Douglas Rushkoff's Testament - reviews and opinions

I don't know if it will be possible to read every issue of the Vertigo series Testament, but with many of the issues reviewed to date, that may yet happen.

Below, I'm providing hyperlinks to various reviews, as well as quotations from them.

general reviews

"Epic Trip" in Heeb magazine (February 2007?) - mini-review and interview with Douglas Rushkoff by Jeff Newelt

The series ranks among the triumvirate of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Grant Morrison’s Invisibles and Alan Moore’s Promethea, and alongside Jack Kirby’s ’70s psychedelic cosmologies/comics, The New Gods and the Eternals.

10th Zen Monkey by RU Serious

The “Testament” series is a startling attempt to bring Biblical mythology back to life.

Ishush blog (as in "I shush people" ; it's a blog by a librarian)

What Testament should have been was a story that started as a story -- instead of a manifesto that got a spackling with plot.

Akedah (volume 1 trade paperback)

Silver Bullet Comics "Line of Fire" review by Robert Murray

This is one comic book that, though polarizing in subject matter, utilizes all the bells and whistles of traditional hero comic books to tell a tale unlike anything we have seen before. Sure, there are instances when the momentum of the story feels forced or gimmicky, but this is a title that is guaranteed to make you think and ponder long after you’ve finished reading it.

Testament #1
Suspension of Disbelief blog - review by Loren Collins

The theory is that Abraham's story itself is the anachronism, a later-scripted message from a time when Moloch-worship was prevalent, written to condemn child sacrifice by retconning God's opposition to it far back into Israel's history. It's not a theory I'm particularly fond of, but I suspect it's one that Rushkoff may subscribe to, and it's one that seems to be on display here.

Bags and Boards review by Tom McLean

the comic itself is impossible to put down once you start reading it as Rushkoff retells the biblical story of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac alongside a futuristic tale of a young man preparing to enter a mandatory military draft. Many will surely find this approach pretentious or on-the-nose, but it’s done well and chock full of the sort of cool, forward-looking ideas that made classics of such cool 1980s comics as “American Flagg!” and just about anything written by Alan Moore. Sharp’s art is terrific and sexy, and should draw in readers on that level alone.

Testament #2
IGN review by Hilary Goldstein

I commend Rushkoff for managing to take a very modern story and relate it to the Old Testament, but I wonder how long this can last. In some respects, I think the series might prove stronger if the parallels were merely implied rather than demonstrated repeatedly throughout the issue. The problem, though, is that Abraham has become a more believable and relatable character than the modern-day star of the series.

Silver Bullet Comics "Line of Fire" review by Keith Dallas

Testament is the epitome of what Vertigo prides itself as being: thoughtful, sophisticated, controversial, avant-garde. Comic book enthusiasts are always on the look-out for titles that legitimize and dignify the medium, titles that reveal the grandest of possibilities for sequential narrative, titles that are worthy of being taught in the college classroom alongside canonical literature, titles like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Art Spiegelman's Maus.

Testament is such a title.

Testament #3
IGN review by Hilary Goldstein

I've been trying to stay "in the moment" with this series, but this issue killed some of my enthusiasm. The parallel storytelling was a great convention in the first two issues, but seems less exact for issue 3. There are a few supernatural elements to this ish that come out of nowhere.

Testament #4
Speculative Friction blog - review by Bill Baker

This issue starts with violence and a miracle, and ends with the promise of a very big bang. Along the way, it strikes the perfect balance between building suspense and furthering the story, all the while giving the reader something astonishingly fun and easy to read. ... I honestly can't rave enough about this series, and what these folks are doing with the comic medium. My highest recommendations.

Comixtreme.com review by Blake Petit

You know, I find that I want to like this title a lot more than I actually do. There are a lot of interesting ideas here, but Rushkoff seems to have arbitrarily tethered his story to Biblical allusions that, thus far, really haven’t added very much to the story. ... Overall, this book just feels like it’s trying too hard to be relevant, and the story is getting lost in the mix.

Silver Bullet Comics "Line of Fire" review by Keith Dallas

Testament is one of the most ambitious comic books being published today. ... My one concern about Testament (and this might come across as a weird complaint considering everything I have just written) is the infusion of the supernatural into a technology-focused dystopian tale. Supernatural displays suit the Biblical tale, but not the dystopian one. The manner in which Jake is saved by Astarte in this issue is so supernaturally fantastic that it doesn’t fit within the modern story involving robots, implanted homing chips, and the like.

Comic Book Resources forum - online discussion of the issue
comment by "dude_abides" :

it is in the preposterous premise that angry and forgotten, old testament deities are possessing pseudo-punk teenagers in a technological and totalitarian dystopia. it's yahweh meets philip k. dick. it's like some crazy hallucination. in fact, i'm not sure what it is, and that is precisely why i like it. it keeps me on my toes: a rare thing, and for my money that's worth $2.99.

Testament #5
Obssesed with Comics review

mostly your enjoyment of this series will be directly proportional to your willingness to read a story that's full of bizarre moments, unexplained complexity, and odd mysteries. Testament is a book in which very strange things happen in very strange world to very strange people. Not a lot is explained. Much is implied, often by analogy, but little is actually spelled out for readers. For example, readers receive no explanation of the evil Mr. Fallow, with no explanation for the bizarre libertine lifestyle that surrounds him. It's not even clear if Mr. Fallow is a literal presence or one of the Gods, since his world is so abstracted from the real world of the story. The series seems to carry the promise that Mr. Fallow's motivations and background will come out in time, but without that, the reader is left to interpret cryptic pieces such as the weird cover of issue #5 or the bizarre things shown in the background in his mansion without a lot of help from writer Douglas Rushkoff.

Testament #6
Comics Should Be Good review by Brian Cronin

What I was most impresse by in the comic was the part where Rushkoff showed how the story of the Bible was a plot by three gods to gain power over the other gods, because when there was a multitude of gods, no ONE god could become too strong. However, in this story, three gods banded together to create “God” and they did so through the Bible. Through the issue, we see them write and then do revisions on the Creation story. Very clever stuff. “Hmmm…no, I think we’ll make Eve come from Adam’s rib,” stuff like that. ... All together, I thought this was an engaging story. I would recommend it without reservations, as you do not even need to have read the first five issues to pick up on the story.

Testament #7
IGN review by Jesse Schedeen

It is slightly annoying that most of the characters from the first arc were taken away just as I figured out who they were. Unlike other Vertigo titles such as Y: The Last Man, DMZ, or American Virgin, Testament hasn't provided readers with a true main character to latch onto. I think if the creators slow down a little and let readers catch their bearings, this could become a series truly worth following.

Testament #8
Comics Should Be Good review by Brian Cronin

When we go to the modern parallel story, it is interesting how the “Joseph” character is positioned in an ANTagonist position, rather than as a PROtagonist. I thought that that was particularly clever on Rushkoff’s part, in a way to really keep the whole “parallel story” idea fresh, which can be quite difficult at times. There is a clever idea presented in the modern story, which is the question, “If everyone was praising you for the perfect crime, and you wouldn’t be punished for it, would you take the ‘blame’ even if you knew it was not you?” Very clever scenario.

