"The Golden Age"

When asked how we remember our first experience with comic books and comic book heroes, the following came to mind: video games, cartoons, movies, and parents. If I had to think back to my first memory of a comic book hero I would probably have to associate it with the mid 90’s cartoon portrayals of Spiderman and Batman. I’ve also always grown up watching the numerous versions of Batman films (I think the first one I ever saw was with Val Kilmer portraying Batman). It seemed like a common theme among the class was that we had watch different versions of comic books in movies or on tv. It’s just interesting to think about how times have changed, in that most of the students in the class didn’t grow up reading the comic books themselves. But, I am sure there are a few of us that did. I think it’s really neat to see the idea of superheroes still holding on, but just being displayed in a different manner such as video games or remakes of movies.

One interesting comment came up in class today, which I hadn’t even thought of. Someone made the comment that although most of the Jewish undertones in comic books are unintentional, why is it that none of these Jewish authors and artists directed their work to portray certain instances in Jewish culture in the first place? I think the inference that we made as a class to answer this question is intelligent. Because Jewish authors and artists were going through a time when ethnicity was not celebrated, the demand for this type of content was minimal. Another reason could be that these writers simply didn’t want to write about their past. Comic books were a way for them to overcome their obstacles and escape the reality of what had happened.

On a final side note, I just want to say that I think the idea of the “Golem” is very intriguing and I’d love to learn more about the theory around this character. And, although “The Thing” and a few other characters may resemble the “Golem,” I would have never associated them with the “Golem.” So, it’s interesting to see how other people, who are more engaged in comics, theorize these characters and find parallels.