Celebrating Superman’s Jewishness

That statement always elicits an unusual reaction when I say it in social situations. Some people look puzzled, some laugh, and a handful tell me I’m crazy. Superman is an alien from another planet, they say. He ain’t Jewish or Catholic or anything.

Yet, in his origins, different names, and even his costume, Superman is a deeply Jewish creation. With a new Superman movie about to be released and American Jews suffering a terrible new wave of antisemitism, it’s a good time to celebrate Superman’s Jewishness — and the truth, justice, and American way he represents.

I recently spoke with Valerie Estelle Frankel, author of the book Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1945: Immigrants in the Golden Age. In her book, Frankel explores the Jewish origins

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