson, a talented Canadian artist, who has illustrated the anthology No Girls Allowed : Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure, written by Susan Hughes & published by Kids Can Press. The anthology includes the story of Esther Brandeau, the first Jewish person to immigrate to Canada.

Josh Eiserike (writer of the stories in the comic series Assholes, whose Liberal Crap comic strips for University of Maryland's Diamondback student newspaper included a cartoon about Jewish dating websites and a cartoon about the perks (and downside) of being Jewish)

Danny Fingeroth (author of Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero)

Sarah Glidden (author-illustrator of the autobiographical How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less!)

Dean Haspiel (illustrator of many Harvey Pekar stories, including his graphic novels The Quitter and Ego & Hubris : The Michael Malice Story)

Al Jaffee (cartoonist best known for his work in Mad magazine, who also contributed artwork to Moshiach Times, who will be receiving the Klein Award)

Ben Katchor (author-illustrator of The Jew of New York and the upcoming The Dairy Restaurant

Neil Kleid (Xeric award-winning author / illustrator of Stable Rods, "Shomer Negiah", Pilgrimage : Two Weeks in G-d's Country, the graphic novels Brownsville and The Big Khan, as well as the forthcoming Migdal David)

Peter Kuper (author-illustrator of the short biographical story "Promised Land" in Bleeding Heart #2, as well as the book-length autobiographical Stop Forgetting to Remember : The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz)

Paul Levitz (author of "Tradition" in DC Comics' 9-11 September 11th 2001)

David Malki! (author of the Wondermark webcomic, which has been collected in trade paperback). Among the comics that have appeared on the site is one with the punch line "Hannukah bush", one about the Jewish New Year, one that uses the juice/Jews homonym joke and one about Hebephiles.

Jeff Newelt (contributor to Heeb magazine)

Jerry Robinson (Batman series artist who also did illustrations for Bible Tales for Young Folk)

Mitch Rothenberg (writer of the comic series Assholes, which showed a Jewish date in the 2nd issue)

Leslie Stein (author-illustrator of the semi-autobiographical Eye of the Majestic Creature, as well as a short piece in Comics Festival, in which she made reference to her "Jewish nose")

Seth Tobocman (author-illustrator of Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians : For My Parents and "The Serpent of State")

Li-or Zaltzman (cartoonist currently working on a 100+ page coming of age story that takes place in Tel Aviv)

not your parents' comics - Sunday April 3rd in LA

2011-03-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, April 3rd, the Western Regional AJL Conference on Jewish Literature for Children will be held at the American Jewish University Conference Center in Los Angeles.

I've copied the details below.

10:00 AM to 3:00 PM – SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011

Price: $55 ; additional $45 manuscript consult

Featured Speakers:

Sid Jacobson was editor in chief at Harvey Comics, where he created Richie Rich, and was the executive editor at Marvel Comics. His collaborations with illustrator Ernie Colon include the fascinating 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation, and the new illustrated biography of Anne Frank entitled, Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography.

William J. Rubin is the executive editor of Nachshon Press and the
chief architect of the National Jewish Book Award winner, Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel.

Barry Deutsch is the 2011 Sydney Taylor Award winner for Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword.

Anastasia Betts is a well-known education professional with an expertise in graphic literature.

10:00 AM Registration and Bagels

10:30 AM Questions and Answers about graphic literature with authors
Sid Jacobson, Barry Deutsch and William Rubin

12:00 PM Buffet Lunch with special presentation by Sydney Taylor Award
winner Barry Deutsch

1:15 PM History of Graphic literature for children with Anastasia Betts

2:30 PM Literature marketplace and autographing by local children’s
literature authors

Manuscript consultations available

Conference will be held at American Jewish University,
15600 Mulholland Dr., Los Angeles

Sponsored by Sinai Temple Blumenthal Library, Association of Jewish Libraries, AJLSC, and American Jewish University

Ariel Schrag interview

2011-03-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

On Monday, the blog Jewesses with Attitude posted an interview with cartoonist Ariel Schrag who will be in Toronto this Sunday as part of the programming for Graphic Details.

Q: How does your Jewish identity influence your work?

