This is a copy of a bibliography by Andrea Kempf, librarian at
Johnson County Community College, presented at a recent lecture.
Jewish Contributions
To the Graphic Novel
Some of the Major Jewish Contributors to the Comic Book and the Graphic Novel
Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) 1963-
R. Crumb (Fritz the Cat, Zap Comics) 1943-
Will Eisner (The Spirit) 1917-2005
Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) 1960-
Vittorio Giardino (A Jew in Communist Prague) 1946-
Larry Gonick (Cartoon Guides to Science) 1946-
Howard Jacobson (Kalooki Nights) 1940-
Sid Jacobson (9/11 Report)
Bob Kane 1915-1998 and Bill Finger (Batman) 1914-1974
Miriam Katin (We Are On Our Own) 1943-
Ben Katchor (The Jew of New York) 1951-
Etgar Keret (Jet Lag, Pizzeria Kamikaze) 1967-
Jack Kirby 1917-1994 and Joe Simon 1913- (Captain America)
Joe Kubert (Fax from Sarajevo) 1926-
Harvey Kurtzman (Mad Magazine) 1924-1993
Stan Lee (Spiderman) 1922-
Miriam Libicki (Jobnik) 1981(?)-
Rutu Modan (Exit Wounds) 1966-
Harvey Pekar (American Splendor) 1939-
Sharon Rudahl (Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman) 1947-
Joann Safar (The Rabbiâs Cat) 1971-
Jerry Siegel 1914 -1996 and Joe Schuster (Superman) 1914-1992
Steve Sheinkin (The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey: A Graphic Novel of
Jewish Wisdom and Wit in the Wild West)
Art Spiegelman (Maus) 1948-
James Sturm (The Golemâs Mighty Swing) 1965-
J. T. Waldman (Megillat Esther) 1979(?) -
The Novels Available at Billington Library
Johnson County Community College
And Local Kansas City Public Libraries
Crumb, R. (USA) NC1429 .C83
The R Crumb Handbook. London: MQ Publications, 2005.
This handsomely produced anthology contains many of Crumbs works. *#
Crumb, R. (USA) PT 2621.A26 Z772
R. Crumbâs Kafka. NY Simon & Schuster, 2004
The master of underground comix takes on the author of weird short
stories. It is an interesting method for a narration of Kafkaâs life.
Eisner, Will (USA) PN6727.E4 A6
The Contract with God Trilogy; Life on Dropsy Avenue. NY: Norton, 2006
Set during the Great Depression, this literary trilogy, assembled in
one volume for the first time, presents a treasure house of now
near-mythic stories that fictionally illustrate the bittersweet
tenement life of Eisner's youth.*#
Eisner, Will
(USA) DS145.P7 E37 2005
The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of
Zion. NY: Norton, 2005.
This is the last work by Eisner, the man credited with inventing the
graphic novel in the United States. He tells the true story of how
Tsarist police in Russia fabricated a story to make people hate their
Jewish neighbors rather than the government and how the lie created
more than 110 years ago refuses to die.*#
Eisner, Will (USA) NC1355 .E45
The Best of the Spirit. NY: DC Comics, 2005
This is a compilation of Eisnerâs original graphic novel with an
introduction by modern master Neil Gaiman*#
Gaiman, Neil (USA) PN 6728.B36 G35
The Absolute Sandman, Volume One. New York: DC Comics, 2006
This oversized volume includes the first twenty issues of The
Sandman, Gaimanâs highly touted graphic novel series. The graphics
are high quality.*#
Giardino, Vittorio (Italy, Czechoslovakia)
A Jew in Communist Prague. NY: NBM Publishing, 1997-
Jonas Finkel, the son of an imprisoned intellectual, tries to survive
in the dangerous and
changing political landscape of Prague under the communists. So far
the series has three volumes.*
Gonick, Larry. (USA) QD37
.G625 2005
The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry. NY: Harper, 2005
The authors have used the liberating medium of a comic book to
produce a chemistry companion that can be read in one or two short
and amusing sittings and will lead to a clearer understanding of the
chemists' world. * *
Gonick, Larry (USA) QH436 .G66 1991
The Cartoon Guide to Genetics. NY: Harper, 1991
The same technique is applied to genetics**
Gonick,
Larry (USA) QA276.12 .G67 1993
The Cartoon Guide to Statistics. NY: Harper, 1991
The author applies the same technique to statistics**#
Jacobson, Sid
(USA) HV6432.7.J33 2006
9/11 Report: a Graphic Adaptation . New York: Hill and Wang, 2006
This is a graphic depiction of the events leading up to and following
the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. It is
based on the final report of the National Commission on Terrorist
Attacks on the United States.*#
Katchor, Ben (USA)
The Jew of New York. New York: Pantheon, 2000
