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‘Chosen Heroes’ exhibitcelebrates Jews in comic books–swishing into Jewish MuseumMilwaukee
From nearly the dawn of the comic book form, Jewish creators have been at the center of it. From Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on the Marvel side, to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman, to Art Spiegelman, who powerfully dramatized the Holocaust and its aftermath in the graphic novel “Maus,”their influence has spanned genres and decades.
All of them, and much more, are celebrated in “Chosen Heroes: The Jewish Comics Experience,” an exhibition coming to Jewish Museum Milwaukee, from Oct. 16 through Feb. 14.
Molly Dubin, the museum’s chief curator, told the Chronicle about why she wanted to bring the exhibition to Milwaukee, including the addition of new material drawn from local comic book experts.
“The fact that it grew from what was effectively mass-printed publications on pulp paper to this huge industry today, across, you know, obviously not just literature, but TV and film. The franchises that have grown out of this in terms of superheroes and the stories, the iconic characters are just so much a part of the American entertainment fabric,” she said.
“And that really was shaped so fundamentally by Jewish artists and creators, Jewish writers and artists. Particularly when you talk about kind of the golden age of comics, which began in the late 1930, Jewish artists, writers, editors, publishers helped really build the emerging comic book industry and really were the innovators of the modern superhero.”
Dubin added that these superheroes very much reflected the experiences of their creators, many of whom were the Jewish children of immigrants.
These creators, she said, “used imagination and storytelling to share their experiences of feeling alienated, of wanting to fight injustice, to protect the vulnerable. Those were all inserted into these characters and stories.”
Superman “is the story of America… An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country,” James Gunn, the director of the 2025 Superman movie,said in a Hollywood Reporter interviewlast year, an observation that echoed the views of many scholars of the medium.
The exhibition features five “micro-exhibits,” which focus on the Jewish origins of the comic book industry, Yiddish comics, Sephardi identity and memory, Hebrew children’s publications during 1945–48, and comics that challenged fascism.
The exhibit originally debuted in 2023 by the Center for Jewish History in New York, with help from other organizations, including the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, the Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. A “different incarnation” later appeared at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C., while the Maltz Museum near Cleveland later featured its own version.
Dubin said she has been working to bring the exhibit to Jewish Museum Milwaukee for about a year.
For the Milwaukee arrival, she said, the existing program has been “augmented, in order to feature collection materials tied to Milwaukee’s creative history and comic book community. This includes material from local collectors who focus on the Jewish side of comic books.
“I think it’s really exciting, and I’m hoping that it is a topic that is going to really speak to a lot of people,” Dubin said.
A preview event is set for Oct.15, whereDr. Miriam Mora, the Jewish comics curator and author, will discuss “the Jewish multiverse.” Other programming, including lectures, classes, workshops, and film screenings, will also take place throughout the run.
Superman #25, December 1943. Reproduction. National Allied Publications (DC Comics). Written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster.
Action Comics #46, published in March 1942 by DC Comics. Featured a Superman story titled “The Devil’s Playground. Witten by Jerry Seigel and cover art by Fred Ray
Mark 1 Comics (Vol. 1, #1) featuring Shaloman (“The Man of Stone”). Published in March 1988 by Mark 1 Comics. Creator/Artist, Al Wiesner
Mark 1 Comics is the debut series to feature Shaloman, the first independently published Jewish Superhero in America.
Batman #17, published by DC Comics in July 1943 during World War II
The iconic Golden Age cover was drawn by artist Jerry Robinson, with Bob Kame as penciler, and features Batman and Robin riding a giant American eagle in front of a yellow moon to promote war bonds and stamps.
A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, published in 1978 by DC Comics. Groundbreaking graphic novel by American cartoonist Will Eisner that popularized the term and format for mature, book-length comic narratives
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman, pictured in the 1940s. (Public domain photo)