AS: It doesn't especially. I'm half Jewish, the wrong half at that, but I look Jewish (imagine what you will) and I have a Jewish name (first and last) so I FEEL very Jewish. And actually have quite a strong Jewish identity for myself. Plus my family celebrated Hanukkah and Passover. Passover has always been my favorite holiday. I love that there's an elaborate story you spend hours going around a table telling through various songs and acts of eating food. But as far as writing about being Jewish I haven't done it that much explicitly. Though I'm sure there's a certain Jewish sensibility present in whatever I write.

Ariel Schrag in Toronto on Sunday

2011-03-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (March 27th), Ariel Schrag - author-illustrator of the graphic novels Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise and editor of the anthology Stuck in the Middle : 17 Comics from an Unpleasant Age - will be in Toronto to promote herself, her works, and the exhibition "Graphic Details" which has her artwork in it.

To help promote Ariel's upcoming appearance, The National Post published an article about Schrag and her work. The article includes a reprint of Ariel's 1-page comic "The Chosen", which is about her relationship with a Hasidic real estate broker that she liked. "The Chosen" originally appeared in a 2007 issue of the magazine Heeb.

The graphic beside the article is rather small and the size of the jpg that it is hyperlinked to is quite large. For a more eye-friendly online version of the 1-pager, please go to interfaithfamily.com.

Date : Sunday, March 27th
Time : 2:00 P.M.
Venue : The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West (Toronto, Ont., Canada)
Cost : Free

Graven Images

2011-03-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

Comics scholarship is a challenging but fascinating area of academic study. Requiring familiarity with both the theories of other academics and with the comic books, comic strips, and graphic novels that have been produced since the 1930s (or even earlier), comix scholars have attempted to produce innovative research and essays that allow comic fans a window into the "ivory tower" of universities and provide a glimpse into the "geek world" of comicdom for academics. It can be a slippery slope. If a particular paper or presentation is too comics-heavy and too light in theory, it may be dismissed by the academy. On the other hand, if the work is too heavy on theory and too light on comics, it'll probably bore the heck out of comic fans and general readers.

The acceptance of comics scholarship has been demonstrated at both academic conferences (most notably the annual one for the Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association) and at large comic conventions (most notably the ones in San Diego and New York). The Graven Images conference took place on the campus of Boston University in 2008 and was an eclectic ingathering of students, professors, comic creators and comic fans.

The book Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels attempts to combine not only academic scholarship and comix, but does so through the "lens" of religion. Since it is an anthology, it tries to do what comic anthologies

(e.g. Outragous Tales from the Old Testament, Testament, Cargo : Comic Journalism) do so well, i.e. offer something for everyone and bring together a diversity of viewpoints, voices, and artistic styles. Although full comic works are not reproduced in full, several of the essays do reproduce comic pages (e.g. there are 9 reproductions of comic art in the essay "Tell Tale Visions : The Erotic Theology of Craig Thomspon's Blankets"). Although most of the contriburors are researchers, there are also contributions from those who create comics : G. Willow Wilson, Douglas Rushkoff, and Mark Smylie.

Although I was only able to look at a limited part of the book (the foreword, introduction, 2 essays, and the index), the preview gave me the impression that the editors (A. David Lewis and Christine Hoff Kraemer) have done quite a commendable job in assembling this potpourri of religion-based comix scholarship. This is a book that is, in my humble opinion, worthy of a Harvey award or an Eisner award (perhaps both).

Triangle Fire - comic by Trina Robbins

2011-03-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, I reproduce (with the writer-artist's permission) "The Triangle Fire" by Trina Robbins, one of the cartoonists whose work is currently on display at the Gladstone Hotel for the Graphic Details exhibition put on by the Koffler Centre. This cartoon was the cover story of the 2nd issue of Lilith Magazine.

A longer (4-page) version was printed in Corporate Crime Comics #2 (April 1979).

Graphic Details exhibition launch in Toronto - tomorrow night

2011-02-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

The Summer 2010 issue of Lilith contained a short item about the travelling exhibition Graphic Details on page 47. Specific people mentioned in the item were Michael Kaminer, Sarah Lightman, Diane Noomin, Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Trina Robbins. The item included reproductions of art by Bernice Eisenstein and Vanessa Davis.

The item incorrectly stated that the exhibition would be moving to Toronto in March. In fact, the Koffler Center's opening night event will be held tomorrow (Feb. 17th) at the Gladstone Hotel.

The exhibition has been getting additional publicity via the Sisterhood blog at the Jewish Daily Forward and the Jewish Women's Archive blog. The 2 blogs are cross-posting interviews with those involved with the show.

