Judaism and Comics

In the department of “oops, I went viral,” have a Twitter hot take that nobody asked for. Apparently everyone wanted it though.

Here’s an opinion that no one asked for.

Without understanding the Jewish roots of many popular superheroes, you can’t understand how they’re a) a proufound expression of optimism and hope and b) how they’re inherent protests against a lot of what was wrong in the 30s and 40s.

— T Ash (@crewgrrl) December 1, 2019

Captain America is 2 Jewish boys creating the Aryan ideal specifically so that he could punch Hitler in the face. Superman combatting the KKK was one of the truest expressions of hope Siegel and Schuster could have written.

— T Ash (@crewgrrl) December 1, 2019

Stanley Lieber. Joseph Shuster. Jerry Siegel. Jacob Kurtzberg. Four Jewish boys who fundamentally changed the world by giving us so many symbols to look up to.

— T Ash (@crewgrrl) December 1, 2019

Even Batman (also the brainchild of 2 Jewish boys) was never that dark until the mid 80s. We make fun of the 60s TV show, but that was just as true to the original comics as any brooding movie based on Frank Miller.

— T Ash (@crewgrrl) December 1, 2019

Comics were aspirational stories, serials that told us how we could be better than what we were. Either we were special because of our birth, or we were special because of our achievements.

Maybe it’s time to go back?

— T Ash (@crewgrrl) December 1, 2019