Book of Esther comic art exhibit & Waldman appearance at Limmud Philadelphia

According to the ComicsDC blog, the Jewish Museum of Maryland (Herbert Bearman Campus, 15 Lloyd St., Baltimore) will be hosting an exhibition of pages from JT Waldman's graphic novel adaptation Megillat Esther. There will be a preview on March 5th, from 8-11 PM and the exhibition will run from March 8th to July 26th.

This Sunday, JT will be one of the guest speakers at LimmudPhilly, taking place in Classroom 404 at the Gershman Y in Philadelphia, PA, 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM. His session, entitled "Make Your Own Comix Midrash" is described below.

Explore the topic of Midrash. How does this ancient process and body of work relate to us today? How does the show and tell quality of comics make it an ideal medium to discover personal connections to Jewish text, folklore and holidays? Following a lively presentation of the topic of Midrash and the Jewish connections within the comic book industry, participants will create their own mini-Midrash comics about familiar biblical or historical characters. No artistic experience required. All levels welcome!

Neil Kleid at NYCC

Here's one more "Jewish" reason to attend this year's New York Comic Con - Neil Kleid (Xeric award-winning author / illustrator of Stable Rods, "Shomer Negiah", Pilgrimage : Two Weeks in G-d's Country, the graphic novel Brownsville, as well as the forthcoming Migdal David and The Big Khan) will be in attendance. Details below.

He's written that he has one or two things to announce. If you have a chance during the convention, please swing by to say hello.

Here’s where you’ll find him:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH:

11AM-1PM: NBM Publishing (Booth 1713)
2-3PM: Image Comics (Booth 1403)
3-5PM: NBM Publishing (Booth 1713)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH:

Meetings and general walking around, saying hello to pals.

SUNDAY:

10-11AM: NBM Publishing (Booth 1713)
11AM-12PM: Image Comics (Booth 1403)
3-5PM: NBM Publishing (Booth 1713)

42 Jewish Reasons to Attend NYCC 2009

Next weekend, the New York Comic Con will take place in Manhattan. You may go to the official website using the link in the last sentence to get all the details about guests and programming.

Below, I am highlighting "Jewish" sessions and guests who are Jewish &/or who have helped create "Jewish" comics.

(1) Sunday 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM, Rm. 1A18
Jews and Comics: A Cottage Industry
In the past few years, there have been multiple books dealing with Jews and their role in the creation of the comics industry. Could this be because, as we lose more and more of the Greatest (Comics) Generation, there is a collective need to understand the roots, ethnic and otherwise, of the medium? Authors

(2) Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comics),

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

(4) Simcha Weinstein (Up, Up, and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped The Comicbook Superhero) and comics creators

(5) Al Jaffee (Mad magazine) and

(6) Jerry Robinson (Batman) discuss the rise of interest in the Jewish side of comics. Moderated by David Hajdu (The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America).

(7) Saturday 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM Rm. 1A23
Jerry Robinson Spotlight
Jerry Robinson created the infamous Joker and played a vital role in the development of legendary Batman characters Robin, Alfred, and Penguin. His vast body of work spans 30 years as an internationally-syndicated political cartoonist, 30 books, and numerous exhibitions (including The Superhero, now on world tour, and Human Rights for the United Nations). Robinson’s honors include the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement and the Eisner Hall of Fame.

(8) Saturday 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Rm. 1A14
Joe Simon Spotlight: The Secret Origins of the Comic Book World
Joe Simon worked alongside the titans — Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, C.C. Beck, Jack Schiff, and Martin Goodman to name but a few. He was Marvel’s very first editor and hired youngsters like Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. His credits include million-sellers such as Captain America, Boy Commandos, Sandman, Young Romance, Black Magic, Police Trap, Fighting American, Boy’s Ranch, and SICK! Joe produced comics for the US military, was singled out for investigation by the Kefauver Committee, and was picketed by the Nazis. Stan Lee said, “Lucky for me, when I entered comics, Joe Simon was my mentor. In script, art, and editing, he was the master.” Come learn the details of the exciting new Simon and Kirby Library, coming from Titan Books later this year, and ask Joe yourself what it was like being there at the origin of the comic book world.

(9) Saturday 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Rm. 1A17
Twisted Toyfare Theatre: Behind the Stupidity
Join the writers of ToyFare Magazine’s satirical comic strip Twisted ToyFare Theatre for an inside look at how they get toys into all those compromising positions. Ask questions, watch TTT animations, and answer TTT trivia for a chance to win prizes! Brought to you by the editorial staff at ToyFare Magazine and Wizard Entertainment!
[Blogmaster's note : Among the TTT stories is "Seder-Masochism" showing a Passover seder attended by superheroes and other action figures.]

(10) Sunday 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Rm. 1A21
Who Owns Comics? Superman on Trial
A judge has awarded the family of Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel co-ownership of Action #1. This panel will examine the behind-the-scenes history of this landmark case and discuss means for the future of Superman, comics and creators' rights and discuss its relation to other comics-related intellectual property issues, such as the creators' rights movement, the Watchmen case and the Holocaust art of Dina Babbitt.

(11) Sunday 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM Rm. 1A17
Lilly Renee Phillips Spotlight
Lily Renee Phillips was one of the pioneer women cartoonists in the Golden Age of Comics, working primarily for Fiction House publishers. Fleeing Nazi Germany to America as a child, she went on to draw covers and such features as The Lost World, Senorita Rio, and Werewolf Hunters for Planet Comics, Rangers Comics, and Fight Comics. With her then-husband Eric Peters, she also drew covers and interior stories for a number of Abbott & Costello Comics. Phillips talks about her amazing life and career with Heidi MacDonald (The Beat).

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

(13) Dick Ayers (illustrator of "Lonely Are the Brave" in Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen #2, in which the titular heroes liberate a concentration camp)

(14) Kyle Baker (author-illustrator of the King David graphic novel from Vertigo, as well as a funny 1-page cartoon in his Kyle Baker : Cartoonist TPB in which a Jewish Cinderella has a mishap under the chuppah)

(15) Chris Claremont (who introduced the Jewish character Kitty Pryde [aka Shadowcat]& who wrote stories which implied that Magneto was Jewish, both in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men)

(16) Peter David (who infamously used the names of seder plate items for aliens in a Star Trek novel and who wrote the stories for The Incredible Hulk #386-387 ; see
http://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-386.html and http://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-387.html)

(17) J.M. DeMatteis (author of The Compleat Moonshadow, the "Greenberg the Vampire" story in Bizarre Adventures #29 and the Greenberg the Vampire graphic novel, as well as a bunch of other Jewish-content stories, e.g. "Bernie America, Sentinel of Liberty", "Death Camp", and "Yesterday's Shadows")

(18) Colleen Doran (illustrator of a one-page illustration in The Death Gallery, in which Death is at a concentration camp)

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

(20) Dan Goldman (author-illustrator of a short piece titled "Schmear", which he describes as "Jewish porn", since it takes place in the backroom of a Brooklyn bagel shop. The story appeared in Smut Peddler #2). In all fairness, Dan's done other - & better-known - stories (e.g. Shooting War) but "Schmear" is the only "Jewish" work of his that I've seen.

