As many of you know, I struggled mightily during the holiday season to find a comic, any comic that dealt with Hanukkah as a theme. I failed miserably. It seems that each and every year there was a wealth of Christmas themes throughout mainstream titles, with virtually no attention paid to celebrations of other faiths.

This is not to say that I am one of those people that believes in an elimination of all mentions of religious holidays anywhere in public. The vast majority of Americans celebrate Christmas, and most who do celebrate the holiday do so more for the secular/pagan aspects than the observance of Christ’s birth. As most mainstream comics are geared towards the American (and to an extent Canadian) audience, it is perfectly natural that mentions of Christmas would far outstrip all other religious holidays in comics today.

So what about comic readers of other faiths? Sure they are in the minority amongst comic fans, but they do make up a certain percentage of the audience nonetheless.

I may have failed in my effort of tracking down a Hanukkah comic, but I did stumble upon an interesting work from Shayach Comics (Judaica Press) by the name of Jewish Hero Corps.

Cast of Characters

Way back in 1490 (5251), a swordmaker by the name of Don David Mordechai set sail from Spain to Japan at the behest of the emperor. Mordechai’s experiments in combining swordmaking techniques of the East and West intrigued the Emperor, and he was interested in employing the smith. During his meeting with the Emperor, a meteor made of a mysterious metal fell from the sky. Mordechai took this metal and forged a helmet, sword and a six-pointed shield out of the extra-terrestrial material. The Emperor accepted the gifts, but returned the shield (shaped like the Star of David) to Mordechai, claiming it would be cowardly for a ruler to carry a shield into battle.

Mordechai sent the shield back to his family in Spain, secretly hidden in a bronze ship’s wheel. Unfortunately, the ship sunk in the Indian Ocean during its return, and the shield was lost. Some 500 years later, a wealthy descendent of David Mordechai recovered the shield (which turned out to be indestructible), and used it to “fight crime” as Magen David.

Maidel was fascinated with “spin” from an early age, and often spent hours staring at a spinning dreidel. Years later she made a career out of this fascination. Working as a professor at a university, she developed an electron gyroscope, which could cause matter to spin so quickly that it could turn solid walls invisible. During a demonstration of the device, she sees a group of robbers attempting to steal equipment from a lab. They catch her spying on her, and lock her inside a sort of electron accelerator to get rid of her. Her electron gyroscope (tucked away in her pocket) absorbs the electrons around her and explodes- transferring its powers to her, granting her the ability to withstand extreme heat and to spin at electron speed. Of course, she decides to use these new powers “for good” and takes up the name of Dreidel Maidel.

Kipa Kid was an ordinary youth working in a kipa store, when a group of robbers attempted to burgle the place. Unfortunately for them, they pulled one wrong rope, and a box filled with yarmulkahs dumped down on top of them, trapping them until the police could arrive. Kipa Kid took this idea to heart, and fashioned an entire “belt” full of trick yarmulkahs, and used them to fight crime.

Shabbas Queen carries a magic wand, which allows her to fly, lift heavy objects, and stop any machine for a period of 25 hours. The wand itself must be recharged one full day each week.

Matzah Woman gained her powers of invisibility, flight, super strength, and microwave vision after eating atomic Matzah, accidentally baked with radioactive water in a microwave oven. Her one weakness is being submerged in water for 18 minutes, after which she loses all of her powers.

Much is hidden about the mysterious Minyan Man, other than the fact that he is highly acrobatic and has the ability to multiply into ten men.

Menorah Man was an astronaut sent to investigate a human colony on Mercury that they had lost contact with. Unfortunately, his ship crashed on the surface of the planet. He made his way to the colony, hoping for a safe haven. Unfortunately, the colony was dead, and only enough food and water to last for a few days. One of the things the colony was working with was planting certain kinds of desert plants on the surface, in an effort to get some kind of life flourishing. One of those plants was the olive. The olives turned out to be contaminated by cosmic rays (being so close to the sun), and once eaten, they granted Menorah Man his powers.

After eating the olive, he was able to shoot flames from his hands, feet, and mouth (he could also sprout up to six extra arms, all of which with the same ability), fly, and breathe in space- he also had super strength. After returning to Earth using his powers, he decided to start a team of people with similar powers. Hence the Jewish Hero Corps was formed. What happened to his monkey companion who also ate the olive is still something of a mystery….

Thoughts

One of the first things that popped into my mind after reading the first issue of this title was how “old school” it was. I have been reading a great deal of “classic” comic stories of late (the most recent example being the Lost Plastic Man Annual just released by DC), and this title recalls a time when mainstream comics did not take themselves nearly as seriously as they do today.

Sure there is an element of cheese in this comic, but that very story-telling style launched the most celebrated comic characters of today, and helped give them the staying power that they have now. Comic stories of today pride themselves on being well thought out, paced works of art that can count themselves among the number of true literary art. As much as anyone may have enjoyed early Spider-Man adventures, you can’t say those stories were ripe with literary prowess. But unlike the stories of today, they made for memorable characters.

The telling of the origins of the Jewish Hero Corps is just as “old-school,” and is as effective as those origins of heroes from years past. Each hero is described in detail in this first issue- in most cases describing exactly what gave them their powers and what caused them to enter the world of the tights and masks in a compact couple of pages. If you compare this to a modern retelling of a somewhat classic team, Supreme Power has barely begun to walk us through the origins of the Squadron Supreme- in fact, five issues into the book and they are still not even an actual team. In the very first issue of Jewish Hero Corps, the entire team is explained in detail, and there was enough room to spare page-wise for them to defeat their first major foe. It is an impressive feat in this day and age.

