Comics exhibit in NY/NJ

[The Night Phantom]

Today I found an article on ABC News’ Web site about a comics exhibit running through the end of January. It is split between two museums: early strips, newspapers, and drawings at the Newark Museum in New Jersey; comic books and graphic novels from 1950 on at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan. (The same exhibit also had a run in California.)

Of especial interest to Avengers fans is that Captain America is represented, as is Jack Kirby—though it’s not entirely clear from the article whether any Kirby Cap art is included.

Annoyingly, the article’s headline is “Heroes and Villains Share Space at Major Comic-Book Exhibit”, but the body of the article doesn’t actually indicate villains are depicted. (And it’s not all from heroic genres; for instance, Peanuts is also featured.) Oh, well—it’s better than the “Bam! Pow! Holy Museum, Batman!” type of headline I’ve come to expect from the mainstream press.

[sharkar]

I plan to go soon to the Jewish Museum's exhibit. From what I've seen (on TV and in magazines), it looks great. And yes, Kirby Cap art is included (as reported in a recent issue of Time Out magazine).

Here is a link to the Jewish Museum's gift shop, comics-related items are available!

shop.thejewishmuseum.org/jmuseum/

[dlw66]

I have previewed the following book at my local Barnes & Noble. It is a very interesting take on the Jewish influence in modern comics. Amazing how many of the great creators have a Jewish background -- disproportionate to other ethnicities.

[The Night Phantom]

sharkar said:

I plan to go soon to the Jewish Museum's exhibit. From what I've seen (on TV and in magazines), it looks great. And yes, Kirby Cap art is included (as reported in a recent issue of Time Out magazine).

Thanks for clarifying. Please be sure to report back about your trip! And have fun! ;D

Here is a link to the Jewish Museum's gift shop, comics-related items are available!

shop.thejewishmuseum.org/jmuseum/

I noticed they headlined the shop’s main page with “Zap! Pow! Bam!”—ugh.

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dlw66 said:

Amazing how many of the great creators have a Jewish background -- disproportionate to other ethnicities.

And when you consider their influence on the comics industry, the disproportion becomes all the greater. Surely both Jews and goyim who make comics and read comics owe a lot of thanks to creators who happen to be Jewish.

[The Night Phantom]

Newsarama has posted an interview with an old-time comics creator who is curating the Jewish Museum’s comics exhibit. Here’s the introduction to the interview:

Jerry Robinson is best known for co-creating the Batman villain The Joker and for giving Robin, the Boy Wonder his nom de plume. Though Robinson has retired from creating new comic books, he’s still very much involved with his comic strip syndicate and documenting the history of comic books. His latest triumph is the exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York City entitled Superheroes: Good and Evil in American Comics. This show highlights a number of Golden Age creators including Joe Kubert, Mort Meskin, Emanuel (Mac) Raboy and many more. I got a chance to talk with Robinson from his home in New York City.

Curious? Read the interview!