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!"

San Diego Comic-Con International Report #5 : Programming Day Three

In this 5th San Diego Comicon report, I will talk about the programming that I attended on Saturday.

I was advised by a more experienced con-goer (JT Waldman) to skip whatever morning session I was interested in and get in line early for the ever-popular Simpsons panel, as it's usually one of the ones that attracts so many people that they fill up the room and the doors get closed to those who are too far back in line.

I did go to the line for the Lost session. After explaining the Bookcrossing concept to those within earshot, I gave my Lost paperback to the person closest to me who held his (or was it hers?) hand up.

I then went to the Exhibit Hall, figuring I could score some more swag, ask for more autographs and sketches, and still make it to the Simpsons panel lineup in plenty of time. Well, we all know what they say about the best-laid plans. The lineup to get in was the largest I'd seen at the convention thus far (but not the biggest that I would see). Nonetheless, I somehow got in and the session started later than planned.

It was cool to see the Simpsons creators up on stage and I got to ask my 2 questions. There were unfortunately others in the audience who had questions that remained unanswered (almost making me feel guilty for asking 2 instead of 1 --- I said almost).

Unlike some of the ridiculous questions asked (which the crew handled well, as one would expect them to), my questions were short, to-the-point and relevant.

Q1 : Will the Simpsons be coming back to Canada?
A1 : No. We don't want to offend Canadians. I didn't buy that. The episode where they came to Canada got them front-page attention on the Toronto Sun's TV Guide. I never heard of any Canadians who were offended ; not surprising since the Canucks (or at least former Canucks) who write for the show knew what they were doing.

Q2: Will the original "Simpsons" shorts that were on the "Tracey Ullman Show" ever get put on DVD?
Q2: No. We're going to release them but are thinking of the best way to do it. Maybe via cell phone downloads.

The audience thrilled to the screening of rough scenes from the 2007 Simpsons movie. Now, everyone who's screening cartoons at the Con describes their clips as rough, but these really were - black-&-white and I don't think the pencils were even inked. I won't bother repeating what is in them, since some jerks disobeyed the "no recording" rule, snuck video on their cell phones and posted them online.

Immediately afterward, I went to the "draw to be in line for signing by the Simpsons artists, which included the famous Matt Groening, of course. I admit I cheated ; I glanced in the bag of tickets to see where one of the "Bart bills" was and then just pretended to look away when it was my turn to reach in.

Then, I rushed over to Hall H to go see Kevin Smith. Some sci-fi authors were on stage, so we waited. I happened to be sitting near a guy wearing a yarmulke, so I tactfully (I think) gave him one of my fliers for the next day's "Jewish Side of Comics" panel. I don't know if he actually attended or not.

As it turned out, Kevin never made it to the session he was scheduled for. One of the female stars of his new movie Clerks II was there and she tried to entertain the audience, doing her own Q-&-A. Towards the end, someone asked if she had Kevin's cell number. When she admitted that she did, she was asked to call it and put the phone up to the mike. Kevin apologized, said he was late getting there from an interview due to traffic and that there would be a "make-up" Q-&-A in the afternoon.

I think that about that time, I handed off my 2 comic strip paperbacks (obtained at the Bookcrossing convention in Toronto) to someone outside of the room where the National Cartoonists Society panel was going to start. I asked the Comic-Con volunteer to leave them on the seats before the next session started. These 2 comic strip paperback collections were the only ones to date that have been journaled since I bookcrossed them at the CCI. One of the books was by Dan Piraro, who was in attendance at that session.

If I recall correctly, I then had to go to the Simpsons artists autograph section and use my "Bart buck" to meet Matt Groening and get him to sign my TV Guide, sign my Love Is Hell book and do a sketch for me. He wouldn't do Rabbi Krustofksy (not one of the one's he's done lately, therefore hard to visualize), but I got a nice Bart sketch.

I caught just a smidge of the annual "Oddball Comics" session and then made a dash for the Sony Presents panel which gave the audience a first look at Spiderman 3 and Ghost Rider. Nicholas Cage was there and he had a lotteried autographing session that day.

Alas, that was the lineup which had the greatest number of people waiting in line that I had seen during the Con. My hope was that I would at least get into the Kevin Smith Q-&-A "makeup" session that followed immediately afterwards in that same ballroom. Though with the number of people waiting for that, I wasn't 100% sure I would get into that either.

As it turned out, I did get into that panel, but didn't get to ask my question (which I intended to ask in a faux Canadian accent) about whether he might write one of the Degrassi graphic novels since he likes to write comics and likes the show (which he has appeared on). I guess that was karma, since I asked 2 questions at the Simpsons session.

Kevin was amazing! Funny, charming, intelligent and very respectful of his audience, no matter how foolish they sounded (one guy admitted that he was kicked out of Kevin's forum for using a nasty word). Kevin always addressed the questioner as "Sir" or "Ma'am". I'd say that the funniest part was when he was talking to a deaf guy through a signing interpreter. He also brought along co-star Jason Mewes, whom he told us was off of the wagon.

At the end of the session, we received free promotional "Team Blaze" baseball caps, left over from the previous panel.

I ended the Comic-Con day by attending the Masquerade, presided over by (once again) Phil Foglio. That guy does get around. Once again, I got great seats by having my "professional" badge. The costumes and the presentations of them went the gamut from cute to inventive. All-in-all, quite entertaining.

There was even Jewish content. Matt Bixler, dressed as "Ragman, DC's Jewish superhero" (costume designed by Maggie Smith) came onto the stage to the tune of "Havah Nagilah" and won in the category "Best DC Costume". That earnmed him $300. A list of all the winners is at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_masq.shtml.

San Diego Comic-Con International Report #4 : Programming Day Two

In this 4th San Diego Comicon report, I will talk about the programming that I attended on Friday.

