Broken Frontier

The Jewish Museum will present Superheroes: Good and Evil in American Comics, an exhibition of over 70 works and artifacts from the golden age of comic books (1938 to 1950), from September 15, 2006 through January 28, 2007.  The work of 15 artists and writers from this era will be showcased, including Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, and Batman masterminds Bob Kane and Bill Finger.  Superheroes: Good and Evil in American Comics will be on view during the same time period as the larger Masters of American Comics (a two-part exhibition at The Jewish Museum and The Newark Museum featuring nearly 600 objects). 

Superheroes examines how young artists and writers in the late 1930s and the 1940s, primarily immigrants or members of immigrant families in American cities, pioneered a new genre of the comic book inextricably linked to the socio-political realities of America.  This mode of art-making and story-telling would become one of the most popular of all time. With the creation of superheroes and super villains, these artists and writers explored the very real battles of good and evil being fought internationally before, during, and after World War II. Superheroes who echoed characters from Greek mythology and biblical narratives now came to life in the pages of comic books to fight Hitler.

In addition, with these fictional heroes, comic book creators often reflected their own lives as immigrants—frequently Jewish immigrants from European countries.  Keenly aware of their own sense of cultural marginalization, these artists struggled to define themselves in terms of mainstream American culture.  By extension, they created characters whose identities largely reflected this aspect of the immigrant experience. Superheroes were almost exclusively characters whose alter-egos were ordinary people.  The superhero characters fought to right the injustices of the world, injustices their creators had witnessed first hand. These powerful figures fought for truth and justice the American way, becoming iconic representations of the concept for their creators as well as a large and diverse public.

Artists and writers whose work will be included in the Superheroes exhibition are:  Charles Biro, Will Eisner, Lou Fine, Bill Finger, Irwin Hasen, Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Mort Meskin, Emanuel (Mac) Raboy, Fred Ray, Jerry Robinson, Alex Schomburg, Jerry Siegel, Joe Simon, and Joe Shuster.

Superheroes: Good and Evil in American Comics has been organized for The Jewish Museum by guest curator Jerry Robinson, who joined the Batman team in 1939 and is credited with creating the infamous villain, the Joker, and naming the boy wonder, Robin, among other achievements.  Alison Gass, Neubauer Family Foundation Curatorial Assistant, is serving as exhibition coordinator.