Why Don’t We Talk About It?: The Holocaust and Anti-Semitism in Jewish Made Comic Books, 1963-1989

Abstract

on of comic creators in the years it was active, this paper also examines the legitimization of comic books as both a literary and visual art form and the roles these comic book creators played in that struggle.The Jewish immigrant experience and the legacy of the Holocaust were unpleasant themes not suited for the stringent guidelines of the Comics Code Authority established in 1954. While Jewish comic creators could not openly ignore these guidelines, these taboo themes were addressed using metaphor and allegory. The first key players in the 1960’s were Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, creators of The Fantastic Four and The Uncanny X-Men. Other important comic creators discussed in this paper are Chris Claremont, Will Eisner, and Art Spiegelman. The works central to this study include The Uncanny X-Men, A Contract with God, and Maus. This paper examines how comics have engage the themes of Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust over the decades and the cultural implications of these works.