(21) Peter Gross (arist for issues of the series Hellstorm: Prince of Lies which had the character Rabbi Avram Siegel)

(22) Dean Haspiel (illustrator of the Harvey Pekar graphic autobiography The Quitter, as well as several shorter Pekar stories)

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

(24) Joe Kubert (author-illustrator of the graphic novels Jew Gangster and Yossel : April 19, 1943, as well as the Sgt. Rock : The Prophecy miniseries)

(25) Peter Kuper (author-illustrator of the short biographical story "Promised Land" in Bleeding Heart #2, as well as the book-length autobiographical Stop Forgetting to Remember : The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz)

(26) Scott Kurtz (author-illustrator of PVP, the Eisner-award-winning online comic strip which in 2006 made a joke about the Superman Returns movie being "a Jewish conspiracy to convince Christians that Jesus was gay")

(27) Ted McKeever (illustrator of the 4-issue Doom Patrol story "Imagine Ari's Friend", which featured the characters Reb Chaim, Joseph Della Reina and Isaac Luria)

(28) Peter Milligan (author of the Vertigo series The Minx which featured Jewish youth Anna Schwarz)

(29) Steve Murphy (author of the story "Kaddish" in Tales of the TMNT #10)

(30) Josh Neufeld (author of the graphic memoir A Few Perfect Hours, in which he compares a Balinese cremation ceremony with his [Jewish] grandmother's funeral)

(31) Steve Niles (author of Criminal Macabre: Feat of Clay)

(32) Jerry Ordway (illustrator of an issue of Superman in which he went to the Warsaw Ghetto, as well as an All-Star Squadron story in which Steel ended up in a Nazi death camp)

(33) Greg Pak (illustrator of the X-Men : Magneto : Testament miniseries)

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

(35) George Perez (illustrator of Wonder Woman #37 and #38 which had the character Rabbi Benjamin Hecht.

(36) Josef Rubinstein (an illustrator of the 2nd Mendy & the Golem series and contributor to both Journeys : The Collected Edition and Balm in Gilead)

(37) Louise Simonson (co-author of issues of a Superman storyline in which Superman went to the Warsaw Ghetto)

(38) Art Spiegelman (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Maus and one of the main characters in the online story "The Night I Met Art Spiegelman")

(39) J. Michael Straczynski (author of the Amazing Spider-Man story "You Want Pants with That?" and the Rising Stars story "Selah")

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

(41) G. Willow Wilson (author of the graphic novel Cairo)

(42) Marv Wolfman (author of the stories in The Tomb of Dracula #27, The New Teen Titans #24 and the graphic history Homeland : The Illustrated History of the State of Israel)

new title which may not have anything to do with Jews or comics or Jewish comics

Long-time readers of this blog know that one of the rules of my blog is that posts must be relevant to the subject of the blog which is basically "comic books, comic strips, and graphic novels which have at least one identifiably Jewish character in them".

It is rare that I will allow a post which is off-topic.

However, since I'm the moderator of said blog ... I can actually do whatever the heck I want with it (subject to Blogger's rules of conduct, of course).

And, hey, there's the possibility of a free book if I do this properly & quickly. And - as my friends well know - it's hard for me to pass up a free book. That's partly why I joined Bookcrossing.

For the sake of this post, I will stretch the rule a bit and include posts that manage to contain both a "Jewish" term and a comic reference. I'm excluding this introductory section you've just read (that would be too easy, wouldn't it?).

****

A few minutes ago, I was scanning the status area of Facebook to see what my Facebook friends are up to. Lo, and behold, I notice a cool "status" for my friend Saul Colt. For those who don't know him, Mr. Colt is a highly-connected guy (just look at all the Facebook and LinkedIn connections the guy has (500+? I don't think I even know 500 people!).

Long-time readers with good memories may remember that Saul is also the author & illustrator of an upcoming graphic novel simply titled Rope, which has the character Robin Goldman, described as "a young very pretty Jewish looking woman with thick curly hair and has her police badge clipped to her costume." I'd tell you more about the character ... or the plot ... or the themes ... or when the darned thing will be on the shelves ... but I'm limited to what Saul will actually tell me. Which is ... not very much, at the moment.

See? I've already used "Jewish" and "graphic novel" and my post isn't even done yet. But that was too easy, I'll throw in some more below.

So ... Saul's newest "status" reads "My friend and fashion mentor Andy Nulman is giving away 200 free copies of his new book. I read it and loved so jump in".

I followed his hyperlink to http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/pow_right_between_the_eye/2009/01/200-free-pow-booksan-offer-you-cant-refuse.html and, as it turns out, all one has to do is be one of the first 200 bloggers to post about the book with a hyperlink (the one I just used) and a valid mailing address.

I wonder how many other Bookcrossers will try for a copy.

So ... the main title of the book is POW! Right Between the Eyes! How refreshing it is to see a book with the well-known comic book sound effect "POW!" (and it has the stylistic comic book font to go with it) even though the book itself has nothing to do with comic books. It's a buiness book (the subtitle is Profiting from the Power of Surprise).

Hmmm ... I also see that the author's name is Andy Nulman. You know the joke about how most people whose names end with "-man" are Jewish. I don't know if that is the case with Andy or not.

Whether or not he is a member of the tribe, I'm sure that the book is worth a look and I look forward to receiving my copy at :

UJA-Research
4600 Bathurst St., 3rd Floor
Toronto, ON
M2K 3B9

Comics and the American Jewish Dream - YIVO series

The YIVO Institute presents one-on-one interviews with three comics titans, whose work has had seismic effects on the general culture.

Al JAFFEE, JULES FEIFFER, and HARVEY PEKAR will be interviewed by comics writer and critic DANNY FINGEROTH.

YIVO’s “Comics and the American Jewish Dream” series kicks off WEDS. JAN 21 at 7:00 pm with:

“The MAD, MAD, MAD (Jewish) World of AL JAFFEE”

A graduate of New York’s High School of Art and Design, JAFFEE worked as an editor, writer and artist for Stan Lee at Timely (later Marvel) Comics during the 1940s. In 1955, Jaffee joined “the Usual Gang of Idiots” at MAD Magazine, where he’s been a mainstay ever since, entertaining generations with his Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and Mad Fold-Ins. Join us as JAFFEE provides snappy answers to provocative questions about his art and life, including his new book, Tall Tales (Abrams).

About Danny Fingeroth:
Series curator and moderator DANNY FINGEROTH, a longtime writer and editor at Marvel Comics, has spoken about comics at the Smithsonian Institution and The New School. He’s the author of Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero (Continuum) and The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels (Penguin).

Wednesday, January 21, 7:00
The YIVO Institute For Jewish Research

15 West 16th Street / New York, NY 10011

Series Continues With
JULES FEIFFER: Tuesday, February 3, 7:00 P.M.
HARVEY PEKAR: Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 P.M.

ADMISSION TO PROGRAMS: $25 / YIVO members: $18 / students: $12
FOR TICKETS: Call 212-868-4444 or visit WWW.SMARTTIX.COM
FOR MORE INFO VISIT www.yivo.org

Boys of Steel: The Jewish Origins of Superman - Tue., Jan. 13th @ 8:15 PM

Superman thundered into existence in 1934, the product of two Jewish teens (Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) creating a character who was everything they were not. Marc Tyler Nobleman - author of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, the first-ever illustrated biography on the superhero genre and the rise of comic books - shares secrets and rare, unpublished photos about the creation of the world’s first comic book superhero.

