Next weekend, the
New York Comic Con will take place in Manhattan. You may go to the official website using the link in the last sentence to get all the details about guests and programming.
Below, I am highlighting "Jewish" sessions and guests who are Jewish &/or who have helped create "Jewish" comics.
(1) Sunday 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM, Rm. 1A18
Jews and Comics: A Cottage Industry
In the past few years, there have been multiple books dealing with Jews and their role in the creation of the comics industry. Could this be because, as we lose more and more of the Greatest (Comics) Generation, there is a collective need to understand the roots, ethnic and otherwise, of the medium? Authors
(2)
Arie Kaplan (
From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comics),
(3) Danny Fingeroth (
Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero), and
(4)
Simcha Weinstein (
Up, Up, and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped The Comicbook Superhero) and comics creators
(5)
Al Jaffee (
Mad magazine) and
(6)
Jerry Robinson (
Batman) discuss the rise of interest in the Jewish side of comics. Moderated by
David Hajdu (
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America).
(7) Saturday 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM Rm. 1A23
Jerry Robinson Spotlight
Jerry Robinson created the infamous Joker and played a vital role in the development of legendary Batman characters Robin, Alfred, and Penguin. His vast body of work spans 30 years as an internationally-syndicated political cartoonist, 30 books, and numerous exhibitions (including The Superhero, now on world tour, and Human Rights for the United Nations). Robinson’s honors include the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement and the Eisner Hall of Fame.
(8) Saturday 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Rm. 1A14
Joe Simon Spotlight: The Secret Origins of the Comic Book World
Joe Simon worked alongside the titans —
Jack Kirby,
Will Eisner,
C.C. Beck, Jack Schiff, and Martin Goodman to name but a few. He was Marvel’s very first editor and hired youngsters like
Stan Lee and
Steve Ditko. His credits include million-sellers such as
Captain America,
Boy Commandos,
Sandman,
Young Romance,
Black Magic,
Police Trap,
Fighting American,
Boy’s Ranch, and
SICK! Joe produced comics for the US military, was singled out for investigation by the
Kefauver Committee, and was picketed by the Nazis. Stan Lee said, “Lucky for me, when I entered comics, Joe Simon was my mentor. In script, art, and editing, he was the master.” Come learn the details of the exciting new Simon and Kirby Library, coming from Titan Books later this year, and ask Joe yourself what it was like being there at the origin of the comic book world.
(9) Saturday 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Rm. 1A17
Twisted Toyfare Theatre: Behind the Stupidity
Join the writers of
ToyFare Magazine’s satirical comic strip Twisted ToyFare Theatre for an inside look at how they get toys into all those compromising positions. Ask questions, watch TTT animations, and answer TTT trivia for a chance to win prizes! Brought to you by the editorial staff at
ToyFare Magazine and Wizard Entertainment!
[Blogmaster's note : Among the TTT stories is
"Seder-Masochism" showing a Passover seder attended by superheroes and other action figures.]
(10) Sunday 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Rm. 1A21
Who Owns Comics? Superman on Trial
A judge has awarded the family of Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel co-ownership of
Action #1. This panel will examine the behind-the-scenes history of this landmark case and discuss means for the future of Superman, comics and creators' rights and discuss its relation to other comics-related intellectual property issues, such as the creators' rights movement, the Watchmen case and
the Holocaust art of Dina Babbitt.
(11) Sunday 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM Rm. 1A17
Lilly Renee Phillips Spotlight
Lily Renee Phillips was one of the pioneer women cartoonists in the Golden Age of Comics, working primarily for Fiction House publishers. Fleeing Nazi Germany to America as a child, she went on to draw covers and such features as The Lost World, Senorita Rio, and Werewolf Hunters for
Planet Comics,
Rangers Comics, and
Fight Comics. With her then-husband Eric Peters, she also drew covers and interior stories for a number of
Abbott & Costello Comics. Phillips talks about her amazing life and career with Heidi MacDonald (
The Beat).
