We are extremely pleased to announce that we have received our first grant and would like to thank the Norcliffe Foundation for being among our supporters. The money will go towards collection development and outreach. We are planning some pop up library events to take our project public; more details will be announced as they develop. Also, if you haven’t had a look at our online catalog click below to see it.The collection is about to see a large increase as we intend to start adding more books in the coming weeks.
We hereby present the continuing story of the comic book's dance through the decades. In this edition of Graven we waltz our way into the sixties, or more appropriately twist our way into them. This is the decade referred to as the Silver Age of Comics. Jewish creators continued to play a significant role in shaping the landscape of comic books, contributing to the revitalization of superhero comics, introducing innovative storytelling techniques, and even paving the way for the rise of underground comix.
The Silver Age is a continuation and expansion of the Golden Age, twenty years later. After a ten year decrease in Superhero readership, a whole new cast of characters arose that matched the spirit of the sixties with more complex and nuanced storytelling that created an uptrend that continues today in film. Jewish creators such as Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber) and Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) were instrumental in revitalizing superhero comics during the Silver Age. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby co-created iconic characters like the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, and Thor, which injected new life into the superhero genre and laid the foundation for Marvel Comics later tremendous success. There are too many other creators to mention in this brief overview, so we will just stick to a few.
Not to be outdone by anyone, Superman flew into the Silver Age as his form of dance. Superman's co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster continued to develop and expand the Superman mythos while new artists took him into radio and TV. Superman stories keep on coming and there are new movies on the way, not to mention the alternate Superman à la Gene Luen Yang's Made in China series. Superman's durability through the decades? It must be the kryptonite!
Unlike the previous decades we’ve discussed in this series, the sixties is not easily characterized in a single phrase like The Depression Era for the 30s, WW2 for the 40s and The Cold War for the 50s. Instead, we come up with a handful of monikers and an explosion of cultural contact points. The sixties can be characterized by any or all of the following: The Decade of Change, The Age of Aquarius, The Cultural Revolution, The Space Age, The Civil Rights Era, The Vietnam War Era, The Hippie Movement.
In response to the complexities of the decade Jewish writers and artists brought innovative storytelling techniques to comic books during the Silver Age. Stan Lee, in particular, was known for his approach of giving superheroes human flaws and vulnerabilities, making them more relatable to readers. This approach, known as the "Marvel Method," involved collaboration between writers and artists, allowing for more dynamic and character-driven stories.
The 1960s witnessed significant shifts in politics, civil rights, gender roles, and popular culture. Cultural upheaval and experimentation characterized the sixties, including changes in music, art, literature, fashion, and entertainment. It underscores the rejection of traditional values and the embrace of new forms of expression. The 1960s saw remarkable advancements in space exploration, including the moon landing in 1969. There was a fascination with space travel, technological innovation, and the race to explore the cosmos during the decade.
The sixties were a pivotal period in the fight for civil rights and racial equality in the United States filled with activism, protests, and legislative changes aimed at ending segregation and discrimination. The Vietnam War dominated much of the political and social landscape of the sixties and was the cause of even more widespread protests, anti-war movements, and cultural divisions that arose in response to the conflict. Then, of course, there was the Hippie Movement. Hippies, or members of the countercultural movement, rejected mainstream society and embraced ideals of peace, love, and communal living. The hippie subculture that emerged during the sixties was characterized by its distinctive fashion, music, and lifestyle.
Storytelling in comics during the Silver Age was deeply intertwined with the spirit of the sixties, addressing social issues, critiquing mainstream culture, exploring identity and individualism, and embracing technological and scientific advancement. Comics provided a platform for artists and writers to engage with the cultural zeitgeist of the era and reflect the hopes, fears, and aspirations of their audience.
Following the twists and turns of the sixties we see an increased focus on social commentary and activism. Many comics of the sixties began to address social issues directly, mirroring the activism and civil rights movements of the time. Comics tackled themes such as racism, poverty, and inequality, reflecting the desire for social change that characterized the decade.
Characters like the X-Men, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, served as metaphors for marginalized groups, advocating for tolerance and acceptance in a time of social turmoil.
The sixties saw a growing emphasis on individualism and personal identity, and comics reflected this by exploring themes of self-discovery and identity formation. Characters like Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (not Jewish), grappled with the responsibilities and consequences of their powers, embodying the struggles of adolescence and the search for one's place in the world. Comics provided a space for readers to engage with questions of identity and self-expression, resonating with the broader cultural shifts towards individualism and self-actualization.