Location: 92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY

Price: $27.00

There's a Comicology.TV interview with Nobleman on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrbQ6R9yhUQ.

Spiralmind series launch - Saturday, 12-4 PM

Tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 10th, from noon until 4 PM, Ben Perez and Matt Rothblatt will be at All Star Comics (4406 Dyer St., El Paso, TX) for the long-awaited official launch of their comic book series Spirlamind.

As you may recall from previous posts, one of the important characters in the series is Rabbi Rotblatt. As one can tell from the preview pages, Rabbi Rotblatt is an Orthodox rabbi, the type of Jew who tries to observe all of the Jewish commandments to the best of his ability. He's the type of rabbi who would never think twice about violating the holy Sabbath unless doing so would help save a life. The type of rabbi who wouldn't, e.g. drive to a comic shop on a Saturday afternoon &/or purchase comics on a Saturday afternoon. But I digress.

Last month, El Paso Magazine published an article about the creation of the comic book series and its creators. The article may also be found online at http://epmediagroup.com/culture/408-an-el-paso-hero-is-born.

Here's an excerpt :

The idea came to me when I was at UTEP studying for my engineering degree,” says Perez. He tells of a fateful day four years ago, when he took a break during finals and went into a comic store for diversion. “I watched as a little kid asked the owner what it took to make a comic of his own and it sparked something in me that made me want to do it myself,” he recalls. Rattling off a very early version of the Spiralmind concept to Rothblatt, the partnership was sealed.

Rothblatt in turn called on Joaquin Silva, a co-worker at White Sands whom he knew had artistic experience. Turns out that experience was more valuable than was realized: Silva had formerly worked on animation for The Tick and lent that expertise to the nascent Spiralmind on everything from sequential art to character motion. The trio fleshed out every detail they could think of for their main character in great depth, covering who he was, who he was fighting, why he was fighting, what his background was, the weaponry he’d have at his disposal, and much more. Inspiration was taken from Batman, Spawn, and Daredevil combined with the styles of Frank Miller and H.P. Lovecraft to give Spiralmind a dark and mystical feel.

Both test engineers at White Sands, Perez and Rothblatt aren’t stereotypical comic book geeks. They represent the much broader audience for comics that exists and has been consistently (and successfully) tapped into via the adaptation of comic books into films. Spiralmind itself has the flare of more wide-ranging entertainment with appeal to anybody and everybody, both casual readers and big enthusiasts, with its combination of visual and verbal storytelling. As proven by Perez and Rothblatt’s gumption, the inspiration that birthed the character as well as the methods undertaken to produce a full-fledged comic are accessible to all.

The article also has 6 preview pages from the first issue as well as a color reproduction of its cover.

Stan Goldberg at MOCCA tonight - 8 PM

Archie Comics legend, Stan Goldberg, will be speaking at MoCCA, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, tonight, January 8th!

Stan is also known as the artist of the revamped Mendy and the Golem series.

Stan will be at MoCCA starting at 8:00 PM to talk about Archie Comics. Stan will share samples of his work and speak about his 50+ years in the industry, which includes a longstanding freelance career with Archie Comics, working with Stan Lee at Marvel, and freelancing for such companies/publications as DC Comics, National Lampoon, Child, Redbook, Seventeen, Working Woman, and many others. Bring questions to ask and snacks to share for this casual evening with a wonderful cartoonist and delightful individual.

Stan’s appearance is in conjunction with the exhibit “From Richie Rich to Wendy the Witch: The Art of Harvey Comic” that began December 18, 2008 and runs through March 15, 2009. Anyone interested in attending can contact MoCCA at

MoCCA
594 Broadway, Suite 401
New York, NY 10012
Tel. 212-254-3511
Fax 212-254-3590
Email info@moccany.org

Also in attendance will be Chari Pere, best known for her calendar - A Yearly Shpritz of Jewish Bits.

The Cartoonist Roundtable meetings are held at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. They feature guest speakers that address the crowd over snacks and drinks. The meetings are FREE for MoCCA members and a $5 donation for non-MoCCA members. All proceeds will go to the MoCCA operations and programming. To join the Cartoonist Roundtable's bi-monthly newsletter, "THE SQUIB!"? Please send an e-mail to Margo & Chari at: CartoonistRoundtable@gmail.com.

Spiralmind #1 - followup post

I was a bit hasty with my last post, in which I referred readers to Ka-Blam! While Ka-Blam! is the printer, the comics it prints are sold via IndyPlanet. The specific page for Spiralmind #1 is http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1560&osCsid=fe6458b427de0281d8422dfbab2d7632

Below is the issue description from that page :

On the day of his Bar Mitzvah, twelve year old Ben Landry is witness to his mother's brutal exorcism. In a bizarre and strange ritual foreign to him, young Ben watches as his only living parent struggles to survive the demons that possess her and the exorcism at the hands of Rabbi Solomon Rotblatt and Father Tom O'Brien. Ben's future is determined in this moment of horror. His youth has disappeared, and he is left under the care of his teacher, mentor, and friend Rabbi Rotblatt to guide him toward adulthood. Grown up, Ben Landry is caught between a normal life as an electrical engineer and the protector of humanity. Behind the enlightened guise of Spiralmind, Ben is able to manipulate Phi, the Golden Ratio. While Spiralmind comprehends his true purpose and power, the Occult throughout the city of Nineveh has revealed its malevolent plan for mankind.

The page also has a 6-page preview, the first of which I'm presenting below.

Spiralmind #1

Spiralmind issue #1 "Rabbi's Lament" will be out by 10 January 2009. To
purchase a copy online, visit comixpress or ka-blam. More information when it's available. Please stay tuned!

Published by Phi3 Comics.

Finally! Jewish Hero Corps #2

Just in time for Chanukah:
Issue #2 of Jewish Hero Corps has finally arrived!

"The Secret of The Solar Succah" is available now at:
http://www.indyplanet.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1320&osCsid=4a6e739d7280559156ad37b0b7359fc3

A radiation-ridden asteroid heading for Earth can only be stopped by a vintage 1955 solar-powered, succah-shaped force-field, whose components were camouflaged and hidden in important Jewish historic spots across the globe decades ago.

In a race against time, The Jewish Hero Corps follows clues to track down where their predecessors hid the devices more than half a century ago.

After Chanukah, it will ALSO be available at the Jewish Hero Corps'
Web site - http://www.jewishsupers.com

The Jewish Hero Corps, the world's only Jewish superhero team, fights
for truth and justice, and against ignorance. Charter members Magen
David, Menorah Man, Dreidel Meidel, and Minyan Man, have recruited
Shabbos Queen, Matzah Woman and Kipa Kid ... and the adventures have
only begun!

Happy Hanukkah!!! - recent (& not-so-recent) Chanukah comics

Tonight will be the 5th night of Chanukah, but today's only the 4th day. Therefore, I've only let half the holiday slip by before posting my annual roundup of Hanukkah comic strips and Chanukah stories in comic books.

As my Hanukkah gift to my loyal readers, I'm using up a chunk of my image file allotment to present graphics in this post. Enjoy!

First up is Hillary Price's Rhymes with Orange, which may by found online at http://www.rhymeswithorange.com/index.php?date=20081222

Last year, the "erev Christmas" / Xmas Eve Off the Mark comic strip by Mark Parisi presented us with Extreme Dreidel.