Interview with Miss Lasko-Gross
http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/135430/
http://jwablog.jwa.org/graphic-details-interview-miss-lasko-gross

Q: How does your Jewish identity influence your work?
L-G: I don't know that it does, but in the auto-bio game having a genetic predisposition to being a neurotic mess doesn't hurt.

Interview with Sarah Lightman
http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/135123/
http://jwablog.jwa.org/graphic-details-interview-sarah-lightman

Q: How does your Jewish identity influence your work?

SL: I am finding my relationship to being Jewish is constantly evolving as I get older. I found at some points the texts and writings were most important, and now I am finding greatest joy from finding communities of Jewish artists who make similar art to me. I have felt for a number for years that my contribution to Jewish life and history will be a cultural one. For example, when I curated shows for The Ben Uri Gallery, London Jewish Museum of Art, I was committed to creating opportunities for contemporary artists. One pleasing result was giving Jewish artists an opportunity to display work that expressed their identity and their lives, and ensuring a supportive audience for this work. I felt most excited by the creative ways the artists engaged with Judaism and their Jewish experience.

Interview with Michael Kaminer
http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/134917/

What interested you about the trend of Jewish women doing autobiographical comics you observed at the 2008 Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Expo in New York?

The story kind of told itself. I was on the lookout for women artists because that’s a large part of what I collect. Their voices always seem sharper, the powers of observation more refined, and the humor riotous. I probably had my Jewish filter up because I was a contributing editor to a magazine called Jewish Living at the time. And the autobiographical element just emerged as a common thread among the artists I encountered. When Jewish Living tanked, I took the story to the Forward, and the piece — which ran in December 2008 — became “Graphic Details,” the show.

Interview with Trina Robbins
http://jwablog.jwa.org/graphic-details-interview-with-trina-robbins

Q: How does your Jewish identity influence your work?

TR: Sorry, not much. I've done a few stories that I consider Jewish-identified, like the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, which my father had told to me growing up, or my adaptation of Hirsch Glick's Die Parteznaer Lied, which I did with Sharon Rudahl, but mostly what influences my work is that I'm a woman.

Hereville gets even more attention

2011-02-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, Laurel Snyder (author of Baxter the Kosher Pig) interviewed Barry Deutsch (author of Hereville which won the 2011 Sydney Taylor Award (Older Readers category).

Below is an excerpt :

Meanwhile, just one last little thing, in parting– Do you think books can change the world?

Definitely, but only the way a conversation can change the world, or a speech, or a TV show. Everything we do changes the world somehow, but usually the changes are very tiny. So to make a big change you need thousands of people (and thousands of books), all pushing to change the world in some direction. A good example is, are there going to be some engaging and interesting Jewish girl characters in kids books? If just one or two books do that, the answer is “no,” but if a whole bunch of us do it, the answer becomes “yes,” and that will make a small but consequential difference in the lives of a lot of Jewish girl readers who want to see themselves reflected in books.

To read the full interview, please go to http://laurelsnyder.com/2011/02/08/meet-barry-meet-mirka/

The webcomic Unshelved (formerly known as Overdue) hosted a review of Hereville, review written by Gene Ambaum (as part of its Unshleved Book Club feature-within-a-feature).

As with all Unshelved, reviews, the page is done comic style, but also contains reproductions of 2 pages from the Hereville graphic novel. So it's like reading 3 comic pages --- but crammed onto a single page. It's quite nice, actually.

To read the review, please go to http://www.unshelved.com/2011-2-4.

2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour - Interview with Carla Jablonski

2011-02-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

For the 2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour, Steven Bergson agreed to interview Carla Jablonski.

The full schedule for the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour may be found at the bottom of this blog post.

Carla is the author of the graphic novel Resistance : Book 1 (illustrated by Leland Purvis), which is a Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner (Older Readers category). The Sydney Taylor Awards are presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries.

SB: The wrap-around symbolic cover, shows Paul about to fire a slingshot at the helmet of an SS soldier - a scene which doesn't appear in the story itself. Was that a scene which you cut or did you decide not to use an image from within the book?

CJ: The cover is meant to represent the tone and subject of the book, rather than be a literal illustration of any scene in the story. The same is true of the next two books as well. I love the covers, by the way, especially the wrap-around element!