Comixtreme.com review posted by Blake M. Petit

I know the Biblical allusions are really the whole point of this series, but honestly, I think they’re holding the story back more than anything. Since the first arc the allusions have been more and more strained, and with one exception we haven’t seen any reason to believe that the ancient gods that are watching both stories from the gutters really have any impact on the plot, and thus far that one brief exception hasn’t really been enough to justify their existence. Testament is a very difficult title for me – it has an interesting premise and I want to like it, but the more I read the more I feel like the ideas are simply too big for the story Rushkoff is trying to fit them in.

Testament #9
Newsarama.com review posted by JJ Fresh

My only qualm with this issue is our hero Jake getting involved in all kinds of debauchery, such as smoking dope and getting busy in brothels. I'm not saying heroes have to be squeaky clean, but if this character is considered a part of a messainic line his actions are pretty deplorable. On the flip side though, Biblical characters also had thier shortcomings, yet thier return to good made them champions of virtue. See how deep this book goes with the premise? Still, while Jake is in this dark time it's kinda hard to root for him.

Testament #10
No online review found.

Testament #11
pop syndicate review by Cornelius Fortune

God and Satan make a wager concerning one of God’s faithful servants, a man who has everything—what if you took these things (essentially his life) away from him, would he still worship you? God then allows Satan to put his servant to the ultimate test including the death of his children, the defamation of his body, and even the jeering of his wife, who pretty much tells him he has nothing to live for.

This is told in both a Biblical timeline as well as a retelling in our present time. This is like the clock on Fox’s 24, the device can kind of holds the thing together, but you either dig high concept shows (and comics) or you don’t. Casual readers can get easily confused with this book, because like Promethea it doesn’t just read from left to right and requires active participation to get the most from your reading experience.

Testament #12
Chickity China review by JP

the Babylonian god Marduk is summoned by the other gods. Originally he assumed a place as head god of the Babylonians, so it will be interesting to see where this leads. This continues to be a good but dense story, and it’s well worth the effort to read.

Testament #13
Broken Frontier - Guiding Lines review by William Gatevackes

last issue the modern day cast went “off-script”, breaking from the allegory and causing the deities to take a more active role in the proceedings. This added a bit of excitement to the series and renewed my interest in the book. If you have turned away from the comic, this issue might be one to get you started reading it again.

Testament #14
All About Books & Comics Blog review by Phil Mateer

I couldn’t keep the story straight, didn’t really feel like rereading previous issues to figure it out, and was eventually reduced to just skimming through each new issue to see if it had any nude scenes. Comics serials like these, to be successful, need a delicate blend of long-term mystery and short-term reader satisfaction (see Preacher), and this, I’m afraid, seems to have lost its way and is just sputtering to a bad end.

The Kingdom review by Big Bibbowski

Issue #14 has perhaps the least Biblical content of any so far, which would be a weakness if it weren’t for the fact that Rushkoff’s writing relies more on the human experience than riding on the tails of Bible history. As it is, this issue turns out to be one of the best. The Dr. Green character is compellingly portrayed as a flawed, complicated man whose quest for redemption would feel right at home in the Old Testament. Rushkoff’s confidence as a storyteller is evidently growing and his craft is in rare form from the first to the last heartbreaking pages.

pop syndicate review by Jared Blumberg

Once again series writer Douglas Rushkoff deftly handles the intertwined tales, ratcheting up the tension without leaving anyone behind. While all this plot builds to its climax, he still manages to keep us up-to-speed on the smaller details, such as the peculiarities of the artificial intelligence, Green’s underlying motivations, the schemes of Atum-Ra and Moloch, and Astarte’s pregnancy courtesy of Krishna.

Testament #15
Newsarama.com review posted by JJ Fresh

Some scene shifts in this issue don't quite flow, and anybody who remembers thier creative writing classes knows the importance of "flow". This disjointedness isn't that evident enough to totally remove a reader, but moments do cause the reader hesitation, and with that the escapism stops as well.

The Kingdom review by Big Bibbowski

One page of Liam Sharp’s art packs more kinetic energy than 24 frames of most films whether it’s a quiet office scene between a student and her professor (who looks an awful lot like Rushkoff) or after that a giant world-eating god raping a goddess in the cosmic deep. ... If you’re interested in a book that tries to be about everything, and like the source code, succeeds, take a trip on the Testament wagon.

Testament #16
Comic Book Resources - The Buy Pile review by Hannibal Tabu

The "As above so below" rule gets all muddled as the actions of mortals are powerful enough to fell divinities, as the Bible Gods (that's how solicitation copy referred to 'em, let's go with that) are undone by their alliance with the Babylonian god of cities Marduk, himself all rage and expectations. ... Challenging allegory, densely informative storytelling and not for the easily distracted or dissuaded, but quite a reward if you can grasp it.

Testament #17
No online review found.

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The essay version of the "Another Abraham: The Exegesis of Douglas Rushkoff’s Testament" presentation that A. David Lewis recently gave at the annual conference of the Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association in Boston may be found online at http://captionbox.net/testament_paper.doc (Word format)

Reception for Bronfman Arts Fellows Project Presentations

Below is an event listing sent to me by Chari Pere

Reception for Bronfman Arts Fellows Project Presentations

Wednesday, April 25th at 7:00 PM
@ The Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant St., NY, NY

Please join us for a culminating celebration of the Bronfman Fellowship for Emerging Artists at NYU.

The six participants will be unveiling their final projects which span a wide range from musical composition to multi-media art installation.

The 2007 Fellows are:
Valeriya Kotok, Sophomore, NYU's Steinhardt School of Education

Matthew Engler Junior, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Majoring in Film & Television and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

Deenah Vollmer Junior, NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study

Benjy Fox-Rosen Senior, the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Majoring in Jazz Studies

Gilad Lotan Graduate Student, Tisch School of the Arts Majoring in ITP's Interactive Telecommunications Program

Chari Pere Senior, School of Visual Arts Earning a B.F.A. Degree in Cartooning

Refreshments will be served!

Contact : Jackie Miller

**********

One of the girls, Deenah, and I are each working on comics-related projects. She is working on a graphic novel and I have won two awards, including an SVA Alumni Award, for my "Ultimate Unboring Jewish Calendar!" project. My project is in progress but sample pages will be on display.

Additionally, there are performance pieces by a couple of musicians, a film major, and there will be a multi-media project on display. It should be an enjoyable evening, and I'll let you know how it goes!

~Chari =0)

*****

The “Ultimate Unboring Jewish Calendar!” is a project that Chari has been dreaming about completing for years. She plans on taking old jokes that have been circulating in the Jewish world for decades, and translating them into comics form for the first time ever. This will follow a wall calendar format: each and every one of the top pages will include a comic strip and a border that somehow pokes fun at the events or holidays that occur within that month. Each month will be completely unique, so that each person will not know what to expect as the next month is revealed. In addition to the generic holidays listed on every calendar (such as New Year’s, President’s Day, etc.), “non-traditional” daily holidays that do exist will be included, such as “Talk Like a Pirate Day” (Sept. 19th), and “International Chocolate Day” (September 13th).

*****

Deenah will be creating an autobiographical graphic novel relating her personal Jewish history to that of the Lower East Side. The book will chronicle her journey to the Lower East Side from Los Angeles within the framework of American Jewish history and will touch on such topics and Yiddish socialist immigrants, the Beat Generation, the Folk music revival and the birth of punk music, all which have distinct Jewish roots.