(12)
Neal Adams (illustrator of "The Ventures of Zimmerman" [parody of Bob Dylan] and "Son O' God", which both appeared in the pages of
National Lampoon)
(13)
Dick Ayers (illustrator of "Lonely Are the Brave" in
Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen #2, in which the titular heroes liberate a concentration camp)
(14)
Kyle Baker (author-illustrator of the
King David graphic novel from Vertigo, as well as a funny 1-page cartoon in his
Kyle Baker : Cartoonist TPB in which a Jewish Cinderella has a mishap under the chuppah)
(15) Chris Claremont (who introduced the Jewish character Kitty Pryde [aka Shadowcat]& who wrote stories which implied that Magneto was Jewish, both in the pages of
The Uncanny X-Men)
(16) 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)
(17) J.M. DeMatteis (author of
The Compleat Moonshadow, the "Greenberg the Vampire" story in
Bizarre Adventures #29 and the
Greenberg the Vampire graphic novel, as well as a bunch of other Jewish-content stories, e.g. "Bernie America, Sentinel of Liberty", "Death Camp", and "Yesterday's Shadows")
(18)
Colleen Doran (illustrator of a one-page illustration in
The Death Gallery, in which Death is at a concentration camp)
(19)
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)
(20)
Dan Goldman (author-illustrator of a short piece titled "Schmear", which he describes as "Jewish porn", since it takes place in the backroom of a Brooklyn bagel shop. The story appeared in
Smut Peddler #2). In all fairness, Dan's done other - & better-known - stories (e.g.
Shooting War) but "Schmear" is the only "Jewish" work of his that I've seen.
(21)
Peter Gross (arist for issues of the series
Hellstorm: Prince of Lies which had the character Rabbi Avram Siegel)
(22)
Dean Haspiel (illustrator of the
Harvey Pekar graphic autobiography
The Quitter, as well as several shorter Pekar stories)
(23) Phil Jimenez (illustrator of a
Heroes online comic featuring an Israeli Mossad agent named Hana Gitelman)
(24)
Joe Kubert (author-illustrator of the graphic novels
Jew Gangster and
Yossel : April 19, 1943, as well as the
Sgt. Rock : The Prophecy miniseries)
(25)
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)
(26) 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")
(27)
Ted McKeever (illustrator of the 4-issue
Doom Patrol story "Imagine Ari's Friend", which featured the characters Reb Chaim, Joseph Della Reina and Isaac Luria)
(28) Peter Milligan (author of the Vertigo series
The Minx which featured Jewish youth Anna Schwarz)
(29) Steve Murphy (author of the story "Kaddish" in
Tales of the TMNT #10)
(30)
Josh Neufeld (author of the graphic memoir
A Few Perfect Hours, in which he compares a Balinese cremation ceremony with his [Jewish] grandmother's funeral)
(31)
Steve Niles (author of
Criminal Macabre: Feat of Clay)
(32) Jerry Ordway (illustrator of an issue of Superman in which
he went to the Warsaw Ghetto, as well as an All-Star Squadron story in which
Steel ended up in a Nazi death camp)
(33)
Greg Pak (illustrator of the
X-Men : Magneto : Testament miniseries)
(34)
Jimmy Palmiotti (co-creator of the short-lived golem series
The Monolith from DC Comics)
(35)
George Perez (illustrator of
Wonder Woman #37 and
#38 which had the character Rabbi Benjamin Hecht.
(36) Josef Rubinstein (an illustrator of the 2nd
Mendy & the Golem series and contributor to both
Journeys : The Collected Edition and
Balm in Gilead)
(37) Louise Simonson (co-author of issues of a Superman storyline in which Superman went to the Warsaw Ghetto)
(38)
Art Spiegelman (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir
Maus and one of the main characters in the online story
"The Night I Met Art Spiegelman")
(39) J. Michael Straczynski (author of the
Amazing Spider-Man story "You Want Pants with That?" and the
Rising Stars story "Selah")
(40) Len Wein (writer of the golem story in Strange
Tales #174 - see
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/golem1.htm)
(41) G. Willow Wilson (author of the graphic novel
Cairo)
(42)
Marv Wolfman (author of the stories in
The Tomb of Dracula #27,
The New Teen Titans #24 and the graphic history
Homeland : The Illustrated History of the State of Israel)
Posts
