Jewish Roots of the Comic Industry

10:00AM Auditorium

Superman and Batman were created by the children of eastern European Jewish immigrants! So were the Avengers and the X-Men! And the genre of non-superhero graphic novels like Maus was also largely jumpstarted by creators of similar backgrounds. Today, Hebraic historians discuss the Jewish roots of comics, maybe, along the way, dispelling some of the creation myths that have been passed down through time. Join Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton), Roy Schwartz (Is Superman Circumcised?), Simcha Weinstein (Up, Up and Oy Vey!) and moderator Danny Fingeroth (Disguised as Clark Kent) as they dig deep into comics’ Genesis.

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Jewish Folklore in Comics

10:00AM Kovno Room

As a uniquely visual mode of Jewish storytelling, graphic novels that deal with Jewish historical topics often delve into the realm of folklore to broaden the cultural reach of their work. This panel will look at the ways in which Jewish graphic novelists engage with folklore and history in their work.

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From strength to strength: Jewish superheroes through the ages!

11:30AM Auditorium

From Superman’s Jewish metaphor to the Thing’s “conversion” to Judaism to Kitty Pryde’s proud Jewishness to Harley Quinn’s, um, whatever’s going on there—Jewish context, themes, and identity have been part of superheroes from the very start. Join moderator Roy Schwartz and industry superstars Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis (via Zoom), Dean Haspiel, and E. Lockhart for a lively discussion on the history and meaning of super mensches and maidels!

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Queering Jewish Comics

11:30AM Kovno Room

What might it mean to queer Jewish comics? In this panel, we will explore the works of comics creators who have challenged normative notions of Jewish identity and belonging, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality, by experimenting with elements like form, style, characterization, and storytelling convention. Our panelists will discuss their experiences of shaping Jewish characters and stories to expand ideas of what Jewish comics storytelling can look like, and what it can say.

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Breaking the Mainstream: Getting past Ashkenormativity and Secularism in Comics

1:00PM Auditorium

There’s a lot of different Jews and Judaism out there, why does so little of it make it into the comic book page? Join us for a thought-provoking discussion about Ashkenormativity and secularism in comics with four boundary-pushing and mold-breaking authors. We’ll explore why they choose to tell the stories they tell, and how they grapple with the inevitable challenges that come with introducing an “unfamiliar” Judaism to their readers.

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Kids Comics for Mini Mensches

1:00PM Kovno Room

What does it mean to make a Jewish comic for kids (or a comic for Jewish kids, which isn’t necessarily the same thing)? Join us – kids very much encouraged! – to ask these questions and others of some of the best kids’ comics creators working today; and we might just have some drawing challenges…

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Canons are Made to Blow Up! Retconning, Rebooting, Jossing, and other Paradigm Shifts

2:30PM Auditorium

This panel will bring together comic creators to discuss continuity changes withing long-running comics. From multiversal reboots to undo something, to revealing new character information that may reshape older events, to taking characters in a direction opposite to those of popular fan theories the dynamically open canon format of comics means that all sorts of changes can and do take place.

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Jewish Comics and Remembrance Culture

2:30PM Kovno Room

Comics have become a recognized medium for engaging with Jewish history, Holocaust narrative, and personal memory/narrative.  Join our panelists and moderator Samantha Baskind to talk about the role of remembrance culture in Jewish comics.

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Will Eisner: the First Poet Laureate of the Jewish Graphic Novel

4:00PM Auditorium

Will Eisner was a ground-breaking comics creator in the 1940s with THE SPIRIT, and then again in the 1970s with his powerful A CONTRACT WITH GOD serving as the breakthrough modern graphic novel inspiring a generation of writers and artists. It was the first of a series of graphic novels he created focusing on life in the Jewish immigrant communities of New York in the early 20th Century. His name lives on in the Eisner Hall of Fame and Eisner Awards, the most prestigious honors in the field. More importantly, his creative influence continues to be felt through his proteges, students and readers. Join Paul Levitz (author of WILL EISNER: CHAMPION OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL and Eisner Hall of Fame inductee for his long career as a comics writer, editor, publisher and educator) and former Eisner assistant Jules Feiffer (Pulitizer, Oscar, Obie and Eisner Hall of Fame inductee) for a discussion of Eisner and his continuing relevance.

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Telling other People’s Stories

4:00PM Kovno Room

Who gets to write the story of a people, person, or event?  How can you approach a historical or contemporary story that isn’t your own with empathy, understanding of the subject, audience, and your own influence as a creator?  Join us to hear from a group of creators who have approached this craft from multiple vantages and hear their take on the nuance and subtlety of retelling.

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Jewish Female Narratives in the Graphic Arts

5:30PM Auditorium

Join an amazing group of female creators to consider issues of gender and Jewishness in personal narrative. Panelists will discuss how gender and creed does or doesn’t, should or shouldn’t, inform their storytelling. They will also explore if and how their decisions change depending on whether the stories are creator-owned or with licensed characters, or if they are working with collaborators with differing backgrounds.

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Holy Graphic Novels!

5:30PM Kovno Room

It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane! It’s… Moses! And Miriam, and the Maccabees, and the Megillah… and all of our sacred texts and heroes (and not just the ones that start with the letter M!). They’re being given renewed life and attention in Jewish comics and graphic novel—and now, for the first time ever, you can thrill to the amazing adventures of their talented creators—both commercial and cutting edge—as they reveal the secret origins of their art and careers!

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