Broken Frontier

Those of you who have been kind enough to have read The Story Factory since its beginnings will remember that some of the earliest topics I explored included character stereotypes. I can’t quite recall the details now, but I feel that one area of storytelling that I most likely ignored was The Bible – The Old Testament.

“Before Superman, Batman and Spider-Man, there were the super patriarchs and super matriarchs of the Bible,” writes Rabbi Simcha Weinstein. Some of the first superheroes were mighty men and women such as Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David, Samson, Elijah, Ruth and Esther; they all wielded courage and powers to protect their people. 

Jewish culture is one of storytelling; whether you are observant or not, most Jews connect with their backgrounds through the common stories that define us. The story of Passover, of Josef and his many colored coat, the tale of Samson and Delilah; of Noah’s Ark these are fairly well known through much of Western Judeo-Christian culture. Most of us can recall the central themes and plot points of these stories without too much effort.

Some people accept it as fact, others believe in its value as a mythical allegory, yet according to the most learned of the Jewish scholars, all of human knowledge is contained in The Old Testament, which in Hebrew is called the Torah. The 304, 805 letters, written by hand, make up the greatest story ever told; perhaps the font of all stories.

Much more than a fairy tale, The Old Testament is taken by many to be a code by which they should live their lives. In this light an 18th century scholar Rabbi Zalman suggested that Jews should relate the weekly reading of the Torah to the events in their daily lives.

As discussed in my last column, the world of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s was a dark one; Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany, the Great Depression crippled the American economy, humans ‘perfected’ the industry of mass murder and Europe, Asia, the Pacific and northern Africa were consumed by war.

Early 1900s America was a new land to many European immigrants looking for a new life. The Statue Of Liberty truly was a beacon of hope to people fleeing dark times and she inspired many of those newcomers to tell new stories of hope and of freedom. This was a terrible era and the world needed new heroes. Even before their own country was drawn into the war young American Jews were creating heroes to fight against the evil of Nazism.

Each of those early heroes exemplified prominent themes that run through Jewish culture. As Rabbi Weinstein shows:

• Superman = integrity
• Batman and The Spirit = justice
• Captain America = patriotsm
• Justice League = team work
• Fantastic Four = family values
• Hulk = anger
• Spider-Man = responsibility and redemption
• X-Men = anti-semitism and reconciliation

Through fantastic stories featuring awesome characters, young Jewish creators were able to explore the important issues they faced in daily lives. I do much the same today where I find fiction to be a much ‘safer’ environment in which to explore some of the elements of my life.

Good stories are about issues and their resolution and comics are no different. Generations of Jewish comic book creators have used the medium to explore pertinent issues including assimilation, discrimination, the lives of people who are drifters or without homes. X-Men is clearly a parable on the evils of racism, the scourge of 1920s – 1940s Europe. Sadly more than four decades after their first appearance Professor Xavier’s students are still searching for acceptance (as are many other minorities).

Rabbi Weinstein argues in Up, Up and Oy Vey! that the values imbued in our comic books are not all that different from those found in the Bible; if you read the list above you will see that he is correct. In the next few weeks I will be taking a closer look at our favourite comic book superheroes and the Jewish values and culture that inspire and define them.

There has been much that I have enjoyed in writing The Story Factory, but this is the most exciting time for me in its almost one year history. I specifically intended to learn from this column as I wrote it and I have a feeling that over the next few weeks I will uncover some very important lessons.

Each and every one of us who creates draws his or her inspiration from somewhere that is ill-defined. Some of us call it fate, others think of its as an elusive spark that, once fired, feeds a roaring creative flame. Over the last few weeks I have been excited to learn and discover that much which inspires me comes from my own traditions and culture; from more than 5000 years of history, from the desert sands of ancient Egypt to the milk and honey of the land of Israel.

So, am I a Jewish comic book creator or a comic book creator who is Jewish? I will be exploring that question too. With such heavy issues on my mind, I am glad to be coming to Rabbi Weinstein for help.

Next: The Comic Book Rabbi.