The artist takes an obscure historical footnote--an attempt in 1825
to establish a Jewish homeland in upstate New York--and spins it into
an intricate tale of a rapidly developing city and its diverse
inhabitants, from one-legged actresses, to wandering Jews, to masked
anti-Semites. (Amazon)*#
Katchor, Ben (USA) PN 6727.K28 J86
Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty
District. Boston: Little Brown, 1996
Katchor takes his photographer on a stroll through a whimsical city,
much like New York, but much weirder and more charming. We visit
establishments like the Misspent Youth Center and the Institute for
Soup-Nuts Research. The author/illustrator is a regular contributor
to the Forward.*#
Katin, Miriam
(USA/Hungary) DS 135.H93 K38
We Are on Our Own. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2006
In this very moving graphic memoir, the artist relives her
experiences as a three-year-old child during the Holocaust in
Hungary. In the countryside, she and her mother posed as a peasant
and her illegitimate child, in order to escape deportation to a
concentration camp.*#
Keret, Etgar & Actus
Comics (Israel) PJ5054.K375 J413 2006
Jetlag: Five Graphic Novellas. New Millford: Toby, 2006
This Israeli author has teamed up with a comic book collective to
turn five of his extremely unusual, off-center short stories into
five wonderful graphic novels.
Keret, Etgar & Hanuka, Asaf (Israel)
Pizzeria Kamikaze. Gainesville: Alternative Comics, 2006
The afterlife for suicides looks a great deal like Tel Aviv
compllete with an Arab quarter - as Mordy, a love-struck suicide
negotiates his new non-life with a dead-end job at a pizzeria
Kubert, Joe
(Yugoslavia) DR1313.32.S27 K83 1996
Fax from Sarajevo: A Story of Survival. Leeds: Dark Horse, 1998
Based on a series of faxes from an artist trapped within the war in
the former Yugoslavia, this novel describes the everyday life of
people under siege.**#
Kubert, Joe (Poland)
Yossel: April 19, 1943: a Story of the Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising. New York: Pocket Books, 2005
The title says it all in this gripping true story of the Warsaw
Ghetto uprising drawn by a master graphic novelist.*
Libicki, Miriam (Israel, USA)
Jobnik. Canada: real gone girl, 2006
A young woman, an American immigrant from a modern orthodox family,
chronicles her experiences as a file clerk in the Israeli army.
Modan, Rutu (Israel)
Exit Wounds. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2007
Koby Franco, a Tel Aviv taxi driver is contacted by a young female
soldier who suggests that his father was an unidentified victim of a
suicide bombing in Hadera. Together they search for clues; and in
the process, Koby discovers a father he never knew.*
Pekar,
Harvey (USA) PN6727.P44 A74 2003
American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar. NY: Ballantine, 2003
Much of Pekarâs chronicle of the life of an unimportant government
clerk is compiled in one volume. The author and the stories in this
volume were the subject of an award-winning film starring Paul Giametti.**#
Pekar, Harvey
(USA) Johnson County Library
The Quitter. NY: Vertigo (D.C. Comics), 2005
The author chronicles his personal history of quitting any time a
job, sport or activity seemed to be difficult.**#
Sfar, Joann (France, Algeria)
Klezmer: Tales of the Wild East. NY: First Second, 2006
A group of friends, finally out of the Russian army form an itinerant
Klezmer band to play at weddings, but they are ambushed by a jealous
local band. Only the leader survives to get revenge on his attackers
and as the novel unfolds, various misfits come together to create a
new band. This is part one of a story to be continued.**#
Sfar, Joann (France,
Algeria) PN6747.S48 C4813 2005
The Rabbiâs Cat. NY: Pantheon, 2005
The Rabbiâs cat kills and eats the Rabbiâs parrot, thus gaining
the power of speech. Sfar describes life in Jewish and Muslim
Algeria in the 30âs when the French held power and both religious
groups were persecuted and friendly to each other.**#
Spiegelman, Art (USA) PN6727.S6 I5 2004
In the Shadow of No Towers. NY: Pantheon, 2004
One of Americaâs foremost graphic artists describes his anguish
when the two towers were destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attack. He
relates the attack to early comics.*#
Spiegelman, Art (USA) D804.3 .S655 1992
Maus I: a Survivorâs Tale: My Father Bleeds History. NY: Pantheon, 1986.
