Overview

A large number of the creators of the most famous superheroes were of Jewish background, secular, religious, or both. In Disguised as Clark Kent , Danny Fingeroth explores how the Jewish consciousness of these individuals impacted the content of the comics and contributed to making characters such as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman into the most familiar popular-culture icons of all time - on television and in movies, as well as in the four-colour pages in which they originated. The book is well researched, including personal interviews as well as historical data. It centers on questions of Jewish identity, which is historically about the push and pull toward and away from that very identity. One sees this immediately and most famously in Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the superhero disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper. It is also a large part of Bill Finger and Bob Kane's Batman , Will Eisner's Spirit , Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Captain America . As emigrants with a history of persecution, Jews came to America with their heads down but their eyes open. Finding in America a civilization freer of officially sanctioned anti-Semitism and replete with a philosophy that allowed the individual to succeed to the extent of his or her abilities, Jews were faced with unprecedented freedom and opportunity. Yet there were limits, spoken and unspoken, that they dared not push. Many were relegated to trades and fields with a taint of shabbiness to them. The garment business was one. Another was entertainment, of which the outer edges of the formerly old-line publishing industry was another: the pulps and the comics. It was here the above-named made their mark, later to be re-imagined by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and others from the 1960s down to our own time. Disguised as Clark Kent brings valuable insight into the fantasies that fuel our imaginations and entertainment industry, as well as many significant and often hidden aspects of our society.

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Reviews

The analogy between superheroes and Jewishness is odd, considering they were created as potent symbols of America. But it comes as less of a surprise when we learn that most of the writers and publishers in the comics industry from the 1930s onwards were Jewish. Indeed, the creators of the most famous superhero of them all, The Man of Steel (aka Superman), were DC Comics' Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, both born in 1914 to Jewish immigrants... I found a resonance there for me and something other people would be curious about. The Jewish Chronicle, February 28, 2008

A very thoughtful, very smart, very readable exploration of its subject.It is an essential book for any serious student of comics history and a darn swell read to boot. -Tony Isabella, Comics Buyer's Guide--Sanford Lakoff

A very thoughtful, very smart, very readable exploration of its subject.It is an essential book for any serious student of comics history and a darn swell read to boot. -Tony Isabella, Comics Buyer's Guide--,

Author Information

As former Group Editor of Marvel Comics Spider-Man line, Danny Flingeroth became intimately familiar with the key elements of superhero mythology. He is exceptionally well versed in just what it takes to breathe life into these characters. Fingeroth is currently the creator and editor of Write Now magazine. He lives in New York City with his wife, sons, and 30,000 comic books.

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