By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — Comic-Con is upon us, so we can expect hotels to be booked solid and the trolleys to be filled with an assortment of Jedi, droids, cyborgs, mutants, monsters and aliens. Like most nerds, I was a great fan of fantasy and science fiction in my youth, captivated by the creative visions and moral lessons they convey. My grandmother thought comic books were a waste of money. But if you read them carefully, you can find the whispers of our Sages within….
“Let your fellow man’s property be as dear to you as your own.” (Pirkei Avot 2:17)
The super heroes of American comic books would dive into dark alleys to save a lady’s purse from muggers or protect a witness from tommy-gun toting gangsters, receiving nothing for their pains but a relieved “thank you.” These were the heroes that filled our young minds with hope and wonder. Their creators were often Jewish and while most did not identify as particularly religious, their creations are indelibly imbued with the values of Judaism.
“You shall not wrong the stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:20)
Superman was the brainchild of two Jewish boys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Created in 1934, shaped by both the Great Depression and the Labor Movement, Superman was the champion of the little guy. The villains he fought were mostly greedy fat cat bosses who cheated and endangered their workers. He would later take on Nazis, Communists and the Ku Klux Klan, all enemies of the Jews.
The ultimate immigrant, Superman made a home for himself in America after his birthplace had been destroyed. Because of his “otherness” as an alien, he found that he had to assimilate, hiding his true nature behind the guise of Clark Kent. his original Kryptonian name was “Kal-El” which, if you say it in Hebrew means “all that is G-d.”
“Justice, justice you shall pursue.” (Deut. 16:20)
Batman, the creation of Bob Kane (originally Kahn) is obsessed with meting out justice on the mean streets of Gotham. Not only must he take down the likes of the Joker and Penguin, but in the Dark Knight chronicles he is faced with corrupt public servants on the take to the mob. Yet he, perhaps more than any other costumed super hero, develops a relationship with the police and is committed to working within the bounds of the law.
“Do not stand upon your neighbor’s blood.” (Lev 19:16)
Spiderman is widely considered the alter-ego of his creator, Stan Lee (originally Stanley Lieber). As Peter Parker, he has all the makings of the nice Jewish boy. A bespectacled science nerd from Queens, he’s bullied by a big blond jock and hopelessly enamored of a hot red-headed girl. Like Batman, his quest for justice is born of personal tragedy. In every punch thrown and web spun, his soul cries out, “Never again!”
“Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord.” (Deut 6:18)
Thing of the Fantastic Four is an impossibly strong and sturdy orange-colored rock monster on the outside. But his inside character reveals a gentle, sensitive soul. Breaking the long-standing taboo of revealing a character’s religion in 2002, Thing recited the Shema over a dying friend and later celebrated a second bar-mitzvah.
Kitty Pryde joined the Uncanny X-Men in 1980. The granddaughter of a Shoah survivor, she once tried to scare off Dracula with a wooden cross. It didn’t work because she had no faith in the item she held. But when Dracula picked her up by the neck, the tiny silver Star of David on her necklace burned into his hand, forcing him to let go.
So we can see that the values conveyed IN comic books are rooted in our Torah and Sages. These heroes are champions of the weak doggedly pursuing justice. They live lives of menshlichkeit often at great personal expense. By contrast, the villains are greedy and power-hungry, concerned only with themselves. Are they really a waste of money like my grandmother thought, or can we see them as an investment in the kind of people we want our children to become?
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Tauber is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com