Heroes for Hire #6 (Marvel)

Description from snap judgements

we have a Jewish enforcer by the name of ‘The Shadows’ going to Heroes for Hire to look into a situation for him that he can’t have his hands on. Turns out this all leads to a possible trap/ unfortunate coincidence wherein Man-Ape, the Grim Reaper and some chick named ‘Saboteur’ who apparently are resorting to old school villainy by trying to threaten New York with a bomb.

"Zion" by Joan Hilty

"Zion" is a Mormon-Jewish teenage love story set in southwest Utah by cartoonist Joan Hilty, which appears in the 2nd volume of Juicy Mothers.

Beg the Question by Bob Fingerman

from Ninth Art

first and foremost it's a romance. Rob and Sylvia are a classic mismatch - he's a snarky and buttoned-down Jew, she's a sensual and mood-swing-prone Italian. They struggle to make their livings, they have fights that gust up out of nowhere, and they have sex. Lots and lots of sex. Fingerman's frank portrayal of sex as a normal everyday part of life is one of the most refreshing things about this book. (And it's a good way to get you to buy it, isn't it, you beady-eyed rascal you?) There is a (sometimes irritating) supporting cast, but they aren't that important. This is Rob & Sylvia's show.

Rabbi Harry Manhoff to deliver 3 lectures about Jewish heritage and comics

The dates of his lectures (at Temple Beth Sholom, 642 Dolores St. in San Leandro, California) are : April 22 and 29, and May 6. The lectures take place from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m.

A recent article about Rabbi Manhoff - "For Jewish scholar, panels pose a rich history" appeared in the Oakland Tribune on Apr. 9th, reprinted at http://origin.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/
localnews/ci_5626249 :

What does he regard as some of the best graphic novels and ongoing series?

"Fallen Angels," about the struggle between light and dark, and "Testament," with plots based on the Bible, world religions and science fiction, are among Manhoff's favorites.

Hey Yids! Comics! (New York Comic Con 2007 Report #5)

In this fifth (and final) NYCC report, I will tell about the "Jewish Side of Comics" session that I moderated at the end of the final day.



Personally, I thought we had an excellent turnout. Among those in attendance were : Debbie Bergson (my wife), Rachel Birnboim (my cousin), Clifford Meth, Chari Pere, David Ben-Yshay (creator of the webcomic Shkoyach, "Typo Lad" (who runs the "What Were They Thinking?" blog), Roy Schwartz, Jordan B. Gorfinkel (author-illustrator of Everything's Relative, Rabbi Carey Freedman (author of Wisdom from the Batcave), Laurie Kleid, Elayne Riggs, Robin Riggs, Tim Lieder, David Wolkin, "Balaam's Donkey", "Laura" and "Jake". This was due, in part, to the pre-convention Internet publicity about this session specifically.

The New Comics Waiting Room Blog highlighted the panels which Danny Fingeroth was on at NYCC.

At ComicMix, Elayne Riggs asked " would it hurt them to have bagels? Or a maidele or two like Leela Corman (to talk about Unterzachen, her graphic novel in progress?"

Esther Kustanowitz at Jewlicious advertised the panel, though she herself was unable to attend.

The Daily Cross Hatch reccommended attending the panel, due to Neil Kleid being one of the panelists.

Loren Javier at One Diverse Comic Book Nation listed sessions that celebrated diversity in comics, including the "Jewish Side of Comics".

"Webmaster Brian" posted my "press release" to the Comic Book Conventions message board.

Rab at Estoreal mentioned the panel in a joke he made in reference to Brian Cronin, writing that "Brian Cronin is more Jewish than anyone in my family and any of my Jewish friends...and yet he's not actually Jewish. Or so he says."

At the Around Comics discussion board, David started a thread after stating that my session piqued his interest.

At Brian Michael Bendis's Jinxworld forum, DLevy started a thread about the "Jew panel", which panelist Neil Kleid took part in.

For his part, Neil himelf promoted the session via a bulletin at ComicSpace.

Embarassing as it is, I need to own up to the fact that the panel description ended up being less than accurate and I'll take the blame for that. Josef Rubinstein, as it turns out, will not be one of the contrributors on the anthology Balm in Gilead. In my defense, I was basing that fact on the information at the Mahrwood Press website, which still lists him as of this writing (Apr. 11, 2007). I also got info wrong about Stan Mack ; although he is working on a graphic history series, it is neither fictional nor specifically Jewish. Rubinstein didn't show up for the panel, even though I specifically reminded him about it - in person - immediately after I saw him following the Cockrum tribute session (just an hour earlier). Fortunately, Arie Kaplan was gracious enough to fill out the panel at the last minute --- and he hadn't even prepared notes.

The previous session had started late and also finished late. Thus, my session also started late. I am indebted to Clifford Meth for convincing those in the room to promptly vacate it so that our session could get started.



After introducing myself, I made short announcements concerning the latest news about Jewish comics (e.g. the Jewish Book Week panel and the Brandeis anthology) and then introduced the other panelists.

Neil Kleid described the different Jewish comics work that he has done and is working on. Personally, I'd have preferred to hear more about both The Big Khan and Migdal David, as I can read about the other stories &/or purchase them.



Danny Fingeroth read from his manuscript, trying to make the argument that the blond-haired Aryan-looking Thor the thunder god and the now-late Captain America are Jewish-like. He didn't say anything about the DeMatteis run of Captain America during which Steve Rogers (Captain America's civilian identity) dated Bernie Rosenthal. Maybe it's in the book?

Stan Mack told the story of how he came to write the graphic history book The Story of the Jews, despite "not being very Jewish" himself, after he retraced the Exodus journey "in reverse" during a trip to the Middle East.



Rabbi Simcha Weinstein retold the joke he had told in San Diego (which doesn't have to do with comics and is less funny the second time around). He then talked about parallels between the Biblical stories and comic book stories (e.g. comparing the origins of Superman and Moses, telling how Superman compared himself to Samson when he knocked down the pillars of a villain's lair).



Arie Kaplan gave an overview of how the comics industry both attracted and benefitted from writers and artists who happened to be Jewish and how this indirectly (and later more directly) was reflected in their comic stories.

After these presentations, there was a brief question-and-answer period. Myself, I can only recall 3 of the questions at the moment.

The first question had to do with how to "sell" a Jewish story idea to a non-Jewish (i.e. secular) comics publisher. I tried to broaden the question by rephrasing it in terms of how to market to both the Jewish and non-Jewish (i.e. secular comics) market. Neil seemed to feel that one has to choose one or the other when it comes to "niche stories". He presented the example of JT Waldman who initially had trouble selling his graphic novel idea to both Judaica publishers ("too much nudity") and alternative comics publishers ("too religious"). Eventually, Waldman's Megillat Esther was
both published by the Jewish Publication Society and distributed by Diamond. However, Neil suggested that a creator usually needs to choose between selling to a "Jewish market" or a "comics market". Still, I wonder if the Christian comics creators have managed to do both successfully.

The second questionner asked about the types of obstacles Neil's brother faced from the Orthodox community they lived in. Neil spoke of how his brother was essentially rejected from Neil's Yeshiva, even though his family was willing to pay any extra costs involved (e.g. for a special education teacher). Such an attitude was a major letdown for them. Stan then pointed out that, in his own experience dealing with Jewish support groups (his partner fought and lost a battle with cancer, as detailed in his memoir Janet and Me), he found them to be very helpful and understanding.



