Having been a comic book reader my entire life, I had never really thought about the impact that Judaism, or anything else for that matter, has had on the comic book world. I did know that the character of Magneto from the Marvel comic series X-Men was Jewish, but that was about it for my knowledge on the subject.
After reading A Contract with God, I am beginning to see the impact of the Jewish culture on the entire comic world, and I must say that it is one of the best things to happen to the comic industry. Just by the fact that Will Eisner was there at the beginning of comic books says a lot. Also by the fact that he started the sect of graphic novels says quite a lot too. If it wasn't for that first publication of Contract with God, we would not have the groundbreaking series of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, or even the lesser known, but still respected, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And for that I thank Will Eisner.
On the subject of A Contract with God, I thought it to be a very well written piece of work. The stories bring you into a world of a multitude of characters that seem to be the victim of the world that they live in. Victims of their own vices and of the culture that has been forced upon them. All the while, it slowly brings you into the culture lives of Jewish people. He does not flat out state that they are Jewish, save the fact of the main character of the title story is explicitly stated to be just that.
I may not know much about the history of Judaism or its culture, but i do know this. I cannot wait to learnso much more through the readings.
I like that you describe the characters of "A Contract With God" as victims. In retrospect I think that this is very true. During class discussion it seemed like many people wanted to declare characters "good or evil" but this isn't a super-hero story, its a story about every day people during a specific time and in a specific place. Your interpretation of them being "the victim of the world they live in" is, I think, a better representation of the point of the story.
ReplyDeleteThoughtful observations-- many characters do indeed seem constrained by their situations--- and a nice comment from Sarah, too.
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