I started off the day by attending the session called "The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation". Unfortunately, Ernie Colon (who worked on the 9/11 Report adaptation, as well as on the current Mendy and the Golem series) was unable to attend as he had intended to. Something that was not mentioned during the panel was that Slate would be presenting the entire content of the publication online for free. It may be viewed by going to http://www.slate.com/features/911report/001.html.

Next, it was off to the Family Guy / Americxan Dad session. Sinmce it started at 11:00 - and since the 9/11 session didn't end until 11:30 - I missed quite a bit of it. However, I was able to pick up a complimentary promotional keychain (American Dad on one side, Family Guy on the other) and was able to see clips from a forthcoming episode of AD and FG. It was fun!

A half-hour later was the "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?" session, which I did not attend. Below is the description of the session (from CCI's website) :


SCI FI Channel has joined forces with Nash Entertainment (Meet My Folks, For Love or Money, Who Wants to Marry My Dad?) and legendary comic book creator Stan Lee (Spider-Man, Hulk, The Fantastic Four, X-Men), to present an all-new competition reality series that challenges a lucky few to create their very own superhero and reward the winner with the best reality competition prize yet: immortality! All contestants need is an original idea, a killer costume, and some real superhero mojo. The winner walks away with his or her superhero character immortalized in a new comic book from Dark Horse Comics created by Stan Lee himself! The winning superhero will also be featured in an original SCI FI Channel movie. Get a sneak peak at Who Wants to be a Superhero? before its premiere on Thursday, July 27 at 9/8C! Panelists include Stan Lee, star/executive producer; Scott Satin, executive producer; and cast members Fat Momma, Cell Phone Girl, Major Victory, and Ty'Veculus. Room 6B


Given that description - and considering what else was going on elsewhere in the Convention Center at the time - you can understand why I didn't feel compelled to attend the WWtBaS session. I mean, I would feel compelled to attend it if one of the contestants was --- oh, I don't know --- pitching a Jewish superhero. But we know that such a pitch would be highly unlikely, right? RIGHT?!!!

Well, it turns out my assumption was wrong,

Fortunately, at least 2 other bloggers in the blogosphere have reported on the proposal called "Iron Enforcer".

Steven I. Weiss at Canonist writes :

In particular, for those of a Jewish bent, the Iron Enforcer, with a chai earring the size of a baby’s fist, seems to be the latest coming of the Golem, at least as far as brainpower is concerned. Indeed, besides being pectorally-challenged, Iron Enforcer comes across as quite the dolt. In the first episode, you can see the the gears in his head churning as he explains his gun to his fellow wannabes, asserting it’s “the most high-tech weapon…[pause to think]…to date.”

Of course, where else would an ignoramus superhero Jew focus his energies other than Israel? After explaining how he’s the perfect killer, he tells his fellow competitors “after I leave this house, I’m off to the Middle East.”
...
So, seeing as our guy has already put himself on Stan Lee’s bad side, the only question is what it’ll actually take for him to get booted off the show. My bet: the elderly comics star leans over his desk, removes his spectacles, looks Iron Enforcer up and down, and declares: “Too Jewish.”

From Eli's DearDiary.net:

Personally - I'm rooting for the totally buff, no nonsense anti-hero, Iron Enforcer. I think he's Jewish. He's got a "chai" earring, carries a massive gun, and wants to impose peace on the Middle East. Groovy.

My bext partial session attendance was the one where Neil Gaiman was in attendance. He was promoting a film adaptation of his comic series Stardust and I got to see a trailer for it, which looks quite good. I also passed off a Gaiman collection of short stories, which I had partially read (I very much enjoyed the wedding story and the old-lady-finds-Holy-Grail one was cute) as part of my international Bookcrossing effort.

I also dropped in on David Boreranaz's session, where he was promoting his current series "Bones", which I've never watched. The promotional clips looked intriguing, though. I enjoyed his work on "Angel" and "Buffy" as the brooding "vampire with a soul" and left a copy of a large-format Toronto Star "Starweek" TV guide with him on the cover. Maybe someone in that room will get it signed. I didn't stay long when I realized that I'd misplaced my comics wantlist (which I did end up finding ; it was at the last booth where I'd purchased comics).

Later in the day, I enjoyed learning about the "Masters of American Comics" exhibition, which is currently at 2 museums, one of them being the Jewish Museum in NY. I was among audience members who were disappointed to learn that Art Spiegelman was pulling out of the Jewish Museum show. I gave one of my business cards to someone in the audience who worked at a Jewish organization who seemed interested in the idea of a Jewish comics exhibition. It was nice to see the reproductions of material that will be in the exhibit, which was projected onto a screen for us to view during the panel.

I had intended to attend the Klingon Lifestyle Presentation, but instead decided to wait in line with my wife for the doors to open for the annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. We weren't presenter/sponsor level "VIP", but as a presenter ("professional") I was allowed to sit in the first group of rows for the audience, just past the round tables that were set aside for the true VIPs (and my wife had such a pass, too). So, it was nice to get seats so close to the front. It was also nice to not wait as long in line as the "regular" attendees and to get to partake of the food tables (though my wife is convinced that it was the pizza that made her feel sick the following day).

As it turned out, I sat close enough to the Two Morrows table that Danny Fingeroth saw & recognized me and called me over. Even though I didn't recognize him right away, he kindly gave me a copy of his latest issue of Write Now magazine.

As for the awards show, not much to tell really. Host Bill Morrison did a great job and you can see the winners list at the Newsarama site. Noteworthy for the fans of Jewish comics is that The Rabbi's Cat did win in 1 of the 2 categories it was nominated for (Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material) and PVP, which earlier this had a strip with the punch line "Superman is a Jewish conspiracy to convince Christians that Jesus was gay." won in the category Best Digital Comic. It was cool to see how elated Scott Kurtz was to get such recognition. Ironically, it had the sarcastic secondary punchline "Wow! We got another Eisner nomination in the making with this strip."