The final question was about whether there were any Orthodox Jewish superheroes who have Gentile friends. The panelists (including myself) may not have fully heard or understood the question. As a result, different panelists tried to offer examples that didn't seem to satisfy her, rather than say "I don't know" or "There don't seem to be any". I was at a bit of a disadvantage in that I answer those questions better when I have full access to my collection, rather than relying on just my memory. Since returning to Toronto (and my collection), I looked at the question again and came up with an answer. However, that answer will appear in a separate blog post (soon).

Shortly thereafter, it was pointed out that it was time for mincha / maarviv (the evening prayers) and a minyan (quorum) of 10 men soon assembled at the easternmost wall of the room.

In addition to a number of compliments I received from attendees in person after the panel was finished, at least 7 people have made comments about the panel via cyberspace.

Howling Curdmudgeons - Jake (in the "Comments" section) :

I went mostly to see the Jewish Side of Comics panel, which was excellent. I'd read the speculation about jewish subtext in Superman and Captain America's character designs, but I'd never thought of Thor in that category. Other interesting insights included the split markets for a book like Brownsville, since religious bookstores and Diamond aren't really in cahoots.

The Beat - Torsten Adair (in the "Responses" section) :

As a participant, I had a decent weekend, starting with the ICV2 GN conference and ending with the jewish panel on Sunday.

Elayne Riggs of ComicMix wrote :

Jews in Space The Jewish Side of Comics featured moderator Steven Bergson and panelists Neil Kleid, Danny Fingeroth, Stan Mack, Rabbi Simcha Weinstein and Arie Kaplan. Alas, we needed to make our bus connection so we left about halfway through, but it was nice to have that sense of community reinforced and, because of that above all, this year's NYCC ended on a very high note.

Tim Lieder wrote at his livejournal :

Everyone on the panel seemed cool. Rabbi Simcha did lame Jewish jokes. Arie Kaplan talked about Mad magazine and its Jewish traditions (where non-Jews learned Yiddish) and we davened Mincha afterwards. Got there late so I didn't know about the first three speakers - except I did read the third guy's History of the Jews book - reminded me of Larry Gonick - which is unfortunate because he'll probably get compared most of the time. When I walked in the second guy was reading from an essay on Thor as a Jewish character.

Laura wrote at her Xanga site :

went to this Jewish Comics panel and I asked a question. Which was that if there is any jewish series comic that has a Jewish hero and is friends with non-Jews but he/she still keeps the faith. They all seemed quite surprised LOL. They said there is. I don't think they knew what the heck I meant.

Balaam's Donkey was more critical, commenting on the Jewlicious site (see "Commentds" section) :

I found Neil Kleid to be fantastic, in discussing the potential of the comics medium as an expressive Jewish art form. I was disconcerted by the fact that audience members seemed to have a problem with the fact that his upcoming work is critical of the Jewish community, and rightfully so, as it is his first-hand experience of his brother’s struggles at feeling welcomed into the Orthodox community in Michigan because of his developmental disabilities. As a Jewish educator with some background in special education, I’m truly excited by the work.
Arie Kaplan’s perspective seemed to have a fair amount of substance, and despite this, he was very humble and self-effacing about his credentials. While his book on the subject has yet to be published, I am excited to read his work, as his meanstream writing is quite enjoyable.
Rabbi Weinstein barely spoke about comics. He told a bunch of dumb jokes that had nothing to do with comics, because, in his own words “that’s what rabbis are supposed to do”. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a pretty lame image of the rabbi to present. His more fundamentalist readings of Judaism limit his ability to explore the true origins of hero literature and how it influences superheroes of today, which does link to the Bible, but predates it as well. In addition, his book is really lacking in substance, on a variety of different levels, and is really poor scholarship, to say the least. In all honesty, I have been equally disappointed by his book, his articles and the one time I have seen him speak, and this is as somebody who was initially excited about all three.
Stan Mack was pretty decent, and Danny Fingeroth not bad as well, but the content of the program itself really implied that there wasn’t a huge amount of knowledge about Judaism sitting up there, and much of the conversation in this case (and in general, as well) on the subject focused in the whole “wow! there sure are a lot of Jews in the comic book industry!” thing.

Panelist Neil Kleid was also critical, reporting on NYCC via his livejournal (see final paragraphs) :

The panel was... odd. Basically we each had some time to talk about whatever we wanted - i was under the assumption that we were going to be given questions by the moderator so I made a UJA joke and just sort of introduced my work and passed it along to the rest of the folks, each who had prepared something. Danny read from his book about whethere Captain America and Thor were Jewish, Stan talked about his roots as regards walking the homeland and his books on history, the Rabbi... well, his was a bit rambly but pretty good about jews as relates to superherocis and oppression and Arie...well, Im not sure what his was about apart from him giving instances of Judiasm throughout his work. I got to shine, though, during the Q & A where I discussed the direct market VS the Judaic book market and instances of judiasm in mainstream comics. Overall, though, I'm not sure what the panel did other than to serve as a big ol' Jewish hoedown for us to say "we're jewish! we're here! get used to it!" I really wanted to explore why, apart from Stan Mack and I, none of the others were creating original fiction with jewish characters instead of devoting time and effort into trying to explain how Doctor Strange might be Jewish because he likes Chinese food.

New York Comic Con 2007 Report #4 : Programming Day Two

In this fourth NYCC report, I will tell about the 3 sessions that I attended prior to the one that I moderated at the end of the day.

I started off the day by going to the History of Comic Book Movies session given by Arie Kaplan and Eddy Friedfeld. Unfortunately, it started earlier than it was supposed to, so I didn't catch all of it. My favorite parts were seeing a clip of the Ambiguously Gay Duo (from the Saturday Night Live TV show) and a clip from a Batman DVD that showed a screen test of Lyle Wagonner (in a Batman costume that didn't have the yellow circle). While watching the Wonder Woman clip, it occurred to me that Baywatch was not the first TV show on the air that exploited the fact that a significant percentage of male chauvinists are willing to spend time watching repetitive scenes of a sexy woman in a skimpy costume running ... and running ... and running.



Immediately following the end of the presentation portion of the Comic Book Movies session (I couldn't stay for the Q&A), I joined my wife for the Degrassi graphic novels session. She was worried that the room would fill up and that we wouldn't get in, but that didn't happen. It was, however, a better turnout than we've seen for the Toronto Degrassi graphic novel events we've gone to.

Comic Book Resources gave a great, detailed report on the session. Here's an excerpt :

Perez remarked on the challenge when dealing with characters based on real people. “I’ve worked on some Star Wars stuff where the characters are iconic but don’t have to look like the actors,” he said. “The audience is very familiar with Degrassi characters.” Perez said that he hadn’t seen the show beyond season one and watched the entirety of season five, focusing on Manny and Emma. He also picked up fashion catalogs to find out “what the kids are wearing” and visited the Toronto sets to ensure accuracy. “I’ve worked on enough properties to know that if you get something wrong, the fans will let you know about it.” He added that he’s drawn Emma a half dozen times at different shows. “It’s a lot different since it’s a real living person and not Superman.” Perez said that he’d be willing to do another Degrassi graphic novel.

Sarah Barrable-Tishauer has been on Degrassi for six years. “You’ve seen my awkward years documented in season one.” Barrable-Tishauer was also featured in a production of “The Lion King” in Toronto. She said she was surprised to see the show move into graphic novels. “It’s the most bizarre thing to see yourself in comic form,” she said. “When I showed myself talking to JT in book two to my family, they were like ‘that’s totally you!’”

