In the last issue, I gave reasons why so many Jews were involved in comics during its infancy, the Golden Age. Today in part two, we continue to look at why the Jews were the “chosen” creators?:

“My goal was to make people laugh at Hitler”- Mel Brooks

After all the Jews have been through, we have to laugh. Survival of the fittest ensured only those who could laugh survived; humor has been used to both make life bearable and as a weapon. While many affiliate the Golden Age of comics with superheroes, many of the best sellers were humor and funny animal books. The imagination and humor of these could have only come from a bunch of Hebrews. At one of the darkest points in our history, Comics were a way for us to endure.

“I won’t say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like: What I’m going to be if I grow up.”- Lenny Bruce

Early comic creators were predisposed to depression, mental illness and alcoholism due to living in poverty, having limited opportunities, watching their families work long hours at mundane jobs, and the horrors occurring to their families overseas. Comics was (and still is) an incredible form of escapism. Comic books allowed creators to travel to imaginary lands; They could fly to outer space to fight aliens, fight Nazis, be a dark knight in the dismal streets of Gotham, be a funny animal underdog hero, or they could even be a blond pretty boy who gets the American standard of beauty; the shiksa.

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”- George Burns

The comic industry was a very small field that just happened to take off. Many of those working in the field were related. Stan Lee, for instance, got a job at Marvel because Marvel’s publisher, Martin Goodman, was married to Lee’s cousin.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Look at the Astors and the Vanderbilts, all those big society people. They were the worst thieves – and now look at them. It’s just a matter of time”- Meyer Lansky

Crime comics were very popular in the golden age, and Jews in America have always had a bizarre fetish for gangsters. Organized crime is very un-Jewish, but many Jews in the early 20th century were attracted to it as a way to escape the slums and to rebel against the stereotype of Jews as weak, powerless, and unable to protect themselves. Crime comics showed an empathetic view of criminals who turned to crime due to social injustice. The comics were advertised as a “force for good in the community” because the endings always featured the criminals learning their lessons. While they flirted with organized crime, most nice Jewish boys knew “Crime Does Not Pay”. (That was clever; I just used the title to one of the most popular golden age crime comics).

“Q: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a lightbulb? A: (Sigh) It’s all right… I’ll sit in the dark”- Random Yid

My own personal belief is that some of the early creators may have been having their own mini-rebellion against their mothers. Their mothers dreamed they would become famous educated writers, and the early creators felt the horrible guilt trip of letting their mom’s down. Like all good Jewish boys, they gave into their mother’s bickering with their own little subtle rebellions mixed in. They became writers… COMIC WRITERS!

“Zolst farlirn ale tseyner akhuts eynem, un der zol dir vey ton (You should lose all your teeth except one, and that one should ache!)”- Classic Yiddish smack talk

Comics began soon after the great Ashkenazi immigration. Most Jews arriving in America spoke Yiddish, a mutt language made up of German, Hebrew, Russian, and a whole slew of other languages blended together. The majority of these Jews came from the ghettos and shtetl’s of Eastern Europe. They were looked down upon by gentiles as well as many of their Jewish brothers and sisters who saw them as uneducated and uncultured. Many Jewish elites wanted the language of the diaspora to become extinct.

These elites wanted Hebrew to revert back to the official language of the Jews, Hebrew. Yiddish was the everyday common folk language and these “salt of the earth” Jews took pride in their heritage. We were not fancy uppity folk. We were Yids straight out the shtetl. Yiddish was more than just a language; it was a culture, and we were stubborn and prideful.

Like Yiddish, comics were seen as the “dirt” art form, lowly and not respectable. Comics were looked down upon, and many of its biggest critics were the elite Jews. The greatest enemy of comics was Fredric Wertham, a Yid from Munich, Germany, who wrote the notorious book Seduction of the Innocent. This iconic book accused comics of causing homosexuality and juvenile delinquency. Wertham headed a widespread attack on the comic book industry including a U.S. Congressional inquiry on the immorality of comics that led to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority to self-censor the industry. Like Yiddish-speaking Jews, comics were looked down upon, but these stubborn creators gave birth to a new art form full of the same vigor, everyday connectability, and the nuances of Yiddish.

“Zolst hobn tsen haizer, yeder hoiz zol hobn tsen tsimern, in yeder tsimer zoln zain tsen betn un zolst zij kaiklen fun ein bet in der tsweiter mit cadojes! (I wish you to have ten houses, each house with ten rooms, each room with ten beds and you should roll from one bed to the other with cholera!)”- Another lovely Yiddish saying

Yiddish is sensational, with over the top sayings. Macher is a big shot, putz is a fool, and half of society is schmucks. Yiddish is an animated language, and when Jews speak we use our hands. Even when we speak English we add our Yiddish throughout. Our sprinklings of Yiddish are similar to the “Pows”, and the “Blams”. The animated language of comics is a natural fit for a people who speak with added flare, hand gestures, and emphasis throughout their dialogue.

Thanks for reading my column. Make sure to check out part one here. See you in two weeks. ZAYT GEZUNT!

Resources:

Jews in American Comics: An Illustrated History of an American Art Form by Paul Buhle (Editor)

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