JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience

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.