I can't add too much to what John wrote. I agree with John that it's cool that Chris Jackson recognizes certain fans (he recognized both myself and my wife).



J. Torres referred to one of his lines that was cut from one of the websiodes : "Go Go Gonhorrhea!" Sarah mentioned that originally she had tried out for the role of Manny. Hmmm ... that could have been interesting to see, but I'm glad she ended up playing Liberty instead. We were told that there will be at least one more season of Degrassi (yay!).

Sarah also talked about the reactions of herself and the other actors when they did the first read-through of the script for the episode where J.T. dies. Apparently, sometimes the writers will throw fake scripts at them or scripts that they later decide not to use. So, at first they weren't sure this would be an actual episode. Once they realized it was real, though, it was tough to accept. Sarah said that she and Ryan Cooley co-wrote a "what if?" webisode in which we would have seen what would happen if JT hadn't died and if he and Liberty raised her child together. Naturally, that resulted in groans from many in the audience who wanted to see this rejected webisode.



After that, we left the room to join the mob who'd reassembled in the exhibits hall to meet the panelists, get autographs and snap pics. I have to give kudos to the publisher reps ; they were able to keep things orderly and got everyone lined up nicely without blocking the other booths too much or cutting off the aisles.

I passed by Evan Dorkin, but couldn't wait for him to return to his table, as I was already a tad late for the Dave Cockrum tribute. Unfortunately, that meant that I didn't get his sketch of One-Punch Goldberg --- maybe next time.

Next, it ws off to the Dave Cockrum tribute panel.

The panel was well-described by Matt Powell of Wizard Entertainment :

Before it was initiated that original art be given back to creators, Levitz shared a story of how Cockrum went out of his way and pocket to obtain a larger canvas than needed in which to draw the wedding with more detail - illustrating Cockrum’s dedication to his craft.

“Dave wasn’t a penciller, or a writer, he was a comic book creator,” emphasized Rubinstein of Cockrum, whose pencils he frequently inked.

Elayne Riggs also described it at ComicMix :

As might be expected, the Dave Cockrum tribute was fairly low-key but heartfelt. Birthday boy Clifford Meth moderated a panel of Dave's friends and coworkers which included Louise Simonson, Chris Claremont, Paul Levitz and Joe Rubinstein. Cliff passed on the welcome news that the Uncanny Dave Cockrum Tribute hardcover (featuring lots of new stuff, including some more Cockrum artwork) will be released by Aardwolf soon, and everyone had wonderful stories to tell of Dave's generosity, self-effacing nature and enormous talent. Anyone who could consistently inspire greats like these panelists was a person well worth knowing and remembering.

After the panel we caught up with Cliff and two other old friends to whom I'd wanted to introduce him, each of whom had known someone else close to me who'd passed away recently. Throughout the weekend we'd been seeing old "convention regulars" and becoming aware all over again how important we all are to each other in our short and hectic lifespans. These moments are the important ones, they're what invest comic conventions -- and indeed our lives -- with meaning. We should never be too busy to just sit with folks and chat, and I'm grateful I got to see pretty much all my comics industry friends, old and new, during the weekend

All I will add to those excellent articles is that one panelist (Levitz?) talked about how the writers felt challenged by the way Cockrum drew so well and how it inspired them to turn in their best work in response. Someone else pointed out that with regard to the newer X-Men, he loved Nightcrawler, but hated Wolverine. Levitz reminded us that we should not take the golden age creators for granted, but let them know how much we have enjoyed their work while they are still here with us.

The last session that I attended prior to the one that I moderated was the syndicated cartoonists panel. The panel, held in the room that mine was to be held in, started late and that was a sign that mine would probably also start late.It was nice that they had several sample cartoons from each of the artists projected onto a screen, though it did distract from the actual discussion going on. The only thing I really remember from that panel was the comments about how a cartoonist needs to be prepared for plenty of negative feedback from fans, especially now that it's so easy for anyone to quickly fire off an e-mail on a whim.

New York Comic Con 2007 Report #3 : Programming Day One

In this third NYCC report, I will discuss the programs from my first day at Comic Con. Since I arrived in NY late on Friday night, my first day of programming was Saturday (i.e. day 2 of the Con).

I managed to get to my first session just minutes before it started. Since it was the session with actors from the Buffy TV show, I thought the room would be packed and I might not be able to get in. Boy, was I wrong!

I didn't have a camera with me that morning, but Elayne Riggs did (this photo is taken from ComicMix)


Nicholas (Xander Harris) Brandon ended up being a no-show, but I doubt that was why so few showed up. One of the actors on the panel blamed it on having one of the worst time slots of the convention (i.e. 10-11 AM on a Saturday). So, what do I remember from the panel? One guy talked about the guilt he felt at being the young actor who took the part from elderly actors who don't get a lot of opportunity for decent TV roles like the one he got. The actors unanimously agreed that they would do a Buffy reunion show if Joss asked them. And there was free cake to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show.

Nezt up, in the same room (and with a larger crowd), was the Battlestar Galactica panel moderated by Kevin Smith. I knew that Smith would be at the show (he was in the program), but he wasn't listed as the moderator ; it was a pleasant surprise and he did a decent job of it with his usual wit. I was a little disappointed, only because so many of the questions and remarks went over stuff that was already known (or should have been ; I mean, read your program, people) like how Tricia Helfer got her start in acting and how James Callis was in the Bridget Jones film.

I asked about whether other actors from the original series would be in future episodes (now that Richard Hatch has paved the way) and was told "anything's possible". After which Smith quipped, "Well, not anything. You can't use Lorne Greene. He's dead." Leave it to Degrassi-lover Kevin Smith to mention the late Canadian actor. Someone asked about how the show is perceived in Hollywood and James answered that it is, for the most part, ignored. Kevin shared an anecdote about how he was one of those who wouldn't give the show a chance but ended up catching some episodes and is now hooked. Someone else asked about how Callis is able to prepare himself for the scenes where Balthar seems to be insane ; James answered that he needs some quiet moments of concentration to get into the part. James also made reference to the old show, saying that he would have been reluctant to accept the part if he'd been required to wear a toga.

Much of the rest of the day was spent on the exhibition floor and in artists' alley.

However, I ended my day at the Javits by going to a late panel called Carousel with Sikoryak and Friends. It wasn't the first time that I've seen what can really only be described as "comix performance art". Better than the author readings that I've attended at Toronto's Harbourfront. This was an audio-visual treat using comic pages (projected onto a screen), music and the author's voice reading the captions and dialogue. I knew that Lauren Weinstein was Jewish, but had not expected her to read a story titled "Horse Camp" about a Jewish youth who attends a Christian summer camp. She gave me a copy of a pre-publication edition of Stuck iin the Middle (which contains the story) and signed it for me. Sikoryak's 2 performances were the funniest of the lot - a "Peanuts" adaptation of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" and a "Garfield" adaptation of the story of Faust. For the final story, we were given 3-D glasses.

After that session (and after being given easy-to-follow subway directions), I headed off to Brooklyn and spent an hour at a comic launch party that was held at a comic shop called The Rocketship, which seems similar (in some respects) to Toronto's The Beguiling. One of the differences : The Beguiling doesn't have a room in the back where they serve drinks.

