Welcome to With Great Chutzpah Comes Great Responsibility, your every other week dose of Jews and comics.
Last summer, I stood in line at the Wizard World NYC Experience waiting to accuse my hero, Stan Lee, of being a bigger Jew than he admits. True story. I even prayed on it. During a question and answer panel spotlighting Lee, I planned to ask him if he spoke Yiddish, and request that he do so in front of a tent of people. Was I wrong? Why would I not be satisfied until he spoke the language of our ancestors in front of an audience of Jews and gentiles alike?
A little background: Stan Lee, if you somehow don’t know, co-created much of the Marvel Universe—The X-Men, Spidey, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Thor and so many more. His parents, Jack and Celia Lieber, emigrated from Romania to Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They were Jews; he was a Jew, born Stanley Martin Lieber; his cousin, Martin Goodman, the publisher of the company that would become Marvel, was a Jew. Heck, almost the entire comic industry was made up of Jews. No one wanted to work in comics, but other more “respectable” fields wouldn’t hire our Yiddish behinds. After Goodman gave him a job, Stanley became Stan Lee.
Lee’s character’s were not Jewish, but they sure acted like they were. Peter Parker is a neurotic mess whose inspiration to be a hero is his guilt. The Fantastic Four are a family who bicker as much as they fight crime. The X-Men are an oppressed minority discriminated against by the same people they try to help.
Recently there have been a few examples of Lee acknowledging his Jewish heritage, but there are many instances where he does not. It’s the times he does not acknowledge his background that are telling to me. Most of the sources in which he refers to his heritage are in Jewish sources, while he shies away from mentioning his background in mainstream publications. In both cases, he downplays it.
Is this a symptom of past paranoia making him wary of drawing attention to his background? Does Lee not have the right to self-identify? Just because I talk about being Jewish way too much, does that mean he has to also?
Like most early Jewish creators, Lee hid his Jewish identity when he broke into the industry. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Danny Fingeroth, author of Disguised As Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero, said:
“While there was never in the U.S. the virulent anti-Semitism of Hitlerian and Tsarist Europe, there were plenty of homegrown bigots and demagogues, the most influential of whom included Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and Father Coughlin, so American Jews, in general, were wary of calling attention to their identities, especially those in media who tended to be either from less traditional homes, or seeking escape from tradition. These early comics creators wanted themselves and their creations to be seen as ‘all-American.'”
Today, the industry is very different. We have Jewish superheroes proudly reppin’ the tribe. Graphic novel racks are filled with tales of our history written by authors who proudly use their Semitic names. A Jewish comic, Maus, won the Pulitzer Prize. Many of the early comic creators, such as Will Eisner and Joe Kubert, ended their careers writing Jewish stories. Yet, while the industry no longer denies its Jewish influences, Lee downplays his heritage.
When The Thing, a character from the Lower East Side based on Lee’s frequent collaborator Jack Kirby, came out as a Jew, Lee was asked if he planned for The Thing to be. Lee said, “You Know, I didn’t intend for him to be Jewish. No. I never thought for a minute what [the characters’] religions were.” In the same radio interview, when questioned how much Judaism influenced the field, he stated, “You know, I have no idea. I never really thought of it… It is strange when you mention that the—perhaps best-known of all the characters—Spider-Man, Superman and Batman were done by Jewish writers. I guess that is an odd thought. ”
When I watched the 2010 documentary With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story, I yearned for a chapter about his upbringing and how his family moved from the shtetl to the Jewish Bronx. The closest we get is when his wife states they had difficulty adopting a child because you “couldn’t adopt into any mixed marriages at that time.” She never refers to him as a Jew, and neither does he.
In Lee’s 2002 autobiography, Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee, he doesn’t address the issue other than to say his mother was “a nice, rather old-fashioned Jewish lady.” Now some will say: “Why does he have to state he is Jewish? Isn’t it obvious that if his momma is Jewish then he is too?” In reply, I say, c’mon people, ONE SENTENCE! And not a direct reference!
There are sources where he does identify as Jewish. In a 2005 interview conducted in the Jerusalem Post, a top Semitic paper, Lee stated, “Jewish Culture in great, and I’m proud of it. Jewish people—and I include myself—I think we think a certain way, we feel a certain way, we react to things a certain way.” Yes! I only wish he said this in the sources previously listed. Lee even wrote the forward to Disguised As Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero, and when he talks about the Jews involved in the industry he uses the pronoun “we.” Lee ends the forward by saying “Excelsior– and zei gezunt,” which means “Excelsior– and be well.” Aha! Proof he speaks at least a little Yiddish!
Let’s be real here, repping the tribe in a room full of Jews is a lot different than standing in front of an audience of people from all backgrounds and saying “I am a Hebrew and I am proud of it!” But why is my self-worth affected by Stan Lee’s lack of public acknowledgement?
This is the era of assimilation. The intermarriage rate is 58% in the US. Most Jews see themselves as white; most of society sees us as white, and we are given the privileges surrounding white-ness. It is not uncommon to hear Jews say “I really don’t see myself as Jewish even though my parents are.”
My parents are the same generation as Lee; they never wanted their kids to speak Yiddish, the language of the ghetto Jews. Sure, I can kvetch with the best of them, but other than random sayings I do not speak the language of my ancestors. Although I wrap my arm daily with Teffilin, I hardly ever go to temple. And I date a shiksa. I like to joke that she is by way of Ethiopia, but her family would say otherwise. I am even thinking of not renewing my temple membership–all because I wasted my money on stupid crap.
I do not have to change my name or deny my heritage to attain a job or a membership. I do not live in fear of the KKK, and I do not feel systemic discrimination. I write this column every other week, possibly to avoid the guilt I have from losing my own heritage. Is this how I mourn my loss of identity? I am constantly caught between assimilation and Judaism. I look to Stan Lee to help me feel comfortable with myself as a Jew in America.
So on that blazing day last summer, I decided I was going to do it. I said the serenity prayer in my head. Sure, it’s not a Jewish prayer, but the words were perfect at the time. I scooted my way past the others sitting in my aisle, bashing each of their kneecaps. I was too nervous to remember to say I was sorry. The line was long, but there was a good chance I would finally get my shot.
I then switched my prayer from one of serenity to one hoping I wouldn’t get my turn. I started feeling what I was doing was wrong, but I put it in G-D’s hands. If G-D wanted Lee to speak Yiddish to a goyish audience, it would happen. If not, then it wasn’t meant to be.
As the occupants of the line diminished, I started coming up with an escape plan. I wanted out, but I would never have the opportunity again. The clock was almost up and I was next in line. Suddenly, the panel moderator announced they had to halt questions… Baruch Hashem!
Stan Lee looked at me and apologized that I would not get the opportunity to ask my question.
I love you, Stan Lee.
“To me you can wrap all of Judaism up in one sentence, and that is, ‘Do unto others.’ All I tried to do in my stories was show that there’s some innate goodness in the human condition. And there’s always going to be evil; we should always be fighting evil.” – Stan Lee
Additional Resources:
From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books by Arie Kaplan
Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero by Danny Fingeroth
S#!T Talking Central