Chanukah : A Time for Superheroes

from http://listenup.us/Han2006/Superheroes2006.html :

Hanukkah: A Time for Superheroes takes off with the Hanukkah legend of the Maccabees, the ancient Hebrew band of brothers, literally, who fought against the religious repression of the Syrian-Greeks over 2000 years ago. The legendary courage of the Maccabees has also been a source of inspiration for comic book writers since POW, ZAP, and BAM appeared in full color on the DC and Marvel pages. The myth of the weak overcoming the powerful is the age-old message of this holiday of lights.

A Time for Superheroes delves into the background of the artists and writers behind the scenes at Marvel and DC comics, their humble origins and the backdrop of their Jewish experience that inspired Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and of course, Wonder Woman. The program features interviews with the bold and colorful creators of comic book superheroes like Stan Lee (father of all superheroes) and Alan Oirich (Menorah Man)and examines their debuts on the silverscreen.

A Time for Superheroes also introduces the Golem -- the Jewish mystical legend that inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.... and also inspired the cutting edge klezmer group, Golem. Frank London entertains with the Klezmatics new Woody Guthrie CD and some special Hannukah greetings from some surprise contemporary superstars....

Archival radio shows, Hollywood movies and readings will bring
listeners to the edge of their seats. And host Arye Gross, noted actor and director, narrates the compelling tale of how the holiday evolved from a story of military victory to one of light and inspiration.

Also on the program : Trina Robbins, Rabbi Simcha Weinstein, Joe Kubert and Jerry Robinson.

There are dramatizations of the "Revisionist History" story from Marvel Holiday Special (Jan. 1993), as well as of the origin story for Dreidel Maidel.

You may listen to the program by going to
http://streams.wgbh.org/online/play.php?xml=play/2006_12_17_super.xml (Realplayer file).

Prehistory of the Jewish Graphic Novel - lecture on Nov. 21st

From Parchment to Comic Book: The Prehistory of the “Jewish Graphic Novel”

The graphic novel – the place where art and literature meet – has become a forum for self discovery and the playing out of Jewish identities and politics. This stratum of Jewish self expression has a pre-history. Join popular lecturer Marc Epstein for a trip into Jewish art history.

Tuesday November 21st at 7:30pm
$18.00
Temple Beth-El
118 Grand Avenue
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603-3097
(845)454-0570

Miriam Engelberg in Lilith magazine

The Fall 2006 issue of Lilith magazine has a 1-page reprint of a page from Miriam Engelberg's autobiographical graphic novel Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person. Miriam z"l passed away last month due to complications from the cancer. She was 48.

Super-Mensch: The Story of Jews and Comic Books - course at Jewish Study Centre

The Jewish Study Center in Washington, DC is offering the course Super-Mensch: The Story of Jews and Comic Books, as part of its Fall 2006 session.

The first session (of 5) was last week, but the second is tomorrow.

Here's the course description from the website :

Super-Mensch: The Story of Jews and Comic Books
Oct. 30 - Nov. 27 ,
(5 sessions)
7:00 - 8:15 PM
Members: $55, non-members: $65


Since the inception of the comic book industry, Jews have been involved as writers, artists, and visionaries. In fact, many heroes and villains have been based on the Jewish-American experience. We will look at how the relationship between Jews and comic books began, how it has grown, and what we can expect for the future.

Richard "Kap" Kaplowitz is a lifelong comic book collector and student of the industry. His son sells comics for "Kap's Komics" online and at comic book shows.

Superman Was a Jew - Beit Midrash class in Spring 2007

Jacksonville Jewish Federation is offering a course called "Superman was a Jew" in Spring 2007 as part of its Beit Midrash offerings.

This class looks at how Jews transformed the comic book industry from 1938—present. The creators of some of our favorite comic book stars — Superman, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Batman and the X-men - were Jewish. Students will learn about how these creators designed characters and personas to reflect Jewish values and ideals, and will have the opportunity to design their very own story board in this exciting class.
Instructor: Mrs. Karen Morse

Joann Sfar in NY to promote Klezmer - Nov. 6th

Klezmer is the latest translated-into-English Jewish graphic novel by the Eisner award-winning author-illustrator of The Rabbi's Cat, Joann Sfar.

According to Blog@Newsarama, Joann will be at McNally Robinson Booksellers (52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry) at 8 PM to promote Klezmer Book One : Tales of the Wild East. Call the store at 212.274.1160 for more information.

You may view scans of untranslated pages from Book 2 by going to the First Second blog.

Here are links to 6 sites that discuss &/or review Klezmer Book 1 :

Comics Should Be Good!, Mad Ink Beard, Fuse #8, Jog - the Blog, Jewschool and Klezmer Shack.

San Diego Comic-Con International Report #3 : Programming Day One

In this 3rd San Diego Comicon report, I will talk about the programming that I attended on Thursday. As I suggested in my previous 2 posts, being a newbie, I wasn't quite as aware as I now am, of how easily one can lose track of time in the exhibit hall, trying to score swag, autographs and sketches. Next time out, I'll probably try to get to more sessions. Still, it was a worthwhile first outing for me.

My wife and I arrived at the Convention Center too late to get to the session that had the unveiling of the DC superhero stamps, but she bought me a book about them, as well as sets of the stamps.

I did get to the "Comic Arts Conference Session #2: The Great Leap: Adapting Comics into Film", which was quite well done. Personally, I enjoyed Richard A. Becker's presentation the most, out of all the panelists. He discussed more examples than others and hit all the right points about them (points people in the audience may never have stated so well, but have thought for themselves). I think the biggest laugh came when he said something like "and let's not even bring up the Catwoman movie".