I saw Lauren again there are we talked a bit about the fact that girls getting their period isn't something that we read about in comics --- or anywhere else, really (though I pointed out that male author Stephen King opened his novel Carrie with the title character getting hers). I also got to meet a guy named Mordechai who I showed a copy of Kramer's Ergot to (the store's ; I don't have a copy yet myself). I hadn't read Sammy Harkham's story "Lubavitch, Ukraine 1876" yet - and neither had he. So he read part of it, while I kind of read it over his shoulder. I also heard his (and a fellow comic fan's) views of Jewish-Muslim antagonism and how it didn't used to exist (something I was already aware of, but always enjoy discussing).

New York Comic Con 2007 Report #2 : Signings and Sketch

In this second NYCC report, I discuss my single sketch request and list the comics I got signed.

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I asked Terry Laban to do a "Jewish sketch" for me and he drew an illustration of his wife Patty lighting a pair of Sabbath candles.

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Comics that I got autographed :

* The Lone and Level Sands, signed by A. David Lewis

* Aardwolf #1, signed by Clifford Meth

* King David and Wolfpack #1, signed by Kyle Baker (he was an inker for Wolfpack)

* Testament #8 and a color printout of Testament #1, signed by both Liam Sharp and Douglas Rushkoff

* "Chanukah Blues", signed by Lauren Weinstein

* color printout of "Son O God", signed by Neal Adams

* printout of "How We Met : Neil's Version", signed by Neil Kleid

* Superman #80-82, signed by Jon Bogdanove

* Maximortal #4-7, signed by Rick Veitch

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

* Peter Parker : The Spectacular Spider-Man #117, Mark Hazzard : Merc #3, Blasters Special #1 and Marvel Holiday Special 1993 (which includes the story "Revisionist History"), all signed by Peter David

New York Comic Con 2007 Report #1 : The swag & purchases

In this first NYCC report, I will talk about the free stuff (aka "swag") that I picked up, as well as the 2 items I bought.

Free Books

The Privelege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner (which she signed)

Star Trek : Mirror Universe : Obsidian Alliance

Star Trek : Mirror Universe : Glass Empires (signed)

Free Magazines

Massive Magazine #2

TV Guide Feb. 26 - Mar. 4, 2007

UVC (Urban Voice in Comics) #1 Feb-Mar. 2007

Wizard Magazine #185 Mar. 2007

Free Comics (non-Jewish content)

Ambiguously Gay Duo Comics #1

Archie #572 Mar. 2007

CMX manga preview 2007

Crows Yard : Kiss preview

The Darkness : Level Zero Dec. 2006

Guy Ritchie's Game Keeper preview

John Woo's 7 Brothers preview

Jughead & Friends Digest #16

Megatokyo preview edition vol. 5

Mortal Coils #3 (2003)

Netcomics Manhua sampler - Spring 2007

The Sleeper Cycle preview

Stuck in the Middle TPB (which includes the Jewish story "Horse Camp" by Lauren Weinstein, which she autographed for me)

Veronica #178 Apr. 2007

Wildseed #0 Sept. 2006

Wildseed #1 June 2006

Other Free Stuff

CR-ROM from Roy Schwartz

Fone Bone figurine

The Hills Have Eyes 2 t-shirt

Illusion TV sampler CD-ROM

Shooter baseball cap

Starz Home Entertainment 2007 DVD sampler (which includes Hellboy : Blood & Iron and Highlander : Vengeance

Jewish Comics (purchased)

I finally bought a copy of the Pilgrimage : Two Weeks in G-d's Country by Neil Kleid, which he autographed for me.

I also bought the new Tery Laban trade paperback collection of his (& wife Patty's) syndicated comic strip "Edge City" titled Edge City, which he autographed for me. Though not all of the comic strips are explicitly Jewish, the strip is about a Jewish family and there are botyh Hanukkah and Passover storylines in the book. The cover shows Terry cutting a challah loaf while his family stands around the table, a pair of lit Sabbath candles standing on a cabinet by the window.

To see the cover, go to http://www.edgecitycomics.com/, which also has a link you can follow to pre-order the book.

Jewish Book Week 2007 - Sfar, Waldman,and Gravett

from jewishbookweek.com/2007/250207l.php

Sun., Feb. 25th, 5:30 PM (GMT)
(that's 12:30 EST)
Royal National Hotel
38-51 Bedford Way, London
WC1H ODG

Tickets (required) range from £4.00-£8.00.

Graphic & Novel

Two young and brilliant graphic artists discuss with Paul Gravett the importance of their Jewish roots.

Funny, irreverent and bold, Joann Sfar pays homage to both his Ashkenazi mother and his Sephardi father, with Klezmer following the difficult life of musicians in Eastern Europe and The Rabbi's Cat set in Algeria at a time when Jews and Arabs lived peacefully
together.

JT Waldman brought two dreams together: do a graphic novel and understand his religion better. Seven years later, having learnt Hebrew, studied the rabbinic texts and explored oriental art, he produced Megillat Esther, a stunning graphic novel with a twist, incorporating both Hebrew and English and engaging in a new form of Midrash.

Paul Gravett is a comics historian, lecturer and exhibition curator. His latest book is Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life.

Considered one of the brightest and most talented of the younger generation of French comic artists, Joann Sfar has written or collaborated on more than one hundred books for adults and children. His Jewish subjects are only a tiny part of his work.

Megillat Esther is JT Waldman's first graphic novel. It was conceived in upstate New York, researched and translated in Jerusalem, illustrated in Barcelona, and brought all together in Philadelphia.

With the support of the Institut français du Royaume Uni.

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If you can't make it to the Royal National Hotel that day day, but would still like to go to a panel on Jewish comics, drop by the New York Comic Con for the "Jewish Side of Comics" panel on the other end of the Atlantic. Tickets are required for that, as well.

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On Tuesday February 27th, Waldman and Sfar will be part of "Schools Day at Jewish Book Week", presenting `People of the Comic Book' from 10:30 until 11:15.

Heroes Webcomic, chapters 13-16

On Monday the NBC television series Heroes will introduce the character Hana, an Israeli mossad agent whose superpowers allow her to mentally access cyberspace. The NBC Heroes website has been hosting webcomic chapters that tie in with the TV storyline. Chapters 13-16, which tie in with the introduction of Hana may be found at the following sites (Acrobat format) :

http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/downloads/
Heroes_novel_013.pdf
http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/downloads
/Heroes_novel_014.pdf
http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/downloads/
Heroes_novel_015.pdf
http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/downloads/
Heroes_novel_016.pdf

Below is a description of Hana from heroestheseries.com :

Hana Gittelman, a new “Heroes” character with the power to “see” cyberspace (effectively making her a walking wireless cyber girl who can steal and read your emails without having to be plugged in), and who has only been seen in the online comics for now, will be making her debut in the January 22 episode of “Heroes”. Before the episode even airs, you can catch a glimpse of Hana in a sneak preview during “Deal or No Deal”, which as always will air an hour before “Heroes” comes on.

According to the online comics, Hana is an Israeli Mosad agent who is now working for HRG after her mother and grandmother were killed by suicide bombers. It is mentioned that HRG “gave” Hana her cyberspace powers.

Testament #1

The first issue of Vertigo's Testament may be viewed by mature readers (over 18) online (Acrobat format) at http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/
5387_1.pdf

You may also download the notes by its author, Douglas Rushkoff, at http://www.dccomics.com/media/special/
Testament_Vol_1_Notes.pdf.