Although there is no new Hanukkah strip from Mark this year, he has placed all of his Chanukah comic strips at a single online location for your convenience : http://www.offthemark.com/search-results/key/hanukkah/

I only learned about the delightful comic strip The Pajama Diaries by Terri Libenson, which is about a Jewish family, earlier this year.

Last year, Hanukkkah came out earlier and Terry used that fact in her cartoon.

Another cartoon Terry did had to do with the way that Jewish kids' lunches can seem strange to their Gentile classmates.

I love this one about explaining to Jewish children that Jews - young & old - don't believe in Santa Claus.

As Terry wrote in her blog "I was careful to tread lightly around the existence of certain major December holiday character".

The 2 above cartoons were from December 2006.

Last January (Jan. 5th, 2007), Level 99 by 2 guys (only known as "Race" and "Arlo") showed us how useful a Jewish shopper can become for a desperate Saint Nick.

http://www.level99comic.com/item/292

Back in 2002, in the webcomic White Bread and Toast, White Bread complained about not getting any Hanukkah gifts.

http://www.whitebreadandtoast.com/comics/toast391.gif

For Xmas Eve 2003, Ryan Sohmer & Chad William Porter presented a holiday strip in which the main protagonist (Rayne) wishes the readers a Merry Xmas ... while tied to a giant cross. That doesn't seem to have Jewish content. However, after being told that he's likely offended 2/3 of their readers, Rayne (an equal opportunity offender) decides to offend the other third by holding their religious symbols in his hand (including a Star of David).

http://www.leasticoulddo.com/index2.php?date=20031224

In 2005, "Enigma" shared his idea for "the first truly multi-denominational holiday symbol" in his webcomic Filthy Lies!. Alas, I haven't found it in any holiday catalogs yet.

http://www.filthylies.net/d/20050119.html

Last December, Jewcy published a 1-page comic critical of the Maccabees and noting the reluctance of Jewish leaders to recognize the holiday. It was co-written by ever-controversial cartoonist Eli Valley & "cranky blogger" David Kelsey titled "The Festival of Lights". The comic - and comments it generated from visitors to the site - may be found at http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-12-04/eli_valley_hanukkah

I'd explain the following Ramp Rats comic strip by Elene Steier entitled "A Mothra Hanukkah", but it's probably best to let the reader enjoy it (or not) and interpret it as they see fit (or not).
http://striporama.com/ramprats/mothra_Hanukkah_2003.jpg

Meanwhile, Patty & Terry Laban are running their annual 8-day Chanukah comic strip marathon. Unlike last year, there is no ongoing storyline and the special menorah introduced last year is nowhere to be found. This year's theme is "You know it's Hanukkah when ..."

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081221&name=Edge_City

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081222&name=Edge_City

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081223&name=Edge_City

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081224&name=Edge_City

The remaining cartoons may be viewed - over the course of the next four days - by clicking on the following four links :

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081225&name=Edge_City

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081226&name=Edge_City

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081227&name=Edge_City

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081228&name=Edge_City

The comic book world has also been recognizing the Jewish festival of lights.

This year's issue of The Simpsons Winter Wing Ding (issue #3, to be exact) includes a story by Arie Kaplan (erroneously credited as "Ari Kaplan") entitled "Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature was Stirring". In this story, Jewish show biz celebrity Krusty the Clown tries to create a Hanukkah mascot.

This isn't the first time a Simpsons anthology has contained a Chanukah story.
In 2006, The Simpsons Winter Wing Ding #1 included the story "The Gift of the Maccabees" written by Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer. That story had a Krusty flashback to Las Vegas in 1963.

The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger published in 2004 included the story "Con-Nukah!", in which Bart Simpson made the (temporary) decision to become Jewish - for the eight days of presents that he'd be entitled to during Hanukkah, of course.

The story is summarized well by Mark I. Pinsky in an online excerpt from the book The Gospel According to the Simpsons :

At Hanukkah, he [Bart] learns from a Jewish friend about the eight nights and eight gifts, and naturally Bart decides to convert, noting the additional benefit of holidays off school. Homer asks if his son is certain he wants to “abandon the faith you happened to be born into,” the reason most people worship where they do. Bart, now wearing a skullcap all the time, replies that he’d rather be on Krusty’s team than the Flanderses’. Following the sometimes traditional practice for those who want to convert to Judaism, Rabbi Krustofski turns Bart down several times — to be certain he is serious — before agreeing to take him on for classes. Bart argues that if he became Jewish, he’d be a “trash-talkin’ Spiky-haired Seinfeld with a Fox attitude.” Even so, the rabbi is unconvinced, predicting the boy would not like the religion because “so much Judaism is like opera, the Lincoln Douglas debates, and the Atkins Diet, all rolled into one.” Bart is plainly in it for the toys, which his parents supply each night of the holiday (along with gingerbread rabbis), but sister Lisa is optimistic that her brother may be undergoing a spiritual awakening. Her gift, after lighting the menorah, is a book about Jewish history, humor, and “food-oriented Yiddish phrases” that Bart uses as a TV tray, holding Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda and lowcarb hamentaschen. The boy also announces he can’t do chores around the house on Saturdays because he has become a strict Sabbath observer. As a convert to Buddhism, Lisa despairs at her brother’s antics. “I thought we finally had something in common,” she says. “That we followed our hearts because of what we believe in. But as usual, the only thing you believe in is self-gratification.” In the end, Bart spends enough time with the rabbi to make the right decision and not convert. “Love the religion,” he confesses to Lisa, “but, oy . . . I can’t handle the guilt.”

In the latest issue of Super Friends (#10), in the story "Season of Light" written by Sholly Fisch, the superheroes visit the Wayne Foundation Community Center, where the children are celebrating all of the Winter holidays together. In one panel, Batman helps Moshe to put the candles in the Hanukkah menorah.

However , Dr. Light tries to steal the celebration lights.

According to Shirala's website, her Hanukkah CD comes with a comic.
Check it out for yourself by going to http://shirlala.com/index.php/recordings

I have 2 "leads" for comics which may exist &/or may have Hanukkah content in them.

The first comes from Mike Lynch, who wrote at http://alwiseman.com/2006/06/al-wiseman-appreciation-by-mike-lynch.html
"I learned about Jewish people via Dennis. In one Christmas Special there was a substitute milkman during the holidays and Dennis rode on the milk truck with him and his son. They explained that they were Jews and the regular milkman wanted Christmas off and they, you see, celebrated Hanukkah instead of Christmas, etc. They told Dennis about their religion. It was news to me. What can I say? We lived in a small town!"
It's a bit unclear to me if Lynch is referring to a Dennis the Menace TV special or a comic book special. If he is referring to a comic book, I don't know which one and would welcome input from anyone who knows about such a comic.

The latest issue of DCU Holiday Special (2008) has a story in which Dr. Light aids with the Festival of Lights. However, I'm not 100% certain the "Festival of Lights" being referred to is Hanukkah.