SB: A common criticism of children's books which depict the Holocaust era is that they are either too violent or too mild. In Resistance, the only violence shown is the shooting of a member of the resistance, red blood flowing from his body. Did your editors have a problem with that scene? Will there be acts of violence depicted in the next 2 books of the series?

CJ: The editors had no issue with the level of violence -- in fact, that scene was included in the proposal the publisher read before deciding whether or not to buy the book.

For me, violence must always be considered in context: what makes sense and is effective for the story. It was very important to me that the way the children work with the Resistance be believable and plausible. The circumstances in which they find themselves are dangerous, and the threat of violence is ever-present, underlying everything they do, but they aren’t engaged in armed combat because they wouldn’t be. Things change a bit in Book 3: Victory ; the characters are older (each book is set a year apart), and the final book in the trilogy includes the volatile and explosive liberation of Paris.

SB: The use of the underground sewers to move around the city in secret has been used in other works, such as Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera and Arvid Nelson's Rex Mundi comic book series. This may be the first literary reference to the buried skulls of the 18th century. Could you tell us more about that?

CJ: That idea actually came from the artist, Leland Purvis. He’d been to Paris and seen the sewers and the skulls and was eager to draw it. He sent me photos and then I did research both online and in the books I was reading for references to the catacombs. What I hadn’t realized was that the catacombs were a big tourist attraction back in the 19th century. For a graphic novel you’re always looking for settings that will work on many levels and the catacombs serve beautifully that way.

SB: You've said that the ideal age for the book is 13, which would place it in the Teen / YA section of the library. Does it surprise you that I borrowed my copy from the Children's Graphic Novels section of a Toronto Public Library branch, where it was shelved alongside such titles as Andy Runton's Owly and Jeff Smith's Bone?

CJ: Not really… it depends on the reading level of the reader. I’ve gotten fan mail for this book from a 9-year-old and a 50-year-old. The book has been categorized as a middle-grade and as a YA (In fact, it was just included on the “2011 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens” list and is on the “Texas Maverick Graphic Novel” list for 6-12th grade. Its category doesn’t matter to me as long as kids can find it!

SB: When did the idea for writing the Resistance books come to you? Was there a particular event that occurred which inspired you to write it?

The war in Iraq, actually, got me wondering about what it would be like to live in an occupied country. I was also interested in the tensions between an experience as it is happening vs. history or hindsight.

SB: The central character of Resistance is Paul - an aspiring young artist whose ability to draw becomes an asset and whose sketches are shown throughout the story. Were you influenced at all by the graphic novel Yossel : April 19, 1943 by Joe Kubert, whose protagonist is also a young artist whose art both helps him survive and allows him to document the uprising in sketches?

CJ: I’m not familiar with that book, so no. I made the decision to make Paul an artist because I wanted an organic way to incorporate and embrace the visual aspect of the storytelling. And I needed to give him a skill that would be useful to the Resistance. So it was both an aesthetic and a pragmatic plot choice.

When I was first thinking about working in this medium I read all kinds of comics and graphic novels - for kids and adults -- though none about this period of history. When :01 (First Second) bought the project, I read many of their titles, because their books are a specific size and I wanted to have a good sense of how a page in their format worked visually.

The historical research I did was varied - I read everything from histories of French wine-making to watching propaganda videos. I was very excited to find two memoirs in the Brooklyn Public Library: one written by a British pilot who was sent to work with the French Resistance and was published in 1947 (according to the stamp inside the back cover, it had last been read in 1965!), and another by a man who joined a Jewish Maquis group (French guerilla resistance fighters) and which seems to have been self-published in the ‘60s. Also very valuable were Marianne in Chains by Robert Gildea, Soldiers of the Night by David Schoenbrun, Sisters in the Resistance by Margaret Collins Weitz, and Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. The book Wine and War by Don and Petie Kladstrup gave me the idea to make the Tessier family wine-makers. I also spent a lot of time in the New York Public Library Picture Collection looking at images, both for inspiration and for reference for Leland. (It’s probably obvious by now that I’m a history/research/library geek -- and proud of it!)

The 2nd book in the trilogy - Defiance - is expected to be released in the Spring.

To learn more about Carla, check out her other interviews.

