Sasha Kaplan
Jewish American Heritage Month might be over, but our love for Jewish superheroes and celebrating them isn’t only relegated to one month a year. It is, however, a month where American Jews vaguely remember it exists, the pop culture space does absolutely nothing about it, and somewhere a few people will write creative articles talking about Jewish representation or celebrating famous Jewish people or Jewish characters. This article falls into the latter category. At Comic-Watch, we have dedicated and fantabulous folks who are glad to bring you the magic that is Jewish comic book characters and why we love them, and why their Jewishness gets continuously downplayed, ignored, or outright erased. That’s a separate conversation, however.
Let’s stick to the positive.
I’ll start us off: My favorite Jewish character is, of course, Billy Kaplan.
Billy was a character I fell in love with before I even knew he was Jewish, even back when he was just an Asgardian, and he was talking about leaving a note for the police “from your friendly neighborhood young avengers– because that will stand up in court.” He was infused with sarcasm and humor that rivaled Spider-Man. When I discovered he was Jewish, it opened up so much more about his character and personality that I just said, “Oh, this explains so much.” He’s a character who is always in limbo and not always handled with the right forethought behind it. Far too many writers don’t understand Jewish identity or care about him to do anything with it. But when he gets the chance to be Jewish, you can tell this character is proud of who he is. To the point where even characters who have never met him, like Dr. Nemesis, knew he was Jewish. How did he know that? Did Kitty tell him because she met Billy at the superhero Chinese food night? He is such a proud gay Jewish Avengers fanboy, and when he can be all those things, that is Billy at his best.
It is important that all parts of Billy’s identity, whether his sexuality or his ethnoreligious identity, are treated with respect and aren’t sidelined, ignored, or erased. Billy is unapologetically gay and Jewish. He still values his ethnic heritage and religious tradition, and as we begin pride month, it is important to remember.
A story I would love to see with this character:
I would love to see Billy adjusting to being the second Jew in space. *Queue Jews in Space theme* and what that looks like. But, just like every Jewish character on this list, he needs some Jewish storylines where he gets to be Jewish and explore his Jewishness, whether that’s through a team book with other Jewish superheroes fighting some kind of weird antisemitic cult or something or a solo story as part of an anthology, or one-short, where we get more insights into how he views himself, and his Jewishness. I’d like to see a Jewish person discuss what it means to be Jewish and portray a nuanced conversation about Jewish identity between two superheroes. How about a Jewish, Billy, and Magento team-up? There was a lot left unsaid in Avengers the Children’s Crusade, so let’s go.
What we all want to see is really not asking a lot. Do not erase, but embrace the character’s Jewishness and portray it earnestly and respectfully. To do that, certainly, more Jewish writers and artists are necessary. But more so, comic book companies need to make space for Jewish storytelling like they made space for many other groups to tell their stories and discuss their struggles.
Editor-in-Chief Matt Meyer says that his choice is, Magneto:
“Magneto is my favorite Jewish character, bar none. (My standard Magneto caveat being, “Stories where he’s written with nuance and passion, not as a one-dimensional supervillain of the week.”) Magneto represents the warrior spirit of the Jewish people, who just want to live in peace, but the world refuses to let them, so they must stand and fight. Magneto is every Jew who stood up and punched a Nazi, saying, “We will not go silently into the night.” He’s strong, passionate, and will die in defense of his people without hesitation.
What is a storyline you’d like to see related to this character?
Matt says… “While many Magneto stories are allegorical for mutants-as-Jews, we have rarely seen him acting expressly as a Jewish man. The most famous example is his confrontation with the Red Skull during “Acts of Vengeance,” and while it was effective, it was also 34 years ago. Really honing in and OWNING this crucial piece of Magneto as a three-dimensional character would be a superb way to continue to flesh him out in interesting new directions.
I’d also be extremely curious to see him interact with Sabra since she tends to be the manifestation of the hardliner Israeli stance. Does Magneto translate as a metaphor for the Netanyahu government and Israeli policies? If he does, what does that mean for the character? I’m not the person to answer that question, but I’d be extremely curious to read it from someone who is.”
For Be Radtz, he has an amazing story for his favorite Jewish character.
My favorite Jewish comic character is Polaris, who many don’t associate with having a Jewish identity being a cornerstone of who she is as a character, but her ethnically being Jewish, and not religiously Jewish is something that many people who don’t completely understand this about the Jewish people. We are an ethno-religion, which means that we don’t have to practice or even recognize any of the core tenets of the religious beliefs that’s helped shape who we are as a people in order to be considered Jewish. It was at this moment, all the way back during Chuck Austen’s run on Uncanny X-Men, that it was revealed that she was a daughter of Magnus, one of the most prominent Jews in the Marvel Universe that she became my favorite Jewish character. It’s this dichotomy of being ethnically Jewish, yet not religiously that I found my connection to Lorna. My dad’s Jewish, my mom’s not, and this yearning to be accepted by my family struck those cords deep into the core of my being.
What is a storyline you’d like to see related to this character?
As Magneto’s daughter, Lorna gained a whole new layer of depth that we weren’t used to seeing with her. She was now the daughter of one of the most popular mutants in the world, who was also a survivor of the Nazi’s extermination of European Jews during the Holocaust, and she was also a survivor of something that could be used and explored as an allegory with the destruction of Genosha. Unfortunately, the creators didn’t take the time to mine it for all the emotional resonance it should have been. I’d like to see Lorna take the trauma from this to discuss with her father the trauma that helped shape him into the man that the world would come to fear, as he would pledge to never let the mutants face the genocide that he lived through. It’s something that I can connect with, as my paternal grandfather would tell me the stories of what he endured under a Nazi regime Germany, as he, his father, and sister would flee to England, and later the United States, and then return as a troop during WWII. It’s something that still resonates with me nearly 40 years later.
One of Gabriel De Jesus’s favorite Jewish characters is the Arrowverse’s version of Felicity Smoak.
Felicity added levity and layers to the intentionally dark show Arrow. Especially in the early seasons, she contrasted with the majority of the characters, showing moral and intellectual strength as opposed to physical skills. She had a depth of character, including her identity as a Jewish woman, and it formed a well-rounded character. Despite questionable directions taken with her character and other forms of representation, she kept me tuning into the show more than anything else.
What is a storyline you’d like to see related to this character?
Since the character is passed in the Arrowverse before it ended, I would love to see the continuation in her children. Both her daughter Mia and stepson William as she had a crucial role in their lives. Though the spin-off show that would have starred them was canceled, we could see how Felicity’s children would live through her legacy if brought into comics.
Do you have a favorite character you’d like to tell us about? Or if you have a Jewish story you’d like to see at Marvel, DC, Dynamite, Dark Horse, Image, or another comic book publisher, let us know.