The Jewish Side of Wizard World Comic Con Philadelphia 2015

Today (May 9th) is the third day of this year's Wizard World Philadelphia comic convention.

Among the guests in attendance will be creators of comics with Jewish characters in them.

On Sunday (May 10th), 2 of those guests will participate in a session about golems in comics. The description of that panel follows.

12:00 – 12:45PM JEWISH SUPERHEROES AND THE GOLEM (ROOM 109) The Jewish comic book creators of the Golden Age of Comics (1930’s-1950’s) were inspired by a variety of sources. While many of these included cinema, pulp novels, and science fiction, some creators reached into their heritage to old tales of the Golem- a mythical clay creation come to life. Discover how the Golem myth inspired Marvel and DC characters like the Hulk, Thing, and Clayface. Jewish comic book creators Al Wiesner (Shaloman) and Joshua H. Stulman (Israeli Defense Comics) explain how the Golem continues to play a major role in their comics.

Other guests include :

* Neal Adams is the illustrator of the “Son O’ God” stories, which appeared in the pages of National Lampoon. You may read all of the Son O’God stories (as well as the story of how Adams was recruited to be the artist) at Dial B for Blog. Adams also illustrated the Batman story “Night of the Reaper” in which the vengeful Grim Reaper is revealed to be a Nazi-hunting Holocaust survivor. Adams penciled “The Last Outrage” (inked by Andy Kubert’s father, Joe Kubert) which appeared in both The New York Times and the final issue of the miniseries X-men : Magneto : Testament and which also appeared as a stop-motion video on YouTube.

* Peter David is the writer 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)



* Danny Fingeroth is the author of Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero.

Joshua Goldstein is the author-illustrator of Zayin : The Wars of Independence and Maccabbee Lady.

* Dean Haspiel is the illustrator of Harvey Pekar's autobiography The Quitter.

* Rob Liefeld is the illustrator of stories in the Youngblood series, which included the Israeli superheroine Masada.

* Joshua Stulman is the author-illustrator of the comic book series Israeli Defense Comics and is a contributor to the Jewish Comix Anthology.

* Al Wiesner is the author-illustrator of the comic book series Shaloman.

Jewish sessions at CSSC 2015

Today (May 7th) is the first day of the annual 2-day Canadian Society for Study of Comics conference, which will be held at the Toronto Reference Library.

The subject matter of the presentations will cover a wide spectrum of formats and content, including those which discuss Jewish comics creators and comics with Jewish content.

Below is a sampling of the "Jewish" presentations.

Thurs., May 7th

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Ariela Freeman - Life? Or Theatre? : Charlotte Solomon's Foundational Graphic Narrative

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Session A : Crafting Cultural Perspectives

Jaleen Grove - Digested Identity : Jewishness, Oscar Cahen and Magazine Digest, 1944-1946

Aidan Diamond - Tikkun Olam comes to Gotham City : Kate Kane and the Jewish Superhero

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Session B : Creative Direction

Keith Friedlander - Authorship and Editors : Reactions to Karen Berger's Departure from Vertigo

Fri., May 8th

10:00 - 11:30 AM
Session B : Identity & Cultural Politics

Jeff Barnes - The Utility of Editorial Cartoons for Understanding the Palestinian Past : The Case of al-Thawra

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Session B : The Art of Subversion

Robert Hutton - Comics Publishing and Literary Heroism in Harvey Pekar and Dave Sim

3:00 - 5:00 PM
Session B : Traumas

Claire Farley - Miriam Katin's We Are On Our Own and the Double Voice of Memory : The Graphic Genre and the Visualization of Traumatic Memory

The Jewish Side of TCAF 2015

This weekend (May 9th and 10th), 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 (aka TCAF).


Among the talented people who will be at TCAF this year are a small number of comix professionals who have done comic art using Jewish characters or themes.

* AH Comics Inc. (table #172) is the publisher of Jewish Comix Anthology. During TCAF, Jewish Comix Anthology will be for sale for a mere $20 - that's 50% off of the retail cover price! The AH Comics website will also allow people to use the 50% discount if you prefer to shop online, but you must bring your copy to TCAF in person to get it autographed by Andy Stanleigh, Steven M. Bergson, Liat Shalom &/or Joe Infurnari. 


* Jonathan Baylis (table #131) is the author of the So ... Buttons mini-comic series.

* Steven M. Bergson is a Jewish comics blogger and the editor of Jewish Comix Anthology. Steven will be at the AH Comics Inc. table (#172) on Saturday May 9th from 3:00 - 5:00 PM.

* Willow Dawson (table #109) is the illustrator of 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.


* Drawn and Quarterly (tables 134-136)  has published Exit Wounds, Jamilti and Other Stories, The Property, The Golem's Mighty Swing, and Jerusalem : Chronicles from the Holy City. D+Q also published the story "The Peasant and the Snake" in one of its anthologies, which has been reprinted in Jewish Comix Anthology.


* Fantagraphics (tables 162-164) is the publisher of Jewish Images in the Comics, Palestine, and Barracuda in the Attic.

* Matt Lubchansky is a Jewish cartoonist who writes and illustrates the webcomic Please Listen to Me. Earlier this year, his 3-ingredient Passover brisket recipe comic was published online at Saveur

* Jason Lutes (tables 134-136) is the author-illustrator of the comic series berlin (which has been collected in the trade paperbacks Berlin : City of Stones and Berlin : City of Smoke) and is the author of Houdini : The Handcuff King).

* NBM Publishing (tables 169 & 170) is the publisher of the Jew in Communist Prague books, Brownsville, The Big Khan, and the Isaac the Pirate books.


* Jon Rosenberg (tables 286-291) is the author-illustrator of the webcomic Goats, which includes the Jewish character "Jon", as seen in the strip from Nov. 24, 2005.


* Liat Shalom is the illustrator of the story "A Grave Matter" in Jewish Comix Anthology. Liat may be found at the AH Comics Inc. table (#172) from 3:00 - 5:00 PM on Sat., May 9th.  

* Andy Stanleigh (table #172) is the artist and publisher who adapted the story "Pillow of Feathers" for Jewish Comix Anthology and who published the book. He may be found at the AH Comics Inc. table during TCAF.


* Julian Voloj is a graphic novelist whose autobiography Ghetto Brother: Warrior to Peacemaker is debuting at TCAF. Julian will be taking part in a free "Reading and Conversation" event being held tomorrow night (May 7th) at COBA Collective Of Black Artists, Daniels Spectrum 585 Dundas St. E., Suite 130 from 7:30 - 9:30 PM (in conjunction with the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO), and Be'chol Lashon). He will also be making an appearance at the NBM tables (169 & 170) during TCAF.