Peter Sanderson looks at Disguised as Clark Kent

Comic Book critic and historian Peter Sanderson shares his thoughts on the Danny Fingeroth book Disguised as Clark Kent : Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero at his Comics in Context website.

Here's an excerpt :

Later in the book, Fingeroth discusses a Silver Age contribution to the Superman mythos: the Bottle City of Kandor, a Kryptonian city that had been reduced in size and stolen by the evil Brainiac, and thus survived the destruction of the planet. Superman recovered the miniaturized city and placed it in his Fortress of Solitude (whose name arguably alludes to Superman’s status as an alien on Earth), which Fingeroth correctly describes as “the survivor’s living museum to the memory of Krypton. He was now no longer fully alone and could revisit a piece of the culture and society from which he had been simultaneously saved and exiled” (Fingeroth p. 83).

Two years ago when I was listening to a BBC radio program “Is Superman Jewish?” (see “Comics in Context” #75: “The Rubber Band Theory of Cartoon Art”). I was startled when it made the argument that Kandor represented the nation of Israel: a community of Jews, small compared to the millions who once lived in Europe, that survived after the Holocaust.

Earlier, Sanderson interviewed Danny and the interview may be found at http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6493288.html?nid=2789.