Workshop with Jennifer Caplan, “”For Jor-El So Loved The World…:  Jews and Comic Books from Superman to Sabra”

This workshop will engage participants in discussion about the Jewish identity of various superheroes from DC and Marvel Comics. Some, like Kitty Pryde and Sabra, have been Jewish since their inception. Others, like The Thing, Magneto, and Ragman were not written as Jewish, but have been made Jewish over their publication histories. And then there is Superman. Superman was not written as Jewish, and has never been made Jewish in print or on screen. There are, nevertheless, numerous books, articles, podcasts and fan theories speculating that Superman is, was, and always has been Jewish. We will discuss what is at stake in arguing for or against the Jewishness of these characters, and why Jewish identity has lagged behind many other minority identities in comics representation.