Boston Bibliophile

HarperCollins

Looking Glass Review

2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour Schedule

(from the Association of Jewish Libraries blog)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2011

Carla Jablonski, author of Resistance
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Jewish Comics

Leland Purvis, illustrator of Resistance
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Shelf-Employed

Sarah Gershman, author of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Biblio File

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Linda Glaser, author of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at ASHarmony

Claire Nivola, illustrator of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Lori Calabrese

Evelyn Krieger, author of One Is Not a Lonely Number
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Ima On and Off the Bima

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011

Barbara Diamond Goldin, author of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Great Kid Books

Jaime Zollars, illustrator of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at The Book of Life

Susan Lynn Meyer, author of Black Radishes
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at The 3 Rs – Reading, ‘Riting & Research

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011

Howard Schwartz, author of Gathering Sparks
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Boston Bibliophile

Barry Deutsch, author and illustrator of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at BewilderBlog

Dana Reinhardt, author of The Things a Brother Knows
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Kristina Swarner, illustrator of Gathering Sparks
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
and illustrator of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Alice Pope’s SCBWI Children’s Market Blog

Sarah Darer Littman, author of Life, After
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe

Eishes Chayil, author of Hush
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Frume Sarah’s World

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011

Morris Gleitzman, author of Once
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The Fourth Musketeer

Sydney Taylor Award Winners – Wrap-Up
All winners, all categories
at The Whole Megillah

2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

2011-01-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

The Jewish Comics blog will be participating in this year's Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour.

See schedule below.

2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour Schedule

(from the Association of Jewish Libraries blog)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2011

Carla Jablonski, author of Resistance

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Jewish Comics

Leland Purvis, illustrator of Resistance

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Shelf-Employed

Sarah Gershman, author of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Biblio File

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Linda Glaser, author of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at ASHarmony

Claire Nivola, illustrator of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Lori Calabrese

Evelyn Krieger, author of One Is Not a Lonely Number

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at Ima On and Off the Bima

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011

Barbara Diamond Goldin, author of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Great Kid Books

Jaime Zollars, illustrator of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at The Book of Life

Susan Lynn Meyer, author of Black Radishes

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at The 3 Rs – Reading, ‘Riting & Research

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011

Howard Schwartz, author of Gathering Sparks

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Boston Bibliophile

Barry Deutsch, author and illustrator of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category

at BewilderBlog

Dana Reinhardt, author of The Things a Brother Knows

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category

at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Kristina Swarner, illustrator of Gathering Sparks

Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

and illustrator of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category

at Alice Pope’s SCBWI Children’s Market Blog

Sarah Darer Littman, author of Life, After

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category

at Into the Wardrobe

Eishes Chayil, author of Hush

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category

at Frume Sarah’s World

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011

Morris Gleitzman, author of Once

Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category

at The Fourth Musketeer

Sydney Taylor Award Winners – Wrap-Up

All winners, all categories

at The Whole Megillah

Graphic Details art show in Toronto - Jewish comix autobiography by women

2011-01-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

Graphic Details is a FREE art exhibition (as well as a blog about the show) featuring the autobiographical artwork of female Jewish cartoonists. The show will run from Feb. 17th to Apr. 17th, noon - 5 PM (7 days a week) at the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen St. West) in Toronto.

The Toronto exhibition is being presented by the Koffler Centre for the Arts.

The exhibition is currently being hosted at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco (until Jan. 30th).

The featured artists will be :

* Vanessa Davis - author/illustrator of Make Me a Woman and Spaniel Rage

* Bernice Eisenstein - author/illustrator of I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors

* Sarah Glidden - author/illustrator of How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less

NOTE : Sarah will be one of the guest's at this year's annual Toronto Comic Art Festival, to be held at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge St.) on May 7th and 8th.

* Miriam Katin - author/illustrator of We Are On Our Own

* Aline Kominsky-Crumb - author/illustrator of Need More Love: A Graphic Memoir

* Miss Lasko-Gross, author/illustrator of Escape from "Special" and A Mess of Everything

* Sarah Lazarovic - cartoonist currently working on an autobiographical comic about pregnancy

* Miriam Libicki - author/illustrator of the jobnik comic book series, volume 1 of which has been collected in trade paperback

NOTE : Miriam will be one of the guest's at this year's annual Toronto Comic Art Festival, to be held at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge St.) on May 7th and 8th.