Y : The Last Man #1

The first issue of Vertigo's Y : The Last Man may be viewed by mature readers (over 18) online (Acrobat format) at http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/1736_1.pdf

Page 15 introduces the character Colonel Alter Tse'elon, a soldier in the Israeli artillery battalion in Nablus (the West Bank) : "Who wants peace when we have not yet begun to fight?" Alter tells how her grandmother crossed into enemy lines during the War of Independence and that her grandmother was part of the all-female batallion of death during the Russian Revolution.

A Jew developed the polio vaccine

See the cartoon by Edward Margolis and Noah Crissey at http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/16404/

33 Jewish Reasons to Attend New York Comic Con in 2007

(1) Sunday afternoon panel on "The Jewish Side of Comics" with :

(2) Neil Kleid (Xeric award-winning author, discussing his Judaic-subject comics work, including Brownsville (his graphic novel about the Jewish mafia) and Migdal David (his upcoming cartoon memoir for Seraphic Press that explores the difficulties of growing up with developmental disabilities in an Orthodox Jewish community).

(3) Rabbi Simcha Weinstein (author of Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero)

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

(5) Josef Rubinstein (contributor to Journeys : The Collected Edition and Balm in Gilead, both from Mahrwood Press)

(6) Stan Mack (currently at work on a series of Jewish historical fiction graphic novels)

(7) Steven M. Bergson
(http://jewishcomics.blogspot.com), moderator


The Jewish Side of Comics
New York Comic Con
Sun., Feb. 25, 2007
4:00-5:00 PM
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 West 34th Street
NY, NY
Room 1E04

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In the "Artists' Alley", one can meet and talk to :

(8) 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)

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

(10) Aline Kominsky-Crumb (author of autobiographical comics, including the forthcoming Need More Love: A Graphic Memoir and wife of underground comix legend Robert Crumb)


(11) Brian K. Vaughn (author of the comic series The Escapists, inspired by the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon)

(12) A. David Lewis (author of The Lone and Level Sands, a graphic novel adaptation of the story of Exodus)

(13) Kyle Baker (author-illustrator of the Vertigo graphic novel adaptation King David)

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

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

(16) Roy Thomas (writer of several Jewish comic stories, including ones with golems, the Holocaust, and a Jewish superhero named Nuklon who refuses to inter-date)

(17) Miriam Katin (author-illustrator of the Nazi-era biography We Are On Our Own)

(18) J. Michael Straczynski (author of the story "Selah" in Rising Stars #16, in which peace is brought to Israel and the Middle East and "You Want Pants with That?" in Amazing Spider-Man #502, which featured a Jewish tailor who helps prevent a crime)

(19) Ellen Kushner (creator and performer of The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer ‘Nutcracker’ for Chanukah - a children's story which was recorded with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra for Rykodisc, and will be published as a chapter book in 2007 by Charlesbridge Press)

(20) Clifford Meth (author of controversial illustrated short stories, such as "I, Gezheh", "The Man Who Hated Lubavitchers", and "Wagging the Rebbe", editor of short story collections such as Strange Kaddish: Tales You Won't Hear from Bubbie and Balm in Gilead)

(21) Jon Bogdanove (writer of issues of a Superman storyline in which Superman went to the Warsaw Ghetto)

(22) 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)

(23) Douglas Rushkoff (writer of the Testament series from Vertigo)

(24) Peter Gross (illustrator of the Testament series from Vertigo)

(25) Evan Dorkin (author of the comic story "One-Punch Goldberg")

(26) Rick Veitch author of the miniseries The Maximortal, a fictional story about the early comic book business and some of the Jewish characters who were part of its history)

(27)Ben Katchor (author of The Jew of New York)

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

(29) Larry Gonick (author-illustrator of the Cartoon History of the World series, which includes the history of the Jews and of ancient Israel)

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(30) Arie Kaplan, author of a series of articles about the Jewish creators of comics ("The Kings of Comics") will be attending the convention and will probably be attending the Sunday panel. He'll be co-presenting the session "The History of Comic Book Movies" from 11-noon on Sunday. His book Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! will be available for purchase at that panel.

(31) Jordan Gorfinkel (author-illustrator of the comic strip "Everything's Relative") will also be at the "Jewish Side of Comics" panel.

(32) Rabbi Carey Friedman (author of Wisdom from the Batcave) will be attending the "Jewish Side of Comics" panel.

(33) Lauren Weinstein (author of "Chanukah Blues" will be at Comic Con ; she's participating in the "Stuck in the Middle: Wonderment from an Unpleasant Age" on Saturday from 2-3 and is co-hosting "Carousel with Sikoryak & Friends" on Saturday night from 7-8.

The Handcuff King - graphic novel about Harry Houdini

by Jason Lutes & Nick Bertozzi

expected Spring '07 from Hyperion/CCS

Wendy Wasman has reviewed it for Jewish Book World.

There are preview panels up at http://www.nickbertozzi.com/comics/houdini/houdini.htm

One of the panels has a policeman talking about the rumor that Houdini has horns on his head because he's a Jew and is in league with the Devil. In a later panel, Houdini responds by saying that when the cop checks his hair for lockpicks he should be able to feel the horns for himself.

Exhibit by Israeli Comic Artists at Toronto JCC

from http://www.tapuz.co.il/tapuzforum/main/viewMsg.asp?
forum=690&msgid=92304914

Come visit our exhibition at Toronto's Miles Nadal Jewish Community
Centre.

750 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, ON
M5S 2J2
tel: 416 924-6211
WWW: http://www.mnjcc.org.

The exhibition starts on January 15th 2007 and will last until the
end of February.

Theme: "Israel through the work of Israeli Independent Comics
Artists".

Presenting "Carnets de Voyages", a series of paintings created by
Tatiana Yuditskaya (recently presented at the 7th Biennale of
Carnets de Voyages at Clermont-Ferrand in France), and a new project of Tchai Publishing - a graphic novel Appointment with Miracle.

Entrance is free.

I learned from the Tatiana and her partner Eugene that they will be at the gallery in person next Sunday (Feb. 11th) to talk to visitors. They also told me that their blog is at http://tchai.blogspot.com/.

San Diego Comic-Con International Report #6 : Programming Day Four

In this 6th (& final) San Diego Comicon report, I will talk about the programming that I attended on Sunday.

I started off the day by attending the Christian Comics Meeting arranged by the Christian Comic Arts Society. That might seem odd to some of you. The way I looked at it : (a) some "Christian"-made comics have plenty of Jewish content in them ; (b) before and after the session, I had the opportunity to show people who were there my copy of JT Waldman's Megillat Esther ; (c) I also had the opportunity to mention to some of the audience members the fact that there would be a "Jewish Side of Comics" panel later that day - in that same room - which would include a discussion of the aforementioned Megillat Esther.

The session started out with group prayer and a sermon. It made me feel somewhat uncomfortable, but I've sat through such things before.

The panel was cool, but I don't remember too much about it (since I'm writing this 6 months later). One thing I do remember is feeling jealous of the fact that the Christian comix community is more organized, cooperative and productive (as a unit) than the Jewish comix community. I asked myself "When will we see the formation of a Jewish Comic Arts Society?"

I was also (quietly) amused at the mention of how there are comics out there which seem religious, but are sacreligious. To me, this seems partly a difference between treating sacred text as complete vs. trying to fill in the gaps ("midrash" in Jewish tradition). Douglas Rushkoff's Testament was singled out as an example, but noone even mentioned A. David Lewis's The Lone and Level Sands despite the fact that the book's artist (Marvin Perry Mann) was selling and signing copies at the Comic-Con.

