Stop 6: Fantastic Four

When Marvel's first family, The Fantastic Four, debuted in November 1961, the breakout character, The Thing a.k.a. Benjamin Jacob Grimm, was a close analog autobiographical character based on his co-creator Jack Kirby. Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28, 1917 in New York City's Lower East Side. Although the Thing had been hinted to be Jewish in the comics over the decades, it wasn't until August 2002 that the Fantastic Four comics finally embraced his heritage and the Thing came out as Jewish.

Comics like Fantastic Four combined the fantastical world of superheroes with using the medium to convey spiritual and cultural truths for the creators. In this section, we have seen how comics became a powerful form of cultural expression that can take on a variety of forms. Across the world, Jewish creators used the comics medium to respond to the world around them and shape how their identities are represented. Next, we will explore how these stories take shape in the form of brave, larger-than-life characters who respond to injustice and reflect on an ever-changing world: Superheroes.