It is true that the comic reader of today prefers the more thought-out storytelling that you find in titles like Supreme Power today. I, myself, am a huge fan of the title, and wouldn’t want the story to be told any other way. Unfortunately, the plodding pace of “character introduction” that is a necessary component of this storytelling style could hinder the long -term appeal of the characters. For example, if you compare the origin of a character like the Hulk to a more modern start, Mystic’s Giselle, you can see my point. The Hulk’s origin is elegantly simple. A dose of gamma radiation from a bomb alters Bruce Banner so that he becomes the Incredible Hulk when angry. Giselle, on the other hand, takes a bit more time to explain. When granted a mysterious sigil (something that has still not really been explained), Giselle “stole” the spirits of seven magical guilds, and was granted the knowledge and abilities of each. That in-of itself is an oversimplification. To really understand the nature of her powers, it is necessary to either read the first few issues of Mystic, or to have a knowledgeable fan spend the time and explain it all to you before delving into the title (or read columns like this one!).

So what does that matter? The Hulk is a character that has survived the decades because of the fact that it is incredibly easy to bring a new reader up to speed. If you had never before heard of the Hulk, I can tell you in one sentence everything you ever need know about the character. From there, it is simply a matter of enjoying the next story out of the pipe. As much as I like Mystic as a title, there is simply too much subtlety to adequately explain the protagonist to a new reader without resorting to “read the book, you will like it.” Even still, there are extremely important aspects of Giselle’s origin that are still unexplained, and the title has already reached its end. The title was a great read, but I would by lying if I felt that it could ever be a juggernaut that ultimately would be resurrected and stand the test of time like the Hulk.

Jewish Hero Corps, on the other hand, has this advantage. Each of the characters is distinct and easy to explain, and could even transition well into more established comic universes like Marvel and DC. Unfortunately, as the title stands now, the long-term potential of the story as a mere comic book is poor indeed.

Jewish Hero Corps evolved from a PC game of the same name, where the Corps fought against the Fo-Bots, a group of cybernetic beings intent on erasing the memories of Jews everywhere. The intent of this game was to provide a non-violent source of entertainment for Jewish children, while at the same time maintaining a high standard of morality. It is safe to assume that Alan Oirich, the creator and writer of Jewish Hero Corps, maintained that goal when he went forward with the print version of the heroes, and he delivered.

Though there is a great deal of conflict in this issue, there is really very little violence. Most of the fighting is either alluded to, or glossed over, something unheard of in comics today. Yet, following the “old-school” mentality I mentioned before, this was a quality you found in comics decades ago. Modesty is also evident in each of that characters- especially the women. Though they would be considered “attractive” by comic standards, there is virtually no skin exposed. In fact, the costumes of all of the heroes are rooted in practicality above all else. Honestly- with some of the costumes the female heroes and villains of today wear, it is a wonder that none of them have “popped out,” ever. A real miracle if you ask me.

Probably the biggest drawback of this title from a comic industry perspective is that it is wholly geared towards the Jewish community, children in particular. The latter I feel is a great thing no matter how you look at it, as I am often saying that there are not enough books geared towards kids anymore. The former would be problematic if Oirich was really looking for comic industry notoriety. After some research (and some time at his website, JewishSuperHero.com), it is pretty clear that comic fame is the last thing on his list of goals (though it is equally as clear that that man is a fan of comics). The whole point of this title and its related works is to provide an entertaining and educational product for the Jewish Community. To those ends, he has done a brilliant job.

The comic IS educational, in a way that I only wish that other mainstream comics would pretend to be. For years I have maintained an interest in the history and beliefs of a wide variety of religions, and even I came away from this experience learning a thing or two about Judaism.

I can’t count all of the positive aspects of this title. I think on all fronts, Oirich has succeeded wildly in what he set out to do. As a comic fan, however, I am dismayed that mainstream popularity for this title will be nearly impossible. As the book deals with Jewish Heroes fighting villains who target the Jews across the globe, appeal to mainstream comic readers outside of the Jewish Community will be low.

As I stated before, I thought it was pretty disappointing that there was a lack of non-Christian issues being brought up in comics. Not from an “equal-representation” standpoint, rather, a realistic character portrayal standpoint. The world is populated by far more than Christians, agnostics, and atheists, yet mainstream comics virtually ignore that fact. Sure, lately, you have seen a few token Muslims in recent years, specifically Dust and the new Gen13’s Hamza, but I see these characters as little more than PC pandering, in an effort to show that “Westerners don’t think all Muslims are evil terrorists.” I think that it takes more than getting “super-powers” for someone to devote themselves to a life of self-sacrifice to protect the world, there really must, in most cases, be a strong will of morality for someone to take that step. And who better than the devout to take that step? You could say that to take your amazing new powers and use them to protect the weak and innocent from villains everywhere is a pious act, yet there are very few devoutly religious characters in comics today. I think that those kinds of people would be prime candidates for “superheroism.” From a writer’s standpoint, you think that there would be those itching to jump into those untested waters.
Bottom Line

Jewish Hero Corps may not enjoy a great deal of success in mainstream comics (nor do I think that is its goal), but it does represent a lot of the finer aspects of comic creation that has been lost over time. I am not at all sure how easy it will be to find this comic in your local shop (and I really can’t locate a place to order it online), but it was solicited in the December issue of Previews, so it can be ordered by your local comic shop upon request.

And I may have to hold my breath a long time, but I would not mind seeing Magen David and Dreidel Maidel break out of this mold and appear in a more mainstream story! Probably wishful thinking on my part, but I can hope!

Credit where credit is due-

Jewish Hero Corps is
Created, Written, Colored, and Lettered by – Alan Oirich
and Illustrated by – Ron Randall

Post your comments in the Forum!