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Wed, Dec 25: 11am-3pm | Advance Tickets Required

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.

Location

  • Capital Jewish Museum
    575 3rd Street, NW, Washington, DC

Tickets

  • General $10
  • Free Ages 12 & Under
  • Free for Members

Buy Tickets

Wednesday, December 25: Advance Tickets Required | Afternoon Tickets Available

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.

With Thanks to Our Sponsors:

Exhibition sponsored in part by Occasions Catering and the Eli and Judith Lippman Family Foundation.

Related Programs

Member Program

Members-Only Preview of JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience

Sunday, October 27, 2024 11am–6 pm

Family Program

Family Day: Comics & Community  

Monday, November 11, 2024 9:30am–1 pm