I then went to the first part of the Sony Animation session to learn about how the idea for Open Season came about (a syndicated comic strip artists's concept) and watched some clips.

Leaving midway through it to go to the exhibit hall, I didn't get back to programming until 5:00, when I got to hear Brain Fies talk about his artistic history and specifically his webcomic-to-printed-book sensation Mom's Cancer. The funniest bit had to be when he showed a graphic of a mock Mom's Cancer cover with simply the words "Mom's Cancer" superimposed over a reproduction of the classic Action Comics #1 scene where Superman smashes a car into a hillside.

I had wanted to follow that with the webcomics panel, but my wife and I got advised that if we wanted to make sure we'd get into the Star Wars Fan Film Awards show, we'd better get in line early (a line had already been formed by then. While in line a documentary film-maker interviewed us (& others) and we were handed an "I Brake for Wookies" bumper sticker by promoters of the Haynes Film movie Fanboys. An unexpected surprise - they screened the trailer for Fanboys at the awards show.

The awards on the stage were guarded by guys dressed up like Stormtroopers (kind of like this guy, but their uniforms were shinier and cleaner).



We also saw a fine selection of short films (10 minutes or less), including 3 of the the crowd-pleasing Pink Five films. What was really cool was that we were the first audience to get a sneak peak at volume 2 of Return of Pink Five.

My favorite two films were the ones which one for Best Commercial Parody (Blue Milk) and the one which won both the George Lucas Selects award and the Audience Choice award (Pitching Lucas). To watch the award-winning shows, go to Atom Films.

San Diego Comic-Con International Report #2 : Comics Purchased and Received

In this second SDCCI report, I'll list the Jewish comics that I bought or was given, as well as the non-Jewish freebies I received.

In addition to the comics swag (slang for freebies), there was plenty of other swag available, though it was near-impossible to gather it all up, given the vast expanse of the exhibition floor and the limited time (especially if you wanted to do something more than picking up swag, like, y'know, actually buying comics or attending the sessions).

My vote for the best (& most practical) swag of the con (which I, unfortunately, did not score for myself) : a Final Destination 3 promotional handheld mini electric fan. Everywhere you went in the Convention Center (moreso in the lines outside of it), as well as on the crowded trolleys, it was as hot as the flames covering Ghost Rider.

Other cool non-comics swag that I recall getting : a blue "The Tick" spoon (aka Spooooooooooooon!") ; a bookmark illustrated by Donna Barr ; a Lynda Carter Wonder Woman face-on-a-stick (for the auction, I guess) ; a gummi candy (I think it was a "gummi brain" ; it gave me a necessary sugar-rush) ; bags, bags, bags (alas neither the HUGE black "Star Wars" bag nor the yellow Dark Horse bag survived the trip, though they lasted quite a long time and held a lot) ; a large reproduction of a page from Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers (on thick cardboard, I think) ; a Wowio t-shirt ; a pink sticker-thing of an octopus holding up a torah scroll that has the word "Chimney" written on it (with Hebrew letters) which I later stuck onto a black display board ; a booklet of bizarre Adult Swim postcards ; "The Making of Free Enterprise" booklet ; exclusive author-read excerpt and Q&A for Eldest (book two in the Inheritance trilogy) ; SW [Star Wars] Action News podcast CD (38 recent episodes) ; ConNotations v.16, #3 June/July 2006 ; Comic-Con International 2006 Souvernir Book

Free Books

The Best of BenBella Books' Smart Pop Series Volume 2

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist (special excerpt)

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (special preview)

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (special excerpt)

Lost Calling by Evelyn Vaughn

Nocturne by Caridad Pineiro (sneak preview)

Rhiana by Michael Hauf

Free Magazines

Animation Magazine Aug. 2006

Bubblemag #1 (2006)

Cinemafantastique special 2006 preview issue

MAD Kids #4 (Aug. 2006)

Previews July 2006

TV Guide for July 24-30 (which just happened to have Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock on the cover)

Write Now! Magazine #13 (Aug. 2006) given to me by Danny Fingeroth after chatting with him prior to the start of the Eisner Awards

non-Jewish comics

Age of Conan : Hyborian Adventures

B.A.B.E. Force : Back to School #1

B.A.B.E. Force : Jurassic Trailer Park #1

Classic Cardinal #2

Codename Ghost (1-page promo)

Conan : The Legend #0

Cryptid

Dark Horse : 20 Years (a collection of pinups)

Flare #1 Nov. 2004

The Guradian Line preview issue

Hellgate London #0

Innies and Outies (1-page promo)

Iron Star

The Legend of Isis #2

Liberty Girl #1

Monster House (signed)

Netcomics Manhwa Sampler

The Night Driver teaser edition (signed)

Pakkins' Land #4

R. H. Stavis' Demons of Mercy #0

Red-E & the Lynnx #1

Renaissance (looks like a comic, but actually just tells about the people involved in the film)

Rush City #0

Shark-Man #1

Sherree's Secret #1

Ted Dekker's Saint : A Graphic Introduction

Visionary Comics Studio Previews 2006

Virgin Comics #0

Woah Mini Comics #1 & #2 (given out to those of us standing in line outside the convention center, waiting to get into the Ghost Rider / Spider-Man 3 session)

Yin Yang Yo! #1


Jewish Comics

I bought Jobnik #1, written by a Jewish American-Israeli-Canadian woman. I suppose I could have asked to pay for it in Canadian dollars, but didn't think of asking, at the time. I might have passed right by the booth, if I hadn't spotted the Hebrew t-shirts ("bikesh shalom ve-rodfehu", which means "seek peace and chase after it"). The comics are autobiographical and mainly show Miriam Libicki's life during her stint in the Israeli army. You can read about Miriam and her comics (and view preview pages) by going to http://www.realgonegirl.com/comix.html. I paid cover price, but forgot to ask her to autograph it for me. I was also given a 4-page reproduction called "jobnik manifesto".
Libicki, Miriam. [Hamas] Jobnik #1 Feb. 2004 (Vancouver : Real Gone Girls).