The sixties were a time of significant technological advancement and scientific exploration, and comics reflected this by incorporating futuristic settings, advanced technology, and space exploration into their storytelling. Comics like "The Fantastic Four" and "Iron Man" depicted characters who were at the forefront of scientific discovery, embodying the spirit of exploration and innovation that defined the era.
While the Silver Age is often associated with mainstream superhero comics, Jewish creators also played a role in the rise of underground comix during this period. Artists like Trina Robbins, Art Spiegelman, and Harvey Pekar challenged conventional comic book norms with their avant-garde, countercultural works. These underground comix addressed taboo subjects such as sexuality, politics, and social issues, pushing the boundaries of what was permissible in comics and appealing to a more mature audience.
Underground comix emerged as a response to mainstream culture, offering a platform for countercultural critique and rebellion. Artists used comics to satirize authority figures, challenge societal norms, and explore taboo subjects like drug use and sexual liberation. These underground comix resonated with the anti-establishment sentiment of the sixties, embracing a DIY ethos and rejecting the censorship and commercialism associated with mainstream comics.
Overall, Jewish creators made indelible contributions to the Silver Age of Comics, not only revitalizing superhero comics but also introducing innovative storytelling techniques and paving the way for alternative forms of comic book expression like underground comix. Their impact continues to be felt in the comic book industry to this day.
For my purposes as a Jewish Comics Librarian I’d like to make a distinction between the modes of Jewish representation and its evolution from the Golden Age to the Silver Age. During the Golden Age, Jewish representation in comics often manifested more overtly, but apparent only through metatextual analysis. In contrast, Jewish representation during the Silver Age became more subtextual, woven into the fabric of characters and narratives in a subtle way, perhaps aping the progress of Jewish assimilation.
The Superman story, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, bears resemblance to the Jewish immigrant experience. It embodied Jewish themes and experiences, with Superman's origin story mirroring the immigrant narrative of Siegel and Shuster's own Jewish heritage. Superman's arrival on Earth as a refugee from the doomed planet Krypton parallels the experiences of many Jewish immigrants who fled persecution in Europe and sought refuge in America. There is a strong resemblance to Moses’ origin story. Additionally, Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent, embodies aspects of the immigrant's struggle to assimilate into American society while maintaining a dual identity.
Created by Will Eisner, The Spirit is another character with Jewish roots. Like Superman’s Clark Kent, The Spirit himself, Denny Colt, is not explicitly portrayed as Jewish in the comics. However, it is undeniable that Eisner's own background as a Jewish American influenced the themes and storytelling of the series. The Spirit often navigates the gritty streets of a city that bears resemblance to Depression-era New York, reflecting the urban landscapes where many Jewish immigrants settled and built new lives. Furthermore, Eisner's exploration of moral ambiguity, social justice, and the human condition in The Spirit stories resonated with his own experiences and perspectives as a Jewish artist.
In both cases, the Jewish identity of the creators played a significant role in shaping the themes, motifs, and narratives of the comics they produced. While the characters themselves may not overtly represent Jewish culture or religion within the stories, their creation and the underlying themes often reflect the experiences and perspectives of their Jewish creators. This highlights the importance of considering the creators' backgrounds and the socio-historical context in understanding the representation of Jewish identity in Golden Age comics.
During the Silver Age characters like Ben Grimm, also known as the Thing from the Fantastic Four, reflected Jewish themes of otherness, outsider status, and struggling with identity, but these aspects were not explicitly addressed in the comics themselves. Similarly, Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker, was portrayed as neurotically nerdy, embodying stereotypes often associated with Jewish characters, yet his Jewish identity was not explicitly acknowledged.
This subtextual representation allowed Jewish creators to infuse their own experiences and perspectives into their work while navigating the cultural and social constraints of the time. By embedding Jewish themes and motifs into the stories and characters of the Silver Age, creators were able to explore issues of identity, belonging, and otherness in a more nuanced and layered manner.
Overall, this use of metatextual and subtextual analysis highlights the evolving nature of Jewish representation in comics. Simultaneously, the advent of underground comix foreshadows the emergence of graphic novels with explicitly Jewish characters in stories that reflect the lived lives of Jews, which we’ll dance around in the next issue of Graven.