I'll conclude this long Hanukkah post by referring readers to the blog post / Hanukkah sermon of Rabbi Simcha Weinstein (aka the Comic Book Rabbi). In his post Chanukah: A Time For Superheroes, the rabbi makes reference to the 1993 Marvel Comics Holiday story (by Peter David) in which Doc Samson spices up the Hanukkah story by inserting Marvel superhero and supervillain characters. Weinstein concludes that "being a teacher isn’t easy. And teachers are today’s real heroes. They remind us that the great people of our past, like the Maccabees, did remarkable things and won amazing victories while armed with little more than their faith. If they could do it, imagine what we can accomplish. Even without long green hair and red spandex tights."

The Comic Book Rabbi Comes to Toronto - Tues., Dec. 14, 8:00 PM

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein, author of Up Up & Oy Vey : How Jewish History Culture & Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero will be appearing at Chabad @ Flamingo for a public lecture, followed by a Q & A with the author, who will be on hand to meet greet, and sign copies of his book.

Some of Simcha Weinstein's earliest memories involve comic books, superheroes and (the now valuable) vintage Batman and Superman toys. His hobby inspired him to study film and eventually pursue a career in film production.

Following a life-altering paradigm shift, Simcha became a Torah observant Jew and was eventually ordained as a Rabbi. He is the founder of the downtown Brooklyn Jewish Student Foundation, and he serves as the Rabbi of the Pratt Institute and the Long Island College Hospital.

Rabbi Weinstein is a witty, entertaining and sought-after public speaker who has lectured across North America and has appeared on CNN, NPR and WNBC. Vist his website www.rabbisimcha.com to learn more about him.

Miriam Libicki in Seattle tonight - comic book reading and discussion

Today, Miriam Libicki (author-illustrator of the jobnik! series, the first volume of which has been collected in trade paperback, the illustrated essays "Towards a Hot Jew: The Israeli Soldier as Fetish Object" and "Jewish Memoir Goes Pow! Zap! Oy!" & the illustrated mini-journals Ceasefire and Fierce Ease) brings her innovative comics reading/slideshow to UW Hillel!

4745 17th Ave NE Seattle, WA 98105
7:00-8:00 PM

Q&A and book signing to follow. Miriam will be bringing the brand-new collection of her army comics, "Jobnik!: An American Girl's Adventures in the Israeli Army," (in stores December 3rd) as well as various mini-comics and essays.

If you'd like to electronically RSVP, please go to http://www.jconnectseattle.org/?site=jconnect&page=calendar&action=viewEvent&eid=1522×tamp=1228377600

At least a dozen websites have discussed Miriam &/or her website, including the ones I am quoting from below.

The IDF, Graphically Speaking

“Jobnik!”, the autobiographical graphic novel penned by Miriam Libicki, is an unromantic journey through a dreary, mundane, male-dominated military that will make readers wince. It’s an outsiders’ take on the drudgery of army life, its sexual tensions and massive bureaucracy set against the backdrop of the outbreak of the recent Palestinian intifada.

jobnik! and more

as befits the material, the book is sometimes ambiguous and versatile; parts of it are funny, parts of it are about conflicting feelings of acceptance (stranger in a strange land, getting in touch with her roots?), parts of it are about being afraid... there are some slippery relationships and a subtext of self-doubt and unease.

Jobnik!: A Good Jewish Girl Gone Better

What is precisely so appealing about Jobnik! and Libicki’s work as a whole is that she is not scared to portray her contradictions and divided loyalties. She suggests no political posturing or wanting to please one polarized political group over another – though certain sections could certainly be isolated and misquoted to seem that way. As her comic progresses, Libicki's art reveals additional layers of texture and depth. And as Miriam’s story continues to unfold, Libicki, her creator/human counterpart, is definitely one graphic artist to watch.

In the army, as in life

For me, though, the most touching and interesting of the Jobnik series is on the pages where Miriam uses intimate experiences to engage in painful self examination and apply them to the complexities of Israeli society and politics.

Jewish storytelling in pictures

Her self-produced comic, Jobnik!, chronicles her day-to-day life in the Israeli army in frank, often blunt terms. Jobnik is Israeli slang for someone in the army with a desk job. More of a graphic diary than a comic, Jobnik! imparts a rarely seen perspective of an army generally viewed as vigilant and relentless. Jobnik! takes us behind the scenes, where soldiers wash dishes, file reports and fool around.

Soldier GirI

“Jobnik!” grounds the reader in moral questions of war and Libicki’s excruciating loneliness.

Jobnik!

Miriam Libicki has a pitch that many would want to read about — she’s an American Jew who enlisted in the Israeli Army — but her art is painfully unready for professional publication, and she’s not able to structure various incidents in a way that adds up to anything more than “and then this happened”.

Jobnik!

it’s always amusing to see the play of emotions across people’s faces as they carefully examine this “Israeli” comic. Is it pro-Palestinian? Pro-Israel? Self-hating? Apolitical? It’s always fun to watch their skeptical faces searching for the pro/anti agenda.

jobnik

Her tales retell Miriam’s unique experience as an American Jewish girl that joins the Israeli Army and lively hood that it entails. Miriam’s work is a gorgeous heartful style that is reminiscent of Phoebe Glockner with Miriam’s own unique talent.

To listen to the podcast interview, please click on the inline player or go to http://www.inkstuds.com/wp-content/podcast/060504%20jobnik.mp3

LIBICKI'S JOBNIK! IN THE ISRAELI ARMY
interview with Jennifer M. Contino (of The Pulse)

Bawdy Barracks (excerpt of an article from issue 16, November 24, 2008 of The Jerusalem Report)

2 comics exhibitions at Brown University

from http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2008/11/comix

Two student-curated exhibitions of comic book art showcasing the work of Jewish artists and exploring Jewish themes will be on display at Brown University’s John Hay Library and the John Nicholas Brown Center Carriage House this fall and winter.

Jews and American Comics: An Exhibition of Popular Art captures the contributions Jewish writers and artists made to comic art since its origin in the Yiddish press of the early 1900s. On display are examples of the art form drawn from the Hay’s collection of more than 70,000 comic books. Artists included in the exhibit include Rube Goldberg, Harvey Kurtzman, Al Capp, Will Eisner, Trina Robbins, and Aline Kominsky Crumb, on display in works from Action Comics to Mad Magazine to the Vault of Horror. The Hay exhibition is open through Friday, Dec. 19, 2008. On Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008, the student curators will hold an exhibition open house from 2 to 4 p.m.

Jews and American Comics: The New Generations, at the John Nicholas Brown Center’s Carriage House Gallery, presents images of recent comic book art. It considers the ways the artists address social issues — violence, prejudice, the threat of war, environmental devastation, and media manipulation — as well as issues of individual and collective identity, and Jewish history. Artists in this show include Art Spiegelman, Miriam Katin, Eric Drooker, Sharon Rudahl, and James Sturm. The exhibition runs Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, through Friday, Jan. 30, 2009.

Both exhibitions are based on work done by students in Paul Buhle’s course, “Jewish Americans: Film and Comics,” with the assistance of John Hay Library curator Rosemary Cullen, public humanities graduate student Leah Nahmias and the staff of the John Nicholas Brown Center.

The John Hay Library is located at 20 Prospect St., Providence. The Library is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage is located at 357 Benefit St., Providence. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. For more information, call (401) 863-1177 or e-mail publichumanities@brown.edu.

The exhibition and events are sponsored by the Creative Arts Council, the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, and the Department of Visual Arts.

