Arts and Culture

The Hulk comic book cover
RJ Magazine

How Jews Transformed The Comic Book Industry, Part II: The Silver Age (1956-1978)

Arie Kaplan
By the mid-'50s, the comic book industry was in a sorry state. Allegations that the genre was promoting juvenile delinquency and illiteracy had "done in" the popular and groundbreaking horror and crime comics, and superheroes were now bland incarnations of their former selves. Batman, once a shadowy figure of the night, was recast as a high-camp boy scout battling rainbow-colored monsters.

How Jews Transformed The Comic Book Industry, Part III: The Bronze Age (1979 - )

Arie Kaplan
Ever since the late 1970s, comics have turned more introspective and artistically ambitious. As in the Golden and Silver Ages, Jewish comics creators have been at the cutting edge, producing works that probe Jewish history, showcase Jewish characters, and comment on spiritual and social issues. These artists have ushered in what may be termed "the Bronze Age" of comics--not because it's less esteemed than the Golden or Silver Ages, but because it is free of rose-colored gloss and glitter, and reflects the realities of the world in which we live.
RJ Magazine
A scene from the film Golden Voices - VIctor and Raya on a bus
Arts and Culture

Film Review: Golden Voices

Wes Hopper
In Evgeny Ruman’s bittersweet new film, Golden Voices, a pair of aging voice actors find their lives in upheaval after immigrating to Israel from the former Soviet Union. Victor and Raya, (Vladimir Friedman and Maria Belkin), are not only in a new land with an altogether new language, but also at a crossroads in both career and marriage.
Asner portrait
Film

An Accounting of the Soul?

Rose Eichenbaum
A conversation with Ed Asner, z’l, died on August 29 at the age of 91. This article is adapted from The Actor Within (Wesleyan University Press).