* Sarah Lightman - award-winning fine artist and co-curator of "Graphic Details"

* Diane Noomin - cartoonist and creator of DiDi Glitz, as well as editor of the Twisted Sisters anthologies of women cartoonists
Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art
Twisted Sisters 2 : Drawing the Line

* Corrine Pearlman - cartoonist whose strip Playing the Jewish Card has appeared in The Jewish Quarterly since 2002.

* Trina Robbins - one of the founders of Wimmen's Comix (the first on-going all-woman comix title) , author/illustrator of "The Triangle Fire" which was the cover story for the 2nd issue of Lilith Magazine and author of historical works such as The Great Women Cartoonists

* Racheli Rotner - author/illustrator of The Other Side of the World

* Sharon Rudahl - author illustrator of Adventures of Crystal Night and shorter stories such as "Die Bubbeh" and "The Star Sapphire"

Adventures of Crystal Night

* Laurie Sandell - author/illustrator of The Impostor’s Daughter: A True Memoir

* Ariel Schrag - author/illustrator of Awkward, Definition, Potential and Likewise

* Lauren Weinstein - author/illustrator of Girl Stories, as well as shorter stories, such as "Chanukah Blues", and "Horse Camp"

* Ilana Zeffren - author / illustrator of Sipur Varod (Pink Story)

Interviews with Barry Deutsch

2011-01-14T19:53:00.001-08:00

Mazal tov to Barry Deutsch, author of the graphic novel Hereville : How Mirka Got Her Sword, which recently was named the winner of the Sydney Taylor Award of the Association of Jewish Libraries (Older Readers category).

Even before winning the award, Barry had been an in-demand interview subject. The Jewish Comics blogmaster (Steven M. Bergson) was fortunate to be able to score a brief interview with Mr. Deutsch, in which he asked him obscure questions which most other interviewers have avoided (or never thought to ask).

Below my interview, I've collected the hyperlinks to Barry's previous 11 textual interviews and a hyperlink to an audio interview, embedded 2 audio interviews and embedded a video interview.

Although I haven't met Mr. Deutsch in person yet, I'm planning to see him at the annual Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May. I will soon be posting a message about that Festival and the other Jewish-y guests who are scheduled to attend.

Jewish Comics interview with Barry Deutsch

SMB: The setting for the book is the eponymous Hereville, which we are told is how the goyim refer to "Aherville". Except that "aher" (or "acher") is Hebrew for "other". A more proper translation would have been "Otherville". Was the title of the webcomic / graphic novel / setting originally intended to be "Otherville", which would have made it sound like a city of Outsiders? How did you come up with Hereville / Aherville as the twin place names of the story?

BD: Actually, that the town is named "Aherville" is no longer mentioned in the book! That was in the self-published version, but Abrams requested that I just call it "Hereville" in the new version.

To answer your question, "Aher" is Yiddish for "Here." As I imagine it, "Aherville" was just dry humor from when they incorporated as a township; they had to put something on the form, so they named the town "Here." But that would have sounded weird, so they put down "Aherville".

SMB: You managed to tell a complete 144-page story about a fictional community of Hasidic Jews without ever mentioning or making reference to Israel - not the historic land nor the modern state nor even the Biblical setting that forms the basis of Judaism's holy books. Will Israel play any part in future Hereville books or are the Herevillites so isolated that they never talk about it? I ask this partly because it is difficult to, for example, present such holiday celebrations as Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah or Passover without at least some mention of ancient Israel.

BD: I'm sure the topic of Israel does come up in Hereville -- in regular conversation, and also in holiday celebrations, as you say. But I don't know if it'll come up in any future Hereville books. I'm not opposed to it coming up, but I also don't have any particular plans. At this point, the only holiday I feel certain I'll be including in a Hereville book (other than Shabbos, of course) is Purim.

SMB: Thus far, the only Jews we've encountered in Hereville have been Hasidic Jews like Mirka and her family. Do other Jewish groups exist in the world of Hereville? Will the reader be made aware of other denominations (e.g. Conservative or Reform) or are they considered totally irrelevant in Mirka's community?

BD: All sorts of Jews exist in the world of Hereville, but they don't live in the town, and they are pretty irrelevant to Mirka's community. But there are non-Hasidic Jews who visit town every now and then. For instance, Rochel, Mirka's stepsister, has a father who comes by a couple of times a year, and he's Jewish but not Hasidic.

I'm not sure what the reader will be made aware of, though. Sometimes things fit into stories, and sometimes they don't, and usually I won't know which is which until the story is actually written.