James Sturm lecture at Brown University - Nov. 20th

from http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/notfornothing/archive/2008/11/17/thursday-jews-and-american-comics.aspx

As part of the opening celebrations for the student-curated exhibition Jews and American Comics: The New Generations, famed comic artist and director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, James Sturm, will give a keynote address and participate in a panel discussion that will explore Jewish themes in comics strips and comic books, and the ways that Jews have shaped this popular American art form. The panel will also include Jason Lutes, a 1991 RISD graduate and artist of the renowned Berlin comic book series (collected in the books Berlin : City of Stones and Berlin : City of Smoke) and Sara Rosenbaum ’00, a former comic artist and former Providence Journal staff writer. This event begins at 5 p.m. in Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 001. A reception and the exhibit opening will follow immediately at 6:30 p.m. at the John Nicholas Brown Center, 357 Benefit St.

Sarah Glidden to be interviewed on the Comic Book Club show - tonight!!!

Sarah Glidden (author-illustrator of the autobiographical How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less!, which will be published by Vertigo) will be one of the guests who will be interviewed tonight at 8:00 PM at the Comic Book Club show at the Peoples Improv Theater (154 W. 29th Street, New York City).

Hosted by Justin Tyler, Pete LePage, and Alex Zalben. The show is sponsored in part by Midtown Comics! Tickets are only $5 and may be purchased online by going to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/46447.

Apparently, the show is podcast. The archive of podcasts may be found at http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?tag=podcasts.

Ranen Omer-Sherman at Miami Book Fair International - TODAY!!!! (Sun., Nov. 16th)

Ranen Omer-Sherman (Associate Professor of English and Jewish Studies at University of Miami) will be part of a panel being held at the Centre Gallery (Building 1, 3rd Floor) at 10:30 AM during the Miami International Book Fair. Ranen will be talking about the book The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches, which he is co-editing with Samantha Baskind (Associate Professor of Art History at Cleveland State University). More information about the book may be found at http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/acatalog/The_Jewish_Graphic_Novel.html. Among the contributors is Prof. Laurence Roth (Associate Professor of English and Jewish Studies at Susquehanna University).

Israeli comics lecture at Library of Congress - Nov. 6th

Courtesy of Washington DC comics scholar Mike Rhode, who posted this
at
http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2008/11/nov-6-israeli-comics-lecture-at-library.html

*****

Drawing both from Judeo-European and American cultures, comics have
been a mainstay of Israeli newspapers and readers' markets since the
early 1930s. Little known outside the Middle East, these comics open
an interesting window into Israeli society, past and present.

Ofer Berenstein will deliver a lecture titled "Israeli Comics: Past and Present" at the Library of Congress at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, in the Montpelier Room, located on the sixth floor of the James
Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave S.E., Washington, D.C.

The lecture, which is sponsored by the Library's Prints and
Photographs Division, Serial and Government Publications Division and
the Hebraic Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division, is
free and open to the public; tickets are not required.

Ofer Berenstein is a founding member of the Israeli Comic Book
Readers and Collectors Society. He served in the Israeli Army Home
Front Command as a photographer, graphic designer and editor. He is a
graduate student at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Library of Congress
African/Middle Eastern Reading Room Second floor Thomas Jefferson
building
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20540
Phone: (202) 707-2905
Fax: (202) 707-9199
Email: pao@loc.gov

The Jewish Side of SPX 2008

This weekend (Saturday & Sunday), the Small Press Expo will take place at the Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center.

Among those in attendance will be :

* Josh Eiserike, whose Liberal Crap comic strips for University of Maryland's Diamondback student newspaper included a cartoon about Jewish dating websites and a cartoon about the perks (and downside) of being Jewish

* Sarah Glidden (author-illustrator of the Ignatz-nominated How to Understand Israel in Sixty Days or Less! (in the Promising New Talent and Outstanding Mini-Comic categories)

* Ben Katchor (author-illustrator of The Jew of New York)

* Miss Lasko-Gross (author-illustrator of the graphic autobiography Escape from "Special")

* Miriam Libicki (author-illustrator of the jobnik! series, the first volume of which has been collected in trade paperback, the illustrated essay "Towards a Hot Jew: The Israeli Soldier as Fetish Object" and the illustrated mini-journals Ceasefire and Fierce Ease)

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

* Jim Ottaviani (author of Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love and Fallout : J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb)

* Lauren Weinstein (author-illustrator of the anthology Girl Stories, which includes the story "Chanukah Blues", as well as of the story "Horse Camp" which appeared in the anthology Stuck in the Middle).

David Crane comic strip - Oct. 18, 1959

To all my Jewish readers, I would like to extend a hearty Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year)!

Although I rarely put images in my blog posts, tonight I'd like to share an old comic strip illustrated by Canadian cartoonist Win Mortimer, who passed away 10 years ago.

In the following David Crane strip, David explains to a group why Jews cover their heads and also discusses Jewish symbols. I wonder where the line "it [a fringed prayer shawl] or a skullcap or both are worn in the synagogue" came from. I've never seen anyone in shul wearing a tallis but not a yarmulke. Those who are seen not wearing one are usually politely reminded that they should be wearing a skullcap and most synagogues have extra yarmulkes on hand for those who may have forgotten theirs somewhere or lost it on the way there.

Please click on the hyperlinked image below to see a larger, clearer version of the comic.

meet Jordan Gorfinkel, Harvey Pekar, or Marc Tyler Nobleman

The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood, Ohio is currently hosting the touring exhibition "Zap! Pow! Bam! The Super Hero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950".

That's the Maltz Musem, not the Shmaltz Museum.

Although it's basically the same exhibition that's been on display in such places as New York, Miami Beach, and Atlanta, each host city's museum has the opportunity to focus in on local Jewish cartoonists (Miami Beach's museum had a special focus on Will Eisner, who had moved to Miami from New York).

Cleveland has been the home to quite a few Jewish comix creators, including Brian Michael Bendis and Peter Kuper.

On Wed., Oct. 22nd (7:00 PM), Jordan B. Gorfinkel (author-illustrator of the syndicated Jewish comic strip Everything's Relative and Michael Sangiacomo (Plain Dealer comics columnist and author of Tales of the Starlight Drive-In) will talk about the impact of Jewish comics creators.
"Who Knew? Why All Superheroes (and their creators) are Jewish!"
$10 ($8 for Maltz members)

On Sun., Oct. 26th (1:45 PM at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center), legendary comix writer Harvey Pekar (American Splendor, The Quitter, Ego & Hubris, Our Cancer Year) will talk about his unique brand of comic storytelling with Michael Pawuk (Teen Librarian at the Cuyahoga County Public Library [Brooklyn Branch] and author of Graphic Novels: A Genre Guide to Comic Books, Manga, and More)
"The Splendor of Graphic Novelist Harvey Pekar"
$15 ($10 for Maltz or JCC members)

On Wed., Nov. 5th (7:00 PM), Marc Tyler Nobleman will talk about his children's book Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman which spotlights Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
"It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's ... Siegel and Shuster!"
$10 ($8 for Maltz members)

Thanks to Shawna Gambol Woodard (aka the Library Mistress) for announcing these exciting events at her blog.

A Yearly Shpritz of Jewish Bits

I usually don't get too enthused about the wide assortment of oversized, overpriced, theme calendars that flood the market every September. For my own personal use, all I need is the most basic type of calendars - the plain type with just the dates in big squares for me to jot down important events and appointments.

