Arts & Entertainment

OH HE COVER

ap

Jewish-inspired
superheroes take wing
in West Bloomfield.

Superman is coming to you!

Elizabeth Applebaum

Special to the Jewish News

y day he is Superman,
playing George Reeves
(who starred on TV as
the Man of Steel) in the new film,
Hollywoodland.
But by night, Ben Affleck is just
another comic book-loving mortal
whose favorite hero is the Green
Arrow, a crime fighter famed for
his one-of-a-kind masterpieces
like the glue arrow and the box-
ing-glove arrow.
Affleck is not the only celeb-
rity fan of comic books. Actor
Nicholas Cage took his last name
from Luke Cage, a superhero
with titanium-hard skin; then he
named his son Kal-El, Superman's
birth moniker. Pro-wrestler Rob
Van Dam loves Ghost Rider, and
fellow wrestler Gregory Helms is
such a fan of the Green Lantern
that he had the character's image
tattooed on his arm.

They should all schedule a visit
to Metro Detroit.
"ZAP! POW! BAM! The
Superhero: 1938-1950 — The
Golden Age of Comic Books"
begins this Sunday, Oct. 22, and
runs through Dec. 14 at the
Janice Charach Epstein Gallery
at the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield. The exhibit
chronicles the lives of the most
important and intriguing comic
book writers and artists in his-
tory as well as the superhero
characters they created.
"ZAP! POW! BAM!" features
never-before-seen comic-book
art and memorabilia, including a
child-size Batmobile ride, a kryp-
tonite stand, tables to help any-
one (even the most graphically
challenged) draw comics and
costumes for visitors of all ages.
Check out a movie theater with
the 1940s serials Superman,
Superman vs. Atoman and
Captain America, and then pop

over
to the
studio set
to see video
interviews with art-
ists Will Eisner, Jack Kirby
and Stan Lee.
"(ZAP! POW! BAM!' will
immerse visitors in an interac-
tive world of superheroes, illumi-
nating the creative process that
drove the young Jewish artists
to create Superman, Batman,
Captain America and my favorite,
Wonder Woman," said gallery
director Terri Stearn. "Few people
are aware that these superheroes
evolved from biblical heroes
themselves."

The Joker Gets His Card

The comic book industry began
in the 1930s, with many of the
first figures created and drawn
by immigrants and children of

immigrants. Their superheroes
were, like the artists, apparently
ordinary people. Yet they could
change into the most magnificent
of beings — men and women
of breathtaking strength and
intelligence who worked to oblit-
erate evil. So it's not surprising
that many superheroes were
at the height of their popular-
ity in the late 1930s and '40s as
Nazi Germany overtook Europe,
trampling virtually every nation,
seemingly unstoppable.
Among the artists featured
in "ZAP! POW! BAM!" is Jerry
Robinson, who also served as
curator of the exhibit. Robinson
was one of the early artists on the

Batman
comics and
the creator of
his most fearful
adversary, the Joker.
Robinson, who lives
in New York, was 17 in 1939
when, while at a resort, he met
Bob Kane (born Kahn), who cre-
ated Batman.
Robinson didn't know any-
thing about comic books, he said
in a recent interview. His interest
was short stories (0. Henry was a
favorite). He had always enjoyed
drawing, "but I never thought
of it as a profession." Then Kane
saw Robinson's sketches, and
soon after returning to New
York, the Batman creator phoned
Robinson, asking him to "come
join the team."
So Robinson enrolled at
Columbia University and headed
for New York City.
Everything then was done with
Zap! Pow! Barn! on page 52

October 19 2006

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