SMB: Will other faiths (i.e. non-Jewish) be represented in Hereville?

BD: Not in the town itself.

SMB: Do you have an idea of what was the highest number of Girlamatic subscribers to Hereville when it was a fee-based webcomic? I think this question will be of interest to those trying to figure out if webcomics can make money independent of getting picked up by a publisher.

BD: I have no clue! But I don't think Hereville ever did much business for Girlamatic, largely because I didn't manage a steady update schedule.

But regarding if webcomics can make money, that's a settled question. They absolutely can. Look at Girl Genius, Octopus Pie, Achewood, Cat and Girl, XKCD, Dresden Codak -- there are definitely folks who are earning a full living from their webcomics.

It's true that only a small minority of webcomic creators earn a living from their webcomics -- but that's the same as any artistic field.

SMB: In the first Hereville book, the readers are given a taste of how beautiful Jewish liturgy can be. Will we see Mirka's reaction to the more controversial sorts of liturgy (e.g. the blessing "who has not made me a woman")?

BD: Maybe someday, but I'm not planning to do that anywhere in the next couple of Hereville books. I think that even when Mirka deals with the more controversial aspects of her culture, it's going to be more focused on social norms than on liturgy. It wouldn't be like Mirka to get that angry at something the men say; she's driven by more active forms of injustice.

SMB: You've alluded to Mirka becoming a young adult in one of the final books. Have you decided if the YA Mirka will stay in Hereville or go out into the larger, more unfamiliar world?

BD: Mirka will definitely leave Hereville as a young adult, at least for a while, and go to a big city, most likely Portland or Seattle. From a storytelling point of view, how could I resist doing that at least once?

SMB: You keep making reference in various interviews to the 100 limited edition shorter self-published Hereville books which you were selling at conventions. Have you sold out of them completely? If not, how many copies are available for sale and how may your fans purchase these collectibles?

BD: There were many more than 100 printed; 100 was the first printing, but there were multiple printings. I have about 20 copies left, I think, but I'm afraid they're not for sale -- I promised Abrams that I'd stop selling the self-published Hereville once the new Hereville was in print.

Other Barry Deutsch Interviews

http://www.diamondbookshelf.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=40&s=835&ai=100785&e=1
(Oct. 2010)

http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/255075.html
(Oct. 7, 2010)

http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/content/here-and-now-barry-deutsch-hereville-interview
(Oct. 21, 2010)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/comics/article/44949-hereville--fantasy-family-life-and-orthodox-judaism.html
(Oct. 26, 2010)

http://jewishlibraries.org/blog/?p=574
(Nov. 1, 2010)

http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-portland/an-unfinished-end-hereville-s-barry-deutsch-part-1-of-3
http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-portland/an-unfinished-end-hereville-s-barry-deutsch-part-2-of-3
http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-portland/an-unfinished-end-hereville-s-barry-deutsch-part-3-of-3
(Nov. 2, 2010)

http://enchantedinkpot.livejournal.com/75336.html
(Dec. 1, 2010)

http://www.books4yourkids.com/2010/12/interview-with-barry-deutsch-creator-of.html
(Dec. 16, 2010)

http://pdxcomics.blogspot.com/2011/01/questions-22-barry-deutsch.html
(Jan. 2, 2011)

http://heywomencomics.blogspot.com/2011/01/interview-with-creator-hereville.html
(Jan. 11, 2011)

http://prkcs.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/special-an-interview-with-cartoonist-barry-deutch/
(Jan. 14, 2011)

http://www.kboo.fm/node/25407
(Dec. 9, 2010)

(The Barry Deutsch segment begins 42 minutes after the start)
(Dec. 22, 2010)

(Jan. 10, 2011)

(Mar. 31, 2009)

Chris Claremont and Paul Levitz at Columbia U - tonight at 8 PM

2010-10-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

Chris Claremont (writer who introduced the Jewish character Kitty Pryde [aka Shadowcat] and who wrote stories which implied that Magneto was Jewish, both in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men) and Paul Levitz (author of "Tradition" in DC Comics' 9-11 September 11th 2001) will be discussing comics tonight at 614 Schermerhorn Hall at Columbia University at 8:00 PM.

The topic : Jewish Influences and Themes in American Comics

Free and open to the public.

Visit iijs.columbia.edu or e-mail iijs@columbia.edu or call (212)854-2584 for more information.