Arie Kaplan: The _Heeb_ Interview

Back in the day, Jewdar ravely reviewed Arie Kaplan’s From Krakow to Krypton: The History of the Jews in Comic Books. But Kaplan does more than merely write about comics; he writes comic books. And since we write about Jews who write about and write comic books (we think that may be postmodern, but we don’t really know what that means), his most recent venture into the world of comics has finally gotten Jewdar to come through with his long promised offer of an interview (and for those of you still looking for a gift for the comic book lover in your life, Hanukkah doesn’t end until sundown).

Which Jewish comic book legends did you interview for your book?

A number of them–Stan Lee, Art Spiegelman, Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Al Jaffee, Chris Claremont (who many don’t realize is Jewish), Trina Robbins, Drew Friedman–I tried to cover different ages and genres

Were any of them reticent to discuss the whole "ewJay" thing?

No, not really. I think they knew what they were getting into since I’d interviewed many of them for a series of articles that I did for Reform Judaism Magazine that led to the book.

What about the opposite? Were any of them particularly effusive on the subject, happy to ‘come out’?

Not so much ‘come out’…in fact, not only were they not hesitant, but many of them were very happy to talk about the subject. Jon Bogdanove, who draws Alpha Flight and many other comics wanted to talk about the Jewish subtext in Jack Kirby’s Fourth World series from the ’70’s. Stan Lee and I talked a lot about comics he did during World War II and the 1960’s and whether they had metaphoric Jewish themes. And of course, Will Eisner and I spoke about the various Jewish-themed comics he created.

Did you have any particularly Jewy moments during the interviews?

I don’t know if this is a Jewy moment, but there were moments talking to these guys where they reminded me of my own relatives, and I felt that I’m part of this chain, that I’m inheriting this legacy from them. Here I am writing for Mad and Tales From the Crypt, and I’m talking to these guys who worked on the original EC Comics, and I’m thinking I want to be like them.

An old Jew?

Yes, but also one that’s still working. One of the great things about comics is that at an age where other people are retiring, you can still be going strong. I interviewed Joe Kubert, who must be around 82, and he’s still doing great work. I hope to be half as productive at that age.

Did you speak to any oyimgay in the industry, how they feel about it?

I didn’t speak to any.

How Jewish is the business? Are people going around dropping Yiddishisms?

Jews aren’t as predominant as they were in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. It’s much more multicultural now, which is great, since it allows a lot more range in terms of writing and characters.

Was it initmidating talking to some of these people?

Not really, mainly because I’d already done some work writing for tv and film, and I’d learned not to be intimidated by big names. Once, when I was driving with my father, I got a call from Stan Lee, when it was done, and I told him who it was, he looked like a deer caught in the headlight, saying ‘But you were so nonchalant with him.’ I told him: ‘Dad, he’s a person, he wants to be treated like one.’ But I will say when I started writing forMad, and I went to the Christmas party in this distinguished old social club, the Society of Illustrators, and there’s Mort Drucker and Al Jaffee, that was intimidating. Those guys had such an influence on me–this wasn’t like interviewing NSYNC for Bop Magazine–which I did. These guys mattered to me.

Of all the people you interviewed, who do you think would be most likely to have a super alter-ego, and what do you think his powers would be?

Stan Lee is like a real-life superhero. He’s had such a tremendous impact on comic books, in every way, and he’s so creative. If I had to give him a name it would be something like ‘World Builder’ and he’d be the master of alternate universes.

I’ll let you keep the copyright. You have something out right now, don’t you?

You can check out my Krusty the Clown Chanuka story in Simpsons Winter Wingding #3 from Bongo Comics. The story is called ‘Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring.’

What’s it about?

Krusty tries to make up a Hanukkah mascot, and comes up with something so disturbing it traumatizes all of Springfield. It was a lot of fun to write, because Krusty is such a great parody of Borscht Belt comics like Freddie Roman and Don Rickles who I consider to be my comic forefathers. I think I can relate to Krusty because who knows, in a few decades I may be him.

Any Hanukkah wishes for our readers?

Hmmm, I don’t know, but I’ve always felt that the Hanukkah story is very much like something out of a comic book. It’s got an unlikely origin story, it’s about heroes triumphing over adversity and it kicks ass.

What do you think?