Even though I am a lover of both Judaica and comics, I usually avoid the Jewish or comix-themed calendars, which are usually just recycle previously-published illustrations or photographs.

This year, however, I have been introduced to a calendar that not only combines something Jewish (specifically, Jewish jokes) and the comix format, but also something which contains cartoons which have not previously been published (i.e. NEW material).

The product I am talking about is A Yearly Shpritz of Jewish Bits : The Ultimate Illustrated Calendar of Jewish Humor (Old and New), with jokes adapted into comics format by the talented former MAD intern Chari Pere.

As with other standard Jewish calendars, this one displays both the English and Hebrew dates, marks both Jewish and American statutory holidays and provides Friday night (shabbos) candle-lighting times.

Unlike other Jewish calendars, it ends with a bibliography, pointing readers to the sources (print & online) from which Chari adapted the jokes and showing them where to find more jokes.

Among the cute touches to be found in the pages of the calendar are the recurring sun motif at the top of each month which wears progressively more or less clothing (including sunglasses, which seemed ironic to me), fictional holidays (though I could seee myself making a new tradition of annually celebrating National Chocolate Chip Day, National Ice Cream Sandwich Day and I Am In Control Day), and subtle jokes in the background (e.g. newspaper headlines : "Jew Wins Marathon" and "World's Biggest Latka").

I would say that the only drawback to this year's (inaugral) calendar of Chari's is the small size, which resulted in date squares too tiny for me to scribble in the multitude of appointments and events that I try to schedule in every year. On the other hand, this comic calendar is too nice-looking for me to want to mark it up at all (and I receive enough large-sized freebie calendars to let me use for that).

Overall, I would highly reccommend this laugh-your-tuchus-off product to anyone who enjoys humor (and particularly those who enjoy Jewish comedy) or cartoons (and particularly those who enjoy Jewish comics) and those who love fun calendars (and particularly those who enjoy fun calendars featuring cartoon adaptations of Jewish jokes). Since calendars are an annual publication, Chari Pere's Yearly Shpritz gives us something to look forward to every Fall.

And don't just take my word for it.

The Jewish Star's Alan Jay Gerber (the "Kosher Bookworm" ) wrote the following in his review / profile of Chari

calendar that will never be thrown out after it expires one year from now

I have never seen anything like this. It is different and funny, and unique for a calendar since it is dated; the jokes and humor used are indeed dated to an era long past and forgotten, yet deliberately revived to entertain a new generation of young Jews.

meet Paul Buhle, Miriam Libicki, or Arie Kaplan

Tomorrow night, the KGB Bar is hosting the launch of a new book edited by Paul Buhle - Jews and American Comics : An Illustrated History of an American Art Form.

Among the special guests (besides Buhle) will be Lawrence Bush (editor of Jewish Currents, Kim Deitch, Miriam Katin (author of We Are On Our Own), Peter Kuper (author of the story "Promised Land" and the graphic autobiography Stop Forgetting to Remember : The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz) and Seth Tobocman (author of Portraits of Israelis and Palestinians: For My Parents ).

The launch is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM.

85 East 4th Street
NY, NY

---

Israeli-Canadian journalist Lisa Goldman reports at her blog (On the Face) that Canadian cartoonist Miriam Libicki (author of the jobnik comic book series, the first 6 issues of which have been collected in a trade paperback) will be appearing at Tel Aviv store Comix ‘n Vegetables (40 King George Street, around the corner from the Dizengoff Center) at 11:00 AM on Friday, September 12 for a Q&A session and signing.

---

Arie Kaplan, author of From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books has been scheduled for 10 appearances to discuss and promote his book. Those appearances - and any which haven't been finalized just yet - are listed / will be listed at http://www.fromkrakowtokrypton.com/tour.html.

On Sep. 14th (3:30-5:00 PM), Arie will give an audiovisual presentation at a teen program to be held at the Hilton Garden Inn (12600 University Dr., Fort Myers, FL)

On Nov. 2nd (9:00-11:00 AM), as part of the grand opening of the Temple Emanu-El Library in Closter, NJ (180 Piermont Road), Arie will meet Grade 4 & 5 students (9-10) and will be the guest speaker for the Adult Breakfast (10-11).

On Nov. 4th, Arie will be one of the guest authors at Toronto's 32nd annual Jewish Book Fair, which will be held at the Koffler Centre of the Arts (4588 Bathurst Street).

On Nov. 5th (7:00 PM), Arie will be appearing at the Gershman Y in Philadelphia (401 South Broad Street).

On Nov. 6th, Arie will be appearing in the Rosenwald Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania (3420 Walnut Street, sixth floor) for a lively presentation - including film and video clips - followed by a book signing, as part of Comics, Animation, & Graphic Novels at Penn : A Year-Long Celebration. To RSVP for this event, please go to http://www.library.upenn.edu/forms/eventsresponse3.html.

On Nov. 9th (10:00 AM), Arie will be appearing at the Jewish Book Festival brunch of the Jewish Community Alliance in Jacksonville, FL (8505 San Jose Blvd.).

On Nov. 16th (2:00 PM), Arie will be appearing at the Twin Cities Jewish Book Fair at the Jewish Community Center of the Greater St. Paul Area (1375 St. Paul Avenue).

On Nov. 18th, Arie will be appearing at the JCC of Greater Kansas City (5801 W. 115th Street St #101).

On Nov. 20th, Arie will be appearing at the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven (360 Amity Road).

On Dec. 8th (6:30 PM), Arie will be appearing at Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester [220 South Bedford Road (Route 117)]

Spend Labor Day with Freeman & Rosezweig (& other authors)

Luke Ford's blog is promoting the 4th annual Ben Yehuda Press Labor Day BBQ and Literary Hootenanny, which will be held Monday, September 1st at 1 PM - 430 Kensington Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

Among the authors who are scheduled to make an apperance to discuss their work are The Comic Torah's author & illustrator team Sharon Rosenzweig and Aaron Freeman.

Sharon Rosenzweig and Aaron Freeman will discuss their upcoming THE COMIC TORAH: REIMAGINING THE VERY GOOD BOOK, it’s the Torah — the take is a comic look, the format is a comic book, from the minds of Chicago artist, Sharon Rosenzweig and stand up comic, Aaron Freeman.

If you plan on attending the BBQ, please RSVP to Larry at larry@BenYehudaPress.com.

Lilith magazine promotes Jewish graphic novels

The Spring 2007 issue of Lilith magazine contained a 1-page preview of Rutu Modan's Eisner-winning graphic novel Exit Wounds (page 48).

The Fall 2007 issue contained both a review of Sharon Rudahl's graphic novel A Dangerous Woman : The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman (p. 43-44) and a 1-page preview of Miriam Libicki's jobnik! series (p. 48).

Pharaoh's Daughter & Miriam Save Moses : The Value of Life

The Summer 2006 issue of Lilith magazine mentions on page 46 that Behrman House has published a manga titled Pharaoh's Daughter & Miriam Save Moses : The Value of Life, as part of its Manga Midrash series. The other 3 titles in the series are : Courage : Moses, the Israelites, and the Golden Calf, Compassion: Eliezer & Rebecca at the Well, and Leadership: Jacob and Esau.

