Eli Valley & the Power and Fury Orchestra: Less Than Hero
Israel Man and Diaspora Boy
Fantastic Four's The Thing (Benjamin Jacob Grimm) is Jewish. That's the extent of my knowledge about Jews and cartoon superheroes; I consult Eli Valley on almost everything else. His latest epicomic for Jewcy is about the "Negation of the Diaspora" through the use of Israel Man and Diaspora Boy, who remind me of Ernest Borgnine's Mermaid Man and Tim Conway's Barnacle Boy on SpongeBob. (Yeah, that's how I spend Shabbos with my nephew.) I have some issues with Eli's comic -- I'm pretty sure the likeness of Diaspora Boy was based on me -- but I'll let it slide since the Jewish power charts are breaking records these days with Israel's 60th anniversary and all, or maybe it's because Mamet is fucking it up for everyone else.
Anyway, this Sunday, I'll be checking out Nextbook's Jews and Power: New York Festival of Ideas at the Times Center. Great lineup with Shalom Auslander, Cynthia Ozick, Ruth Wisse and more. At least they can afford color for their illustrations. (Yeah, right in the kisser, Eli!)
