The Best-Known Comedy Writer You’ve Never Heard Of
You know The Simpsons? You know the Minions from Despicable Me? You know Jay Sherman, The Critic? You know Johnny Carson, Garry Shandling, Joan Rivers, the Oscars and — yes — the Pope? Mike Reiss does. And unlike you: personally. (Yes, even the animated ones.) For more than three decades, Mike Reiss has written for, co-created and “punched-up” some of the most revered comedy cartoon series and live-action movies of our modern era. He writes children’s books, is forced to be up on all the podcast and Twitter meshugaas, and has traveled the world — multiple times (yes, including the North and South Pole … multiple times). Mike is, in a word, one of contemporary comedy’s most ardent purveyors of laughs … but clearly not one of its best word-counters. Pop culture historian and co-author of Mike’s hit memoir Springfield Confidential, Mathew Klickstein, will be engaging his longtime friend and colleague in a brain-busting and soul-searing session of deep-dive questioning, also pulling questions from the audience for those who always wanted to know why the Simpsons seem so Jewish, if ALF actually ate all of those cats, and whether or not Garry Shandling really used two “r”‘s in his name.
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Drawing From Memory: From Archive to Graphic Novel
How can the descendants of Holocaust survivors reckon with generational trauma through art? How does each generation’s relationship with tragedy change over time, in shifting social and political conditions? Art Spiegelman’s Maus, originally published in 1986, was a groundbreaking work using comics to express the tragedy and generational trauma of the Holocaust. Today, third- and fourth-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors in the United States reckon not only with the generational trauma, but with their positionality in complex and uncertain political times. With much of the Holocaust’s generation no longer around, scholars, authors, and interested family members rely on archives to piece together stories. Graphic memoirist Ari Richter, who researched his graphic family saga Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz in the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) Archives, grapples with these challenges through his artistic and literary exploration of his family history. In “Drawing From Memory,” Professor Amy Hungerford of Columbia University will engage in conversation with Richter about bringing the archive into the graphic novel.
Presented by the Leo Baeck Institute
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American (Jewish) Splendor: Celebrating Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner
Harvey Pekar (1939-2010) created and wrote American Splendor comics, which inspired a whole branch of memoir comics (not to mention the 2003 American Splendor movie), which Harvey produced with Robert Crumb and other notable artists. With his wife and creative partner, Joyce Brabner, who passed away in August, Pekar created a singular body of work, much of it Jewish-themed. On her own, Joyce wrote significant graphic novels. Harvey would have been 85 years old this past October 8. His and Joyce’s influence on comics remains strong.
Talking about Harvey and Joyce at this panel are two of Harvey’s artistic partners, Dean Haspiel (The Quitter; Billy Dogma) and Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge; The Influencing Machine) as well as Jeff Newelt (editor of The Pekar Project); JewCE award-winning cartoonist Peter Kuper (Stop Forgetting to Remember; Ruins), who knew Harvey in ‘70s Cleveland; historian Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton; Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends), and writer Danny Fingeroth (author of Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald’s Assassin), who hosted Harvey at a 2009 event with YIVO.
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Jewish Mythology and Fantasy in Adventure Comics
Join an exhilarating and broad ranging conversation about Jewish mythology and fantasy in adventure comics with the Berkowitz Brothers (Ben and Max), who are the writers and creators with Josh Gad of The Writer, and Amit Tishler, creator and writer of Edenfrost and The Last Wardens. Moderated by cartoonist Neil Kleid.
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DC Comics in the 80s—A Magic Moment
DC Comics in the 1980s was a magic place, with some of the most significant comics in the company’s long history, a movie that changed the path of super hero films, and more. Come listen to some of the team that made the magic happen.
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Exploring Jewish Humor in Comics
Two MAD contributors, two comic strip artists, and an Israeli cartoonist walk into a panel…. Join professional funnypeople Arie Kaplan (MAD Magazine, The Day I Became a Potato Pancake), Chari Pere (MAD Magazine, Corona Mama), Hilary Price (Rhymes With Orange), Terry LaBan (Edge City, Mendel the Mess-Up), and Uri Fink (Zbeng!) for a serious(ly fun) discussion about humor.
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Batman at 85
Celebrate the Dark Knight’s 85th anniversary with comics industry legends Jordan B. Gorfinkel (former Batman group editor at DC, ideator of “No Man’s Land,” creator of Birds of Prey, writer of the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel), Athena Finger (granddaughter of Batman’s co-creator Bill Finger), writer Danny Fingeroth (Marvel Comics group editor), and art historian N. C. Christopher Couch. Learn the secrets behind the cowl, including whether Batman actually is Jewish! Moderated by JewCE’s Roy Schwartz.
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Leadership and Legacy: Trina Robbins Tribute
The JewCE Award for Career Achievement is named after Trina Robbins, who received award in 2023. Robbins passed away in 2024 and was a famed cartoonist and comics ‘herstorian’ who wrote graphic novels, books, and comics, many of them with Jewish subjects, for over half a century. Her subjects ranged from the Eisner Award-nominated A Minyen Yidn, an adaptation of her father’s Yiddish book, a graphic biography of Holocaust survivor Lily Renée, and her own Jewish teenage superheroine, GoGirl! She won multiple Eisner Awards and was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Wizard World Hall of Legends in 2017. Hear from those who knew her and celebrate Trina’s singular contributions in this tribute panel that will touch on her leadership and trailblazing legacy.
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An Xciting Conversation with Chris Claremont
JewCE’s Roy Schwartz hosts living legend Chris Claremont for an in-depth conversation about his long and diverse career, its immense impact on the comics field, all things X-Men, and his many Jewish influences—some never discussed before!
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Israeli Graphic Novels After October 7
October 7 forever changed life in Israeli society and for Jews around the world, especially in America. Join Uri Fink one of Israel’s leading comic book artists and creator the comic series “Zbeng”, award-winning illustrator and cartoonist Koren Shadmi, writer, actor, and voice actor Omri Rose, and bestselling non-fiction author Sean Wise as they discuss how graphic novels, including their works “The Heart of 10.7” and “Echoes of October,” are dealing with this current moment and looking to the future.
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