By
– August 30, 2011
This wide-ranging collection of essays will appeal to readers interested in exploring conceptual approaches to Jewish graphic novels. Sixteen essays plus interviews with two authorartists concentrate on major American graphic artists like Will Eisner, Art Spiegelman, and Joe Kubert, as well as French author-artist Joanne Sfar and several Israeli graphic authors. Themes range from how graphic novels are being used in educational settings to teach such subjects as Holocaust and Bible, to the ways in which Jewish graphic novels have utilized narrative possibilities of the graphic novel to explore Jewish identity and the Jewish historical experience in America and Elsewhere. The Jewish Graphic Novel is evidence of a growing body of Jewish graphic works and the profound discussions they raise.
Gary Katz received an MA in English from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He is the library administrator for the Kripke Jewish Federation Library in Omaha, Nebraska, one of the largest Judaica libraries in the United States.