Marvel and DC Owe More to Jewish Creators Than Many Fans May Realize

The Shepherd Express of Milwaukee wrote about the history of the medium’s Jewish contributors, now the subject of an exhibition at their local Jewish museum: Superman was invented in 1938 by two Jewish kids from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. They grew up on a diet of pulp sci-fi and Sunday comic strips, fields where Jewish Americans held a prominent place. Their idea for a superhero-in-disguise, his alien origins concealed beneath the blandly affable image of Clark Kent, encoded their experiences as children of refugee immigrants in a society where difference could be dangerous as Kryptonite. Their stories and their work, amongst many others, are at the heart of “Chosen Heroes: The Jewish Comics Experience” at Jewish Museum Milwaukee. Although the exhibition’s scope is wide, much of it is focused on the Jewish pioneers of America’s comic book industry, a once reviled trade that quickly colonized the imagination of adolescents and gradually ascended to the summit of world pop culture. By 2018, half of the 10 highest grossing movies of the year were based directly on comic books. The DC and Marvel universes were created by Jewish American demiurges. “Jewish artists invent...