Reform Judaism magazine just published Part 1 of - well, I don't HOW many parts - on Jews in comics. Part 1 covers the entire Golden Age. I've only skimmed parts of it, but it seems worth reading, if you have the time. Newsarama gave it a good write-up.

Here's the link:

http://www.uahc.org/rjmag/03fall/comics.shtml

And here's the Newsarama commentary on the article:

http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5782

I know that Ditko was one of the few early Silver Age artists who WASN'T Jewish. Still, many of the people mentioned here unquestionably influenced him, and this does shed light on the environment in which he worked during much of his career. I decided to post this link here for those reasons.

"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons."
-From The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror II"

I finally got around to reading the article myself last night. It's very well done, and there were things in there I didn't know. Did anyone know that "Kal-El" is Hebrew for "All That is God?" The article also examines Fingers role in the creation of Batman, and there's an interesting note about the heroic death of Max Gaines, creator of the American comic book (Gaines died in a boating accident on Lake Placid. At the last minute, he saved a child by throwing him out of harm's way!).

In retrospect, I'm surprised that this ethnic aspect of the comic industry's beginnings hasn't been more widely examined. This is the first piece I've read that didn't just mention it in passing.

Anyway - I do recommend this article. I hope that Part II will also be available on-line.

"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons."
-From The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror II"

As a Jewish communal worker, I really found this interesting from Will Eisner:

The Golem was very much the precursor of the super-hero in that in every society there's a need for mythological characters, wish fulfillment. And the wish fulfillment in the Jewish case of the hero would be someone who could protect us. This kind of storytelling seems to dominate in Jewish culture."

Thanks for the link.

David