Exhibition sponsored in part by Occasions Catering and the Eli and Judith Lippman Family Foundation.
Current Exhibition
JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience
Action Comics #1, 1938. Written by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Art by Joe Shuster. TM & Copyright DC Comics.
JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience explores 100 years of Jewish cartoons, comics, and graphic novels. Enjoy this visually engaging exhibition that touches on political cartoons, immigrant stories, DC fandom, female creators, Sunday funnies, your favorite superheroes, and much more.
At the heart of the exhibition, audiences will discover the Jewish origins of iconic comic book superheroes beginning in the 1930s through the 1960s. The development of cartoons in Yiddish and in Modern Hebrew augments the story. The exhibition includes contemporary graphic novels which explore Jewish themes from Israel to Iraq and back to America. Scenes from local DC-area comic fandom round out the exhibition, welcoming new and old comic enthusiasts into the story. Visitors will enjoy an extensive collection of original artworks, rare comic books, and historical artifacts.
The exhibition concludes with a reading room and activity space for visitors of all ages to learn more, draw their own page of a comic book, and dress up as a superhero and pose for heroic selfies.
The exhibition is organized into the following sections:
- Yiddish Humor
- The Comic’s Industry’s Beginning
- Fighting Fascism
- Hebrew for Children, 1946-48
- Entering the Silver Age
- Fandom in the Capital
- Graphic Novels Take the Stage
JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience comes to the Museum from the Center for Jewish History in New York City and has been adapted and expanded by the Museum for the DC presentation.
Exhibition Highlights
See original copies of rare comic books, including the debut of Art Spiegelman’s Maus, presented as a small insert in Raw Magazine (V1, #2, 1980). Learn about Superman fighting Nazis, when Mickey Mouse spoke Modern Hebrew, the spread of Yiddish cartoons in New York City, and some of the best Jewish graphic novels of the 21st century. Discover which Marvel superhero had a bar mitzvah as an adult and who crushed a glass at his comic book wedding. Then hang out in the all-ages reading room and enjoy classic comics and graphic novels, creator biographies, and works represented in the galleries.
Action Comics #1, 1938. Written by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Art by Joe Shuster. TM & Copyright DC Comics.
Photograph of a child reading a Superman comic book by Marjory Collins, October 1942. Library of Congress.
Nyu-yorker yidishe folkstsaytung, New York, October 4, 1889. Art by Max Sande. Courtesy of the YIVO Library.
Batman Detective Comics #27, 1939. Written by Bill Finger. Illustrated by Bob Kane. Trademark and Copyright: DC Comics
Captain America #1, March 1941. Written by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. Art by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. TM & Copyright Timely Comics (Marvel).
Señorita Rio, Fight Comics #38, April 1945. Fiction House. Written by Morgan (Joe) Hawkins. Art by Lily Renée.
Miki Maoz (Mighty Mickey) Series #2, Tel Aviv, 1947. Edited by Yehoshua Tan Pai. Published by D. Topol & Sons Publishing. Yeshiva University Museum.
Secrets Behind the Comics by Stan Lee, 1947.
The Fantastic Four #1, 1961. Written by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Art by Jack Kirby. TM & Copyright Marvel
The Agony and the Ecstasy of a Shayna Mandel, Wimmen's Comix, No 3, 1973. Written by Diane Noomin. Art by Diane Noomin. Published by Last Gasp.
MAD fiddler MAD #156, January 1973. Published by Entertaining Comics, INC. TM & Copyright EC.
Katy Cruel, Wimmen's Comix No 6, The Special Bicentennial Issue, 1976. By Sharon Rudahl. Published by Last Gasp.
Raw V1 Issue #2, 1980, open to Art Spiegelman’s Maus. On loan from Danny Fingeroth.
Big Planet Comics Logo design, ca. 1986. Art by Joel Pollack. On loan from Joel Pollack
Mock-up of the final cover art design for "Bill, the Boy Wonder, the Secret Co-Creator of Batman," ca. 2011. Art by Ty Templeton. On loan from Marc Tyler Nobleman.
Le Juif Arabe by Asaf Hanuka, 2023. TM & Copyright Steinkis BD.