Super Man and the Bug Out

courtesy of feygele at Jewschool :

The Super Man and the Bugout, a short story by Cory Doctorow from his collection A Place So Foreign and Eight More, is “about Superman as a Jewish boy raised in Toronto’s suburbs (Superman’s creators being, of course, nice Jewish boys from Toronto!), put out of work by the arrival of benevolent aliens who welcome Earth to the Galactic Federation.”

...

Roy Trumbull has done a great performance of the short story, now available on mp3. At 56 minutes long, I recommend downloading it to your favourite portable mp3 player and listening as you walk around town, take your daily commute, or go on your lunch break. Definitely worth a listen!

8th Animation Comics & Caricature Festival - Tel Aviv - Aug. 13-16

The 8th Animation Comics & Caricature Festival will be held this week - August 13-16 at the Cinematheque in Tel Aviv. Forf more info (in Hebrew), please go to the website at http://www.anicomfestival.co.il/.

Graphic Therapy - Notes from the Gap Years

Artist Emily Steinberg tells us about her life in the online autobiographical graphic memoir Graphic Therapy - Notes from the Gap Years. The memoir is divided into "sessions" and thus, far only the first 3 sessions have been uploaded.

Her mini-bio at the Smith site reads "Emily is 39, single, underemployed, and can’t decide if she’s a dilettante or a genius. We’re pretty sure it’s the latter. Her fearlessly blunt diary of her “gap years” exposes a unique worldview on art, commitment, Nazis, mice, copy-machine salesmen, Judaism, SUVs, and psychoanalysis. Plus, it has funny pictures."

The story should be read from start to finish, but for those just interested in the "Jewish" passages, I'll provide links and quotes below :

http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/2008/06/04/chapter-1/3/

I mean, according to the normal plan, the nice Jewish girl plan, I was supposed to be married to a mensch, living in the burbs, and schlepping my children all over creation in my oversize SUV, a cumbersome but stylish vehicle which resembles a living room more than a mode of transport.

http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/2008/07/14/chapter-2/4/

When I was a little girl in the late 60's, early 70's, I used to think to myself, I have two strikes against me : I'm female and I'm Jewish, but at least I'm not black. It seemed to me that life options for girl's were limited to wife, mother, grandma, and maybe secretary or nurse, if you were really lucky. So I figured it was bad that I was a girl.

And it was super bad that I was Jewish. At the tender age of seven or eight, they started showing us horrendous films about the Holocaust in Hebrew School.

Images of naked women and children, in grainy black and white, gunned down in a pit. Images of naked men, being forced to lie down and be whipped by fully dressed S.S. officers.

http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/2008/07/14/chapter-2/5/

Mom and Dad told me they wanted to have a lot of children to off set the loss of the Jews in the Holocaust. That's pretty heavy information for a kid. Just a tad more intense than Fun With Dick & Jane. No wonder Jewish kids are so neurotic. So, I realized it was really bad to be Jewish.

http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/2008/07/14/chapter-2/6/

Mom and Dad were liberal Jews, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. The shtetl relocated to Ocean Parkway.

http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/2008/07/28/chapter-3/2/

My body has become a monlith, sort of like Stonehenge.

...

It's all because of my fucking DNA. These are my great, great grandparents, serious shtetl stock. Big people with big bones. In my family, if you didn't eat often and with gusto, something was wrong with you.

http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/2008/07/28/chapter-3/8/

Over the summer, I visited Heinie at the Haupterfuehrerberger farm in Oregon. Feeling like a Hasid, in black robes and a fur-trimmed hat, my side locks swinging in the breeze, this East Coast Jew flew West to hang with a passel of ex-pat Krauts on the new Sudetenland.

http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/2008/07/28/chapter-3/9/

I was like, huh? So, there I was, the quintessential Jew, drinking wine and eating swine at a table presided over by a diminutive, wizened former Nazi party member.

Don't Look Back

Don't Look Back is a Hebrew comix work with text by Israeli song writers, and comic illustrations by Israeli artists.

A sample page may be found online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/61209614@N00/2525341333/sizes/o/.

The Jews Ruined My Life

The first page of the Hebrew comic story "The Jews Ruined My Life" by Daniel Goldstein, which will appear in the anthology Izrapol, may be viewed online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/amitai/2657599485/sizes/l/.

Who will be the scape-goats of the coming Jewish Year?

Ariel Weissman's comic page "Who will be the scape-goats of the coming Jewish Year?" (an Udi special), appeared in Hebrew on Sep. 14, 2007. The original Hebrew version may be read online at http://j.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=513091&TypeID=1&sid=128

An English trabslation may be found at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amitai/1438845589/sizes/o/.

Lucky Picture by Joanna Karpowicz

A page from the story "Lucky Picture" by Joanna Karpowicz, which will appear in the anthology Izrapol,may be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/amitai/2658423928/sizes/o/.

Saddleback's Illustrated Classics - Merchant of Venice

Saddleback Educational Publishing, having acquired the series of illustrated classics from Pendulum Press in 2007, has set about reprinting these classics in full color. Among these classics is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

Hebrew comic - Nikmat mi-Potsetsot ha-Mistik

The 5 pages of the Hebrew comic story Nikmat mi-Potsetsot ha-Mistik illustrated by Dotan Moreno and dated August 2006 may be viewed at Moreno's Flickr page.

The exact addresses are as follows :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/436503535/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/436503547/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/436503555/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/436503561/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/436503569/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/

Shuk - a Hebrew comic story

The 5 pages of the comic story "Shuk", illustrated by Dotan Monero and based upon a story by Simi Berdugo, may be viewed at his Flickr page.

The address for each of the pages follows below :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/471135847/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/471135845/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/471135833/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/471135831/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotanmoreno/471135817/sizes/l/in/set-72157600003262557/

Breaking the Ice #57

John Keating is an actor, stand-up comic, and a cartoonist. Not a very common combination of talents.

In cartoon 57 of his online comic strip Breaking the Ice, John recounts a true-life experience. While auditioning for a part, he was "profiled" as a Jew. When the casting agent realized that he wasn't actually Jewish, he didn't get the part.

Super-Jew? Huh?

"Jesus of Zion" look at the Uri-On comic book and Uri Orbach, who was a roomate of Michael Netzer (the author & illustrator of the Uri On series).

The blog post may be found at http://wwjbwhatwouldjesusblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/super-jew-huh.html.

Super Jewish comic heroes

Australian Jewish News article - July 30, 2008 by Adam Kamien

You may read the full article online at http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=5931.

Melbourne comic book devotee and former fanzine (a DIY publication released by a fan) editor Lazarus Dobelsky says for immigrant Jews in the 1930s, “normal” jobs were hard to come by.

“When most of these people started, they struggled to get into the WASP-ish advertising agencies, but they had to earn a living somehow and working on comic books was about as good as they could get at the time,” Dobelsky said.

“It does beggar belief that in the early years, about 70 per cent of the industry was Jewish.

“Jews have a vast treasure trove of legends that are passed on to us by our parents and our culture. Also, it’s undeniable that as a Jew you like to tell stories,” Dobelsky said.

The two Jews responsible for the birth of the comic book were a couple of New York gangsters. Harry Donnenfeld and Jack Liebowitz bought a company that produced pulp magazines, which ran trashy stories about detectives and crime fighters with sensational cover art and comic strips taken from the daily papers.