I bought The Lone & Level Sands graphic novels (i.e. both the color hardcover and the black-&-white paperback). I've been told that the hardcover looks superior to the paperback edition. I forget the total price, but I paid less than the cover price for the 2 combined would have been. mpMann signed both of them for me
Lewis, David A. The Lone and Level Sands (Fort Lee, NJ : ASP Comics, 2005).
Lewis, David A. The Lone and Level Sands (Arlington, VA : Caption Box, 2005).

I bought The Nine Lives of El Gato Crime Mangler at cover price, after author-illustrator Michael Aushenker told me it had a story with Holy Cow Holstein in it, whom he described as Jewish. He signed it for me, as well as a promotional poster for Monsters 4 Justice (a superhero-team comic series). Included in the team's roster is Urban Golem, who is Jewish.
Aushenker, Michael. The Nine Lives of El Gato (LA : El Gato Comics, 2003).

Jalila #1 was given to me for free, as I was heading out of the exhibit hall on Sunday afternoon --- at least 15 minutes after the hall was "officially" closed. I haven't read it yet, but there's a rabbi on the cover (alongside an imam and a priest).
Kandeel, Ayman. "The 6th Terrorist" Jalila #1 March 2006 (Giza, Egypt : AK Comics).

I was given a copy of Smoke & Mirror vol. 1 and Of Bitter Souls vol. 1, while waiting for my plane to board on Tuesday (i.e. 2 days after the convention ended). I was meant to fly back to Toronto via Detroit, but the Detroit flight was cancelled. If it weren't cancelled I might never have met Chuck Satterlee. Chuck realized that I was at the convention when he noticed that I was wearing a Wowio t-shirt (one of the freebies). When I told him about the panel I moderated, he told me that one of the characters in Smoke & Mirror is Jewish and that his adoptive parents were Jewish.
Satterlee, Chuck. Of Bitter Souls Volume 1 : Saints & Sinners (UK : Markosia, 2006).
Satterlee, Chuck. Smoke & Mirror Volume 1 : Time & Time Again (UK : Markosia, 2006).

I was given a copy of the minicomic The Bleeding Tree by its illustrator-adapter Diana Marsh.

I bought The Librarian : Return to King Solomon's Mines 5-page exclusive preview for $1.00. No Jewish content in it at all, but there is an illustration of a book with a Star od David on it on the cover and it's hard for me to pass up any comic that has "Librarian" in the title.

I made a photocopy (for 10 cents, I think) of a cartoon from a Doonesbury digest book that I had picked up during the Toronto Bookcrossing Convention. In the cartoon, Mark Slackmeyer tells his black friend that it will be interesting trying to get him into his father's club since normally you can't get in unless you're descended from one of the guys who came over on the Mayflower. His freind asks how he got in since Mark is Jewish. Mark replies that "We [the Jews} owned the Mayflower."
Trudeau, G.B. The President is a Lot Smarter than You Think (Popular, 1973).

I also made a copy of a one-panel Bizarro cartoon in which a pig is walking into a doorway of a house with another pig. A Hasidic Jew is sitting in a chair and one pig says to the other "It's okay, Ralph. We'll be safe in here."
Piraro, Dan. Bizarro. (San Francisco : Chronicle, 1986), p. 9

In the bookcrossing spirit, I gave away both cartoon books at a room where a panel on the subject of comic strips was to take place.

I bought a copy of Crickets #1 at the D&Q table for the Candian cover price (luckily I still had Canadian cash with me) and got Sammy Harkham to sign it for me.
Harkham, Sammy. "Black Death" Crickets #1 Jan. 2006 (Montreal : Drawn and Quarterly).

I bought The Prophecy #2 for just $1.50 (i.e. 50% off the cover price). That's the kind of bargain one can expect when you wait until 15 minutes after the lady on the loudspeaker yells "The convention is now over. Leave the exhibit hall NOW!"
Kubert, Joe. "The Prophecy Part Two" Sgt. Rock : The Prophecy #2 Apr. 2006 (NY : DC).

I bought a copy of David : The Shepherd's Song and David's Mighty Men at cover price, as I didn't feel sure I would have another chance to buy them. I didn't realize, at the time, that the Mighty Men book contained the story from Mighty Men #1 (which I already owned).
Lepp, Royden. David : The Shepherd's Song Volume 1 (La Mesa, CA : Cross Culture, 2005).
Saltares, Javier. David's Mighty Men : Goliath Sized Edition (La Mesa, CA : Alias, 2005).

I bought one of the last remaining unsold copies of Arsenic Lullaby #12 at the cover price for one reason and ONLY one reason : to be able to read the story with the Pilsbury Doughboy at Auschwitz. When I got home and scanned it, I realized that it was simply a 1-page illustration, not a story. There are stories in the comic, though.
Paszkiewicz, Douglas. "1943 : The Pilsbury Doughboy at Auschwitz" Arseic Lullaby #12 Jan./Feb. 2000 (s.l. : A Silent Comics).

I vaguely recall getting a bargain on the copy of Families of Altered Wars #109 that I bought. I had to sift through a box of the issues of the series in the vendor's longbox to find it, but the cover was hard not to notice once I saw it. It has an illustration of an Israeli jet fighter and a Star of David air force emblem in the background, as well as the storyline title "Wings of David" and a "Save Israel Rebuild Iraq" slogan.
Nomura, Ted. "Raumkrieg Part Five" Families of Altered Wars #109, 1st story June 2003 (San Antonio : Antarctic).

