The Evolution of the Jewish Comic Book Hero

Home , Ben Grimm, Iceman (Marvel Comics), Jerry Siegel, Kitty Pryde, Reed Richards

Clark University Clark Digital Commons

Undergraduate Student Research Festivals Winter Fest 2021

Jan 7th, 12:00 AM

Becca Feldman Clark University, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.clarku.edu/asdff

Feldman, Becca, "The Evolution of the Jewish Comic Book Hero" (2021). Undergraduate Student Research Festivals. 31. https://commons.clarku.edu/asdff/winter_fest_2021/winterfest2021/31

This Open Access Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conference Proceedings at Clark Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Student Research Festivals by an authorized administrator of Clark Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. THE EVOLUTION OF THE JEWISH COMIC BOOK CHARACTER Becca Feldman ‘23 - (Sponsor: Professor Shelly Tenenbaum) INTRODUCTION when Superman debuted in June of 1938, the Benjamin Grimm’s Biblical, Hebraic first name and superhero comic was born. Jerry Siegel and aggressively neutral last name, combined with his Joe Shuster, the creators of the charac- childhood on the Lower East Side served as a cod- ter, were both sons of Jewish immigrants. ed signifier of his Jewish heritage to readers and Consequently, superheroes and Judaism were fans of the fantastic four. His identity as a Jewish connected from the beginning. In fact, many of the American was confirmed in Fantastic Four vol 3, #56. titans of the comic book industry are Jewish Ameri- can, including the legendary Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

The rise of the superhero came during the so-called Golden Age of Comics (1939 - 1956). In the 1940’s, adults and children alike “IT’S CHINESE FOOD were looking for a way to escape the real- FOR CHRISTMAS” MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL VOL. 1 (2011) ity of World War II. While there are some exceptions, the majority of the explicitly Jewish heroes come from Marvel Comics. • magneto wasn’t made explicitly jewish until 2009 There are also heroS that showcase certain mini-series, long after fans accepted the villian’s characteristics that have lead the fan- religion as canon base to come to a collective decision on JEW-ISH? many elements identity, including religion. As a majority of comic books are written by Jew- ish Authors, there are CHARACTERISTICS that HAVE jewishness as otherness BEEN seen as Jewish Stereotypes • Before He was bitten by a Radioactive spider, Pe- In 1961, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the ter Parker Wore Glasses, was Slight of build, first Marvel superhero team, the fantastic Awkward and Studious. As Spider-Man, He is driven four. Ben Grimm, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, by Guilt, which is a very Jewish-American idea. and her younger brother Johnny are ex- • Clark Kent is the Prime Example of a Gentile Jew- posed to cosmic rays that change their DNA, ish Person ALL-NEW X-MEN #11 giving each of them their own superpower. X-MEN • The Readers of Superman Comics knew “who Only grimm’s change was outwardly visible. His • First issue released in 1963 Superman really was, {While Also Knowing} that skin was changed into an orange, rock-hard • First explicitly Jewish character with significant in the world of the story people Saw Him only material. He adopted the moniker “the thing” popularity is Kitty Pryde first appearing in 1980 As Clark – A timid, Socially Inept, Physically Weak, and became a founding member of the Fan- • Magneto constantly mentions his experiences in Clumsy, sexually ineffectual quasi intellectual tastic Four. By creating a character who was aushwitz as a child, leading many fans to believe who wore glasses and apparently owned only visibly different, Lee and Kirby created a sym- that he is jewish (more widley accepted after one blue suit. In other words, the classic Jew- bolic representation of those who were tar- X-men (2000) showed a young magneto with a yel- ish nebbish (roughly: ‘nerd’).” (Brod 2012) geted solely because of their outward ap- low star on his sleeve) • Captain America wasn’t always the super solider; pearance; a common occurrence for those in • iceman revealed to be jewish in 1984 in fact he was a skinny little thing, Hailing From the minority communities. (Kaplan 2020) • many of the x-men are jewish based solely on same place as his creators: Brooklyn, NYC. (Wein- familial connection (Magneto’s children) stein 2009)