Following the session, I ate the small lunch that my wife brought over and stayed in the room (Room 4) so that I wouldn't have problems getting into the room for the panel I would be moderating when it was over. The session taking place was "Some Assembly Required: Putting Your Project Together Online". I didn't catch all of it, but what I did get to hear was intriguing, i.e. the ways that modern electronic communication has helped facilitate different aspects of the comics field --- from finding people to work with to building a fan base to publicizing your work via online sample pages of artwork &/or scripts.

I didn't really appreciate what was said about Myspace --- partly due to the fact that I wasn't using Myspace to make connections with others in the comics community. Since then, I have joined both Myspace and Comicspace and I intend to learn how well it can be used to publicize a comics event (specifically the Sunday panel that I'll be moderating at this year's New York Comic Con).

Following that panel, I prepared for the "Jewish Side of Comics" panel. I had a quick chat with the Comic-Con rep (who gave the obligatory reminder about time constraints and hand signals), ate my Comic-Con chocolate (all the presenters got one) and checked the spelling on the large paper name plate wich I now have as a souvenir.

I left souvenir Canadian-made postcards (each depicting one of the Canadian stamps of Canadian-made superheroes) and copies of the hard-to-find Comic Festval Free Comic Book Day comics (made especially for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival).

I had intended to audiotape the session, but the tape recorder I had brought didn't work.



I have vague recollections of what different speakers spoke about. JT Waldman talked about the long process of writing and illustrating his book. Rabbi Simcha Weinstein downplayed the "Jewishness" of specific comic book characters, preferring to talk about the Biblical archetypes that probably influenced their creators. He also made a funny joke about an Orthodox Jew who has achieved superstar status. For some reason I assumed (& dreaded) that he was going to make a reference to Rabbi Schneersohn (aka "The Rebbe"), but he was talking about Matisyahu. Danny Fingeroth read from his manuscript ; I was impressed by his discussion of the Sub-Mariner as being symbolic of the Disapora Jew in exile yearning to re-establish his homeland. I hadn't made that connection before hearing him talk about it. Finally, Marv Wolfman talked about how he came to be the writer of the Homeland graphic history book. I was shocked when he explained that Bill Rubin told him how he thought Marv could write it in a similar way to how he wrote The History of the DC Universe. The reason I was shocked is that I already own a copy of both volumes of that book, but didn't notice the parallels (I had already seen sample pages of Homeland that were online). Marv made a funny comment about how it was harder to write this book becuase he wasn't allowed to use robots or aliens (alas, "I, Gezheh" is just a science-fiction story and the Israelis haven't built a "Big Moishe" yet).



I had asked each speaker to take no more than 10 minutes each and each of them complied. That left over 10 minutes for questions from the audience.



The turnout for the session was better than I'd expected. At least one guy was trying to videotape it and the question-&-answer period was civilized, but lively. Audience member Roy Schwartz even pitched in to help answer a loaded question about Arab-made comics.



Among the celebrities in the audeince (or, at least, those whom I consider to be celebrities) were :

Diana Marsh - illustrator of the mini-comic adaptation of the Jewish folk tale "The Bleeding Tree", which she gave me a free copy of. Unfortunately, I foolishly didn't add her to this panel. I hope to have her on a future panel. I also hope I can get her to submit a story for an anthology of Jewish folk tales in comix format (assuming I can find a publisher who will accept my book proposal).

Corey Sosner - an ex-Canuck who made a Punisher / Wolverine fanfilm called First Round

Liana K - co-host of the Canadian hit show Ed's Night Party

Steve Kirzner - the man behind the puppet known as "Ed the Sock", co-host of the aforementioned Ed's Night Party



I now need to acknowledge the San Diego Union-Tribune, which helped publicize the panel twice, in both its print and online versions. The SDU-T listed the "Jewish Side of Comics" in its list of "What Not to Miss", as well as its list of panels which are part of the theme "Diversity".

What did the bloggers in attendace think of the panel? At this late date (i.e. 6 months later), I think it's safe to say that all the "reviews" are in, so to speak. For the most part, the reviews seem overwhelmingly positive.

The only negative comment I have come across, to date, is that of MeMw|MVPersian :

The day started off a little boring, with a panel for The Jewish side of Comics.

I'm not surprised by his characterization of the panel, though. If one reads his post in full, one finds that he clearly enjoys the sessions dealing with TV, films and video games. That fact is reinforced by looking at which sessions he attended during the Con.

Marv Wolfman, one of the panelists remarked at his blog (July 24th entry):

the Jewish Comics panel which I was certain would be empty ... was actually filled to capacity.

Another panelist, Rabbi Simcha Weinstein, wrote :

It was a real thrill to be on panel with luminaries like Danny Fingeroth, J.T . Waldman and Marv Wolfman. Amid the festivities I also drew attention to the terrible situation in the Israel and gave my blessing that the only evil we should face at this time should be the fictional villains of comic books. The session was well attended and the response super-sonic.

Donald Ensign reported :

I stayed for the Jewish Side of Comics panel. Marv Wolfman and several others were on it. Wolfman is working on a graphic novel (though not straight comics) on the history of Israel.

The Full Metal Teppy wrote :

I ran into ebenbrooks as he left and I arrived. He gave me a hug and asked me how {to get to} the "Jewish Side of Comics" panel to which I was heading.

I'd dressed tznius for the event, which featured Rabbi Simcha Weinstein of the book "Up Up and Oy Vey" about the Jewish origins of Superman. He described how Kal-El means "voice of God" and his origin story parallels that of Moses. His ultimate answer to "Is Superman Jewish?" though is "No way, Jose," because Superman is universal. (Some wag still commented that there are many parallels between Superman and Jesus, and that if Superman is Jesus, then Superman is Jewish.)

Cecile M. Posner Fleetwood, a Comic-Con volunteer and a member of the library committee at Temple Emanu-El in San Diego wrote about the panel on page 6 of the Temple newsletter Ha-Sofer / The Scribe (Acrobat format) :

I was busy as usual, but managed to attend the "Jewish Side of Comics". I'm so glad I did! The session was great! ... The panelists were an interesting blend.

After the panel was over and I breathed a sigh of relief, I stayed in the room for the "Degrassi Graphic Novels" panel. After all, being a Canadian and a fan of all of the incarnations of the TV series, I felt obligated to learn what I could about the upcoming series. it was neat to see the enthusiasm of the show's American fans ; too often, good quality Canadian shows are unknown or ignored by the Yanks.

Halfway through the panel, I left (my wife would later fill me in on what I'd missed) to attend the "H.E.L.P.: Hosting Easy Library Programs" session. Even though I'm no longer a practicing librarian, I still like to see what librarians are doing with comix and graphic novels. I took home some handouts to give to local librarians in Toronto.

By the end of that (3:30-ish), the whole show had only an hour left and there were only 2 sessions left that were not already in progress (neither of which interested me). Thus, I made a mad dash thorugh the exhibit hall to try to locate affordable &/or cheap comics that remained on my "wantlist". I managed to get some, but it required me searching for them and purchasing them whilst hearing over the intercom (along with dozens of other seemingly-oblivious dealers and fanboys) "The Comic-Con is now over! Please exit the exhibit hall now! See you next year!"