San Diego Comic-Con International Report #1 : Signatures & Sketches

It's been over a month since I returned from SDCCI and I have yet to post any commentary --- until now.

In this first report, I'll just give a quick rundown of the FREE sketches and signatures I picked up. These don't include signatures of stuff I bought at the con (which will be covered in another post).

* Rabbi Simcha Weinstein signed my copy of Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero.

* J.T. Waldman signed my copy of Megillat Esther.

* George Perez, who had already signed my copies of my non-Jewish Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 & #7, signed my copy of Wonder Woman #37.

* Marv Wolfman signed the aforementioned copies of Crisis ... #1 & #7, as well as The Tomb of Dracula #27 and The New Teen Titans #24.

* Peter David signed my copies of The Incredible Hulk #373, #386 & #387.

* Joe Rubinstein signed the aforementioned Hulks (386-387), as well as my copies of issues 1-3 of Mendy and the Golem. He also sketched me a rabbi based on the cover of M&tG #3.

* Judd Winnick signed my copies of Caper (issues 1-4), and sketched a "Happy Rabbi in SD!" for me.

* Brad Meltzer signed a Justice league mini-poster that was being given away at the DC booth

* Douglas Rushkoff sketched an "Adam and Eve in Eden" scene --- even though he's (by his own admission) a much better writer than he is an artist. I wanted him to sign a copy of an issue of Testament, but couldn't find a dealer who had copies to sell.

* Paul Levitz signed my prinout of his 1-page 9/11 story "Tradition"

* Sergio Aragones signed my copies of Testament (he drew the Jonah adaptation) and Fanny Hillman : Memoirs of a Jewish Madam (which led him to remark to nearby Scott Shaw! that he'd wished that Scott never mentioned the book in his "Oddball Comics" column). He also sketched me a rabbi holding a hot dog (kosher, of course).

* Eisner-award-winner Andy Runton signed my copy of the Free Comic Book Day edition of Owly : Breakin' the Ice - a non-Jewish comic, but one of my favorites

* Matt Groening signed my copy of a April 30-May 5, 2006 issue of the Toronto Star Starweek TV Guide which had a cover celebrating the airing of the 350th epdisode of his TV show hit The Simpsons, as well as a copy of Love is Hell (ironically signed to myself and my wife). Matt also sketched a Bart Simpson head for me. For those who have never been to CCI, I should point out that one must be prepared to get in line for a "lottery" for "Bart Bucks" in order to be allowed to get in the (later) line for autographs & sketches from the Simpsons crew.

* David Hedgecock sketched a rabbi for me.

* David Silverman sketched a Krusty the Clown for me (he politely declined to sketch me his rabbi-father Rabbi Krustofsky, though).

Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! launch party

Arie Kaplan's book Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! (Chicago Review Press) comes out in September. Recently, he interviewed some of the most legendary comic book creators in the world -- nay, the universe -- and wrote a book chronicling their lives and careers.

...And now it's time to celebrate. Arie's having a launch party on Monday August 28th, 2006, at 6:15PM at MoCCA (the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) in Manhattan. The address is: MoCCA Gallery, 594 Broadway, Suite 401 (between Houston & Prince).

At the launch party, there'll be a panel discussion on comics featuring Kaplan as well as comics luminaries Jerry Robinson (Batman), Rob Sikoryak (RAW Magazine), and Danny Fingeroth (Spider-Man). The panel will be moderated by entertainment journalist Eddy Friedfeld. A reception will follow, and this event is free and open to the public.

Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! is a book profiling some of the most influential comics creators in history, including Stan Lee (X-Men), Will Eisner (The Spirit), Art Spiegelman (Maus), Kyle Baker (Why I Hate Saturn), Trina Robbins (GoGirl!), Jerry Robinson (Batman), Ho Che Anderson (KING), Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis), Gilbert Hernandez (Love & Rockets), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), and Dwayne McDuffie (Static Shock). Amazing stories of how these artists and writers fell in love with the comics medium and built up their careers are coupled with never-before-disclosed anecdotes and previously unpublished self-portraits that will surprise even the most knowledgeable fans.

The book's wonderful cover art is by MAD contributor Ray Alma. And the back cover is adorned with some really nice blurbs from cartoonists Al Jaffee (MAD) and Peter Kuper (World War Three Illustrated), and comedian Patton Oswalt (TV's "King of Queens").

And feel free to check out a brief blurb about the launch party at the following link to MoCCA's website, and scroll down to "August 28th": http://www.moccany.org/e-mondays.html

Additional information on thr book, plus a link to the book's page on Amazon.com, can be found at the following link: http://www.ariekaplan.com/books.htm

Also, here's a page from the 2006 Chicago Review Press catalogue (PAGE 30) devoted to "Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!": http://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/images/CRPCat.pdf

"Jews and the Graphic Novel" by David Gantz

Not only is this autobiographical-historical overview well-written, it's presented in the comic book format --- most appropriate, since it is about comic books and graphic novels.

The pages may be viewed at http://jbooks.com/common/uploads/graphic_novel/index.html.

Among the specific comics creators whose work is mentioned are : Joe Kubert, Neil Kleid, J.T. Waldman (author-illustrator of Megillat Esther), Will Eisner, Joann Sfar, Al Jaffee and David Gantz hiself.


*****

A special thank you goes to Rabbi Joe Kanofsky of Toronto's Latner Centre for Jewish Knowledge and Heritage for pointing this article out to me.

Jewish graphic novel authors at Harbourfront (Toronto)

from http://sequential.spiltink.org/2006/08/jewish-graphic-novel-authors-at.html

Want to meet some interesting author-illustrators in Toronto during the Labour Day Weekend?