Spiegelman relates the story of his parentsâ life in concentration
camps during the Holocaust and shows how it colored their lives in NY
after their survival.**#
Spiegelman, Art (USA) D804.3 .S656 1992
Maus II: a Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. NY: Pantheon, 1991
The author/illustrator completes the story of his family in the Holocaust.**#
Sturm, James (USA)
The Golemâs Mighty Swing. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2001
The barnstorming baseball teams of the 1920s are the grist for this
graphic novel that follows a Jewish team, the Stars of David, through
the Midwest in a broken-down bus, using the gimmick of exotic
ethnicity to draw small-towners to their games. At this level,
baseball is as much showbiz as sport, so to boost attendance, the
team's sole black player, billed as a "member of the lost tribe,"
poses as a golem, a creature made of clay and brought to life by a
rabbinical incantation. The scheme goes terribly awry, however, when
the massive crowd it draws, inflamed by anti-Semitism, storms the
field. Like its legendary model, this golem damages its creators. (Amazon)**#
Waldman, J T
Megillat Esther. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2006
This is an innovative retelling of the Purim story, totally inclusive
of every word of the original text in Hebrew and English, but with
the added dimensions of graphic illustration, Midrashic commentary
and even a list of sources at the end.*
*This book is available in the Johnson County Library System.
**The Johnson County Library System has other books by this author.
# This book is available in the Kansas City, Missouri Library System.
Books about Jewish Artists and Their Contributions
Andelman, Bob PN6727.E4 Z55
2005
Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Milwaukee: M Press, 2005
This is another biography of the father of graphic novels in the United States.
Beauchamp, Monte NC1429.C83 L54
The Life and Times of R. Crumb: Comments from Contemporaries. NY:
St Martinâs 1998
The book contains interviews and essays about the famed underground
graphic artist and his influence on contemporary graphic artists.
Chabon, Michael (USA) PS3553.H15 A82
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. New York: Random House, 2000
The story of the golden age of superhero comics is told through the
life stories of two young Jewish men who drew them. This novel sets
the story of the comics against the threat of Hitler and World War II.
Couch, N.C. Christopher PN 6710 W54 2004
The Will Eisner Companion: the Pioneering Spirit of the Father of
the Graphic Novel DC Comics, 2004
This is the biography of Eisner and how he developed the graphic novel concept.
Dooley, Dennis PN6728.S9 S87 1987
Superman at Fifty: the Persistence of a Legend. Cleveland:
Octavia Press, 1987
This is a collection of essays honoring the Man of Steelâs fiftieth
birthday. There is also a discussion of Jerome Siegel and Jerry
Schuster, two Jewish kids from Cleveland who were the
inventor/creators of the character and who sold their rights to the
story to DC Comics.
Lee,
Stan PN6727.L39 Z467
Excelsior!: the amazing life of Stan Lee. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002
This is the autobiography of the man who personified Marvel Comics
and created many superheroes, among them Spiderman and the X Men.
Raphael, Jordon PN6727.L39 Z88
Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book.
Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2003.
This is a more factual less laudatory look at Stan Leeâs
contributions to the American comic book.
Reidelbach, Maria PN6728.M33 R45
Completely Mad: a History of the Comic Book and Magazine. Boston:
Little, Brown, 1991
This book relates the history of Mad Magazine and is profusely
illustrated. Madâs creator and guiding spirit was Harvey Kurtzman.
Weinstein, Simcha
Up, Up, and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped
the Comic Book Superhero. Baltimore: Leviathan Press, 2006
Rabbi Weinstein, a long-time lover of popular culture, explores the
history of comic book superheroes and looks at them through the lens
of Judaism. This is a fascinating book.
Andrea Kempf/ September 2007
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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