This Free Comic Book Day, 4th May, we’re celebrating the Jewish creators who wrote your favourite comic book heroes.
Superman, Batman, the Avengers, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, are all characters invented by Jewish creators. By no account is this a small contribution to the most iconic and recognisable comic book characters today, especially after their Hollywood exposure in Marvel and DC studios’ live-action films. So, what is it about their common Jewish background that led to the characters’ creation? The origins of these characters during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1930s was rife with Jewish talent. Mostly because Jewish businessmen were frequently outcast from larger creative roles in advertising and publishing, which led them to more inclusive and modern places of work such
as the up-and-coming comic book industry. Popularised by Max Gaines, a Jewish Print Salesman, the comic book format as we know it was created in 1933 by combining comic strips from newspapers into a single book collection. And he wasn’t the only Jewish entrepreneur to shape the comic book industry, in 1937 Harry Donefeld, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, became the owner of National Allied publications – the company which would become DC Comics and print its first greatest hero, Superman.
Created by the union of childhood friends, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish students at Glenville Highschool in Ohio, Superman was the result of their shared comic book idolisation. Reflecting the pair’s teenage outlook, Clark Kent (Superman’s alias) was born from Siegel and Shuster’s mild-mannered nature which made them shy around women and longing to have a secret ability which caught their attention. But beyond the wisdom of their years, Superman was also the pair’s answer to the impact of the second world war on the Jewish community, Seigel would later confirm: “Hearing and reading of the oppression and slaughter of helpless, oppressed Jews in Nazi Germany… I had the great urge to help the downtrodden masses, somehow. How could I help them when I could barely help myself? Superman was the answer.”
Though an often forgotten inspiration for the character, Superman embodies Jewishness often being compared to Moses as both figures were orphaned at birth then raised by non- Jewish families before finding their hidden strength to save their peers. What’s more, the hero’s Kryptonian birth name, Kal-el, bares the ‘el’ suffix in Hebrew used to denote Elohim, or Yahweh, Jehovah, or God, as can be seen in the names Michael or Raphael. These influences from Seigel and Shuster’s heritage were deeply embedded in the characters original design before they sold the concept to DC Comics in March 1938 for $130 (worth £2,700 now). Not only did they shape the inspirational character for years to come, but they also paved the way for numerous other Jewish creators who would follow in their footsteps such as Bob Kane who introduced Batman in 1939 and Jack Kirby who co-created characters such as Iron Man, Thor, and the Black Panther in the 1960s.
Check out where to go on Free Comic Book Day here: Thepopverse.com/free-comic- book-day-2024