There are 3 presentations on Jewish graphic novels at Harbourfront (2 panels, 1 slide-show lecture) as part of Ashkenaz --- and 2 of them are FREE!

Sept. 3 @1pm : The Story of the Jews with Stan Mack
Marilyn Brewer Community Space
cost : Free

Veteran cartoonist and writer Stan Mack has never used his documentary style of graphic design to better effect than in his stunning Story of the Jews. Through projection of graphics onto a screen accompanied by his lively narration, the book is transformed into a historical drama.

Sept. 3 @5pm : Graphic Lives: Ben Katchor & Bernice Eisenstein
Studio Theatre
Cost : $10.00

Artists and writers Ben Katchor and Bernice Eisenstein both employ graphics in their storytelling. Using multi-media techniques, they will screen illustrations and dramatically evoke the real and imagined events in such acclaimed books as Katchor's The Jew of New York and Eisenstein's I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors.


Sept. 4 @2pm : Illustration, Passion and Memory: Jews and the Graphic Novel with Ben Katchor, Bernice Eisenstein and Stan Mack
Marilyn Brewer Community Space
Cost : Free

A new literary genre is emerging. Called the graphic novel, it haphazardly incorporates memoir and fiction, documentary and fantasy. Though clearly not always a novel, the form always uses illustrations and text, and is intended for adults to enjoy. Pioneered by Will Eisner and Art Spiegelman, the graphic novel has roots -- though not solely -- in Ashkenaz culture. Three of the finest exemplars of this new genre, Ben Katchor, Bernice Eisenstein and Stan Mack, will discuss their contentious relationships to this new, highly visible, form. Is it literature? Art? How will it develop? Join them for a lively discussion.

Truth Justice & the Canadian Way, eh?

If I were a superhero, that would be my motto. I'd fight for truth, justice and the Canadian way.

I have no superpowers or colorful costume, though. I'm not tough enough to stand a chance in a physical fight with the bad guys.

What I can do, though, is point out injustice when I see it. Not just in the literal "violation of criminal statutes" way, but in the broader sense of warning people about wrongdoers and speaking out against the actions of tyrants.

This blog isn't about the larger injustices of the world, though --- things like poverty, war, terrorism. It's a blog about a specific commodity, namely comic books. As far as I've seen, there hasn't really been any wrongdoing in the Canadian comics industry. Technically, the selling of "crime comics" is still illegal, but that's an old law that doesn't get enforced.

The wrongdoing I'd like to address is being committed by a company called Hobbystar Marketing (or, at least, by Aman Gupta who represents Hobbystar).

According to Daryl Collison of 3rd Quadrant Comics, Aman called him to inform Daryl that anyone who exhibited at the Super Fan Comic Book Show would not be allowed to also have a table at the Fan Expo Canada show.

Since the circulation of Daryl's open letter, others in the Toronto comics scene have spoken out against Hobbystar and have asked others to boycott the upcoming Fan Expo show. There's even a blog dedicated to discussion of the topic (allowing both pro- and con- statements, though most of the comments seem to be in favor of the boycott).

If you're in the Toronto area on Labour Day weekend and would like to meet comics celebrities, I would reccommend attending one or more of the graphic novel programs at the Ashkenaz Festival, instead of attending Expo. More details about Ashkenaz in my next post.

Balm in Gilead (Mahrwood Press)

Tampa, Florida, August 13, 2006

Top names in comics & SF join forces to aid Israeli children

Prestige anthology from Mahrwood Press directly benefits children affected
by bombing in northern Israel.

American-Israeli Publisher Mahrwood Press Ltd. has announced a special project to benefit children suffering disruption and more due to the situation in northern
Israel.

Balm in Gilead will be a prestige anthology featuring the top names in
comics and genre literature. All proceeds go directly toward feeding,
clothing and housing children.

Balm in Gilead combines the efforts of Neal Adams, Jon Bogdanove, Dave Cockrum, Jack Dann, Peter David, Colleen Doran, Harvey Jacobs, Jeffrey Jones, Joe Kubert, Stan Lee, William Messner-Loebs, Robin Riggs, Joe Rubinstein, Robert Silverberg and Len Wein. Additional creators will be announced in weeks to come. The anthology will be edited by Clifford Meth.

"We wanted to do something for the kids to give them some joy in a difficult
time," stated Eric Mahr, Publisher and President of Mahrwood Press. "We are
pleased and proud that some of the most respected people in comics and
literature have stepped forward to join this project. Balm in Gilead will
provide desperately needed help to children in northern Israel and the book
itself will be something that Jews, Muslims, Christians will enjoy."

*****

About Mahrwood Press

Mahrwood Press Ltd. founded in 2004, is a privately held company with
offices in Jerusalem, Israel and Tampa, Florida. The company publishes
visual publications and prose literature for the English, Hebrew, Spanish
and French languages. For more information please visit
Marhwood Press' website. Or email info@mahrwoodpress.com.

18 Reasons to Attend Comic-Con International (San Diego)

18 Reasons to Attend Comic-Con International (San Diego)

For info on the con, please go to http://www.comic-con/cci/

(1) Sunday afternoon panel on "The Jewish Side of Comics"
(a) JT Waldman (Megillat Esther)
(b) Rabbi Simcha Weinstein (Up Up and Oy Vey : How
Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic
Book Superhero)
(c) Danny Fingeroth (Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews,
Comics and the Creation of the Superhero)
(d) Marv Wolfman (Homeland : The Illustrated History of the State of Israel)
(e) Steven M. Bergson (jewishcomics.blogspot.com), moderator

(2) The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar is nominated for 3 Eisner awards (Friday night)

Guests will include :

(3) J. Michael Straczynski (Rising Stars #16 -
synopsis at
http://worldsofjms.com/rs/synopses/rs_syn16.htm ;
Spider-Man #502 - character sketch of Leo Zelinsky at
http://www.spiderfan.org/characters/leo_zelinsky.html)

(4) Sergio Aragones (adaptation of "Jonah" in
Testament ; illustrator of Fanny Hillman : Memoirs of
a Jewish Madam)

(5) Peter David (who infamously used the names of
seder plate items for aliens in a Star Trek novel and
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)

(6) Ernie Colon (illustrator of Mendy and the Golem)

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

(8) Judd Winnick (Caper miniseries - see
http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/caper1.htm)

(9) Jimmy Palmiotti (writer on the series Monolith -
see
http://www.thefourthrail.com/features/1203/monolith.shtml)

(10) Douglas Rushkoff (Testament - see
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=5891)

(11) Mark Evanier (wrote a "Crossfire" story involving a Holocaust survivor who tries to kill a suspected Nazi war criminal)

(12) Neal Adams (illustrator of "The Adventures of
Zimmerman" and "Son O' God", which appeared in the
pages of National Lampoon)

(13) Len Wein (writer of the golem story in Strange
Tales #174 - see
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/golem1.htm)

(14) Paul Levitz (author of the 1-page 9/11 story
"Tradition" in DC Comics' 9-11 September 11th 2001 - see
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/911/images/01905v.jpg)

Pilgrimage : Two Weeks in G-d's Country, a mini-comic by Neil Kleid

Since I don't have a copy yet (having only just noticed it at the bottom of Neil's Rant Comics website), all I can present you with is the website description :

PILGRIMAGE, an illustrated travel journal, documents thoughts and musings upon the author's return to his homeland of Israel after seven years. In the spirit of Craig Thompson's Carnet de Voyage and Josh Neufeld's A Few Perfect Hours, Pilgrimage arms readers with sketchbooks,and anticipation as they walk G-d's Country alongside one of its long-missed sons

Migdal David sample pages

Brownsville and "Shomer Negiah" author Neil Kleid has released the first 12 (13?) pages of Migdal David online at the Seraphic Secret website. Personally, I predict it will be one of 2007's shining stars of Jewish graphic storytelling.

Criminal Macabre: Feat of Clay (golem comic)

from The Comic Brief (CBR News) :

STEVE NILES’ "CRIMINAL MACABRE" RETURNS TO DARK HORSE IN SPECIAL ONE-SHOT!
by Jonah Weiland, Executive Producer
Posted: March 29, 2006
Official Press Release

He’s ba-aaaack! Cal McDonald—the hair-triggered, smart ass, tough guy, private dick- monster hunter comes back to Dark Horse this month, and he’s brought his strangest nemesis with him.

Horror maestro Steve Niles collaborated with fantastic artist Kyle Hotz (Marvel’s Manthing, Dark Horse’s Billy the Kid ) to bring to vivid, spooky life Cal’s first-ever encounter with a real-deal golem. From the folklore of Jewish mysticism, the earthy homunculus is given shape and purpose by a grief-stricken father, out to exact vengeance on the man who attacked his daughter. In a bizarre twist of fate, the golem is loosed on the world with no master and only one known purpose—to kill! Cal’s gotta do whatever it takes to stop this marauding hunk of clay from a pointless killing spree or . . . or, there’s gonna be a pointless killing spree!

Criminal Macabre: Feat of Clay features story by Steve Niles with art by Kyle Hotz. This special one-shot arrives on sale May 31 with a retail price of $2.99.

review of Brownsville

One of the books reviewed by Greg at Comics Should Be Good on 9th was Neil Kleid's Brownsville :

The high concept of Brownsville is "Jewish gangsters of the 1930s." We tend to think of gangsters as Italian, but in Brooklyn and parts of Manhattan in the 1930s the Jews ran things, and Kleid and Allen do a great job of bringing this forgotten world to life. They focus mainly on Albert Tannenbaum, who begins like a lot of youngsters, in awe of the riches and power of the local gangsters and is looking for a way to rebel against his father. He starts small, as usual, but eventually gets in tight with the gangsters and the bosses, including Louis Buchalter. The book is about his rise and fall, but also the rise and fall of organized crime in New York, as it spans the decade of the 1930s and shows the violence these men were willing to commit and the consequences of their actions.

It's not the most original idea, but it is interesting to see it from a Jewish perspective. The book is full of historical figures and what I can only assume is factual data, and Kleid keeps everything humming along, showing what these men do and how they eventually sell each other out. There is no honor here, only looking out for themselves, which is an interesting counterpoint to the myth of the Mob. Allie, especially, is a fascinating character, as he never quite seems to fit in with the gang, even when he's committing murder. He's very much a man who yearns for his father's approval, even after he rejects everything his father stands for. In the last act of the book, when he has been arrested and must choose whether to testify against his former employers, it is his family and the reminder that you can be someone in this world even if you're not rich and powerful that pushes him to his choice. It's an interesting arc for the character.

The art is stark and powerful. Each character looks vaguely the same, but Allen still manages to give them each a distinctive look. The cast is very big, and only once or twice did I have trouble keeping track of who was who based on what they looked like. After some initial confusion, it was easy to identify each person even though they were all dressed alike and were drawn in similar fashion. Allen evokes the time period very nicely, and the book (in black and white) is a pleasure to look at.

One of the few complaints I had about the book is its lack of Jewishness, for want of a better word. Very rarely does Kleid show how these gangsters were so different from Italians. It would have been interesting to see more of a contrast between the Catholic Mob and the Jewish one. He delves into it late in the book, and it made the characters even more interesting, so it was disappointing he didn't do it sooner. After all, we think of gangsters as good Catholics, getting their babies christened while their underlings gun down competitors, and although I wouldn't have wanted Kleid to dip into those sorts of clichés, it would have been nice to see the religious aspect of these men (if it existed) fleshed out a little more.