From Exodus to X-Men: The Jews Behind The Mask

Exploring the Jewish Roots of Comic Book Culture

Spiderman mask- Jessamyn Dodd photo, May 14, 2025

Long before capes, claws, and cosmic battles took over pop culture, superheroes were born from the minds of Jewish immigrants and their children, visionaries who infused the genre with themes of exile, identity, and justice.

In the crucible of 1930s and 1940s America—an era marked by antisemitism, war, and assimilation—young Jewish artists and writers found limited access to mainstream publishing. So they turned to a then-overlooked medium: comic books. In doing so, they didn’t just entertain—they built modern mythology.

Superman: The Moses of Metropolis

Take Superman, co-created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, both sons of Jewish immigrants. Kal-El (his Kryptonian name, notably Hebraic in structure) is sent by his parents from a dying world to a new land of promise—a direct parallel to the biblical story of Moses. Raised by Gentiles, gifted with superhuman abilities, and called to protect the weak, Superman was an immigrant’s fantasy and a coded commentary on Jewish resilience.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: Marvel’s Messianic Architects

The creative duo behind many of Marvel’s most iconic heroes—Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber) and Jack Kirby (Jacob Kurtzberg)—were deeply shaped by their Jewish heritage and the moral imperatives it taught them. The X-Men, for instance, are not just mutants—they’re metaphors for otherness. Professor X and Magneto reflect the diverging post-Holocaust philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but also echo Jewish debates over assimilation vs. militant survivalism.

Kirby, a combat veteran of World War II, channeled his experiences fighting Nazis into characters like Captain America, who punched Hitler in the face a year before the U.S. entered the war. Lee’s creation of Spider-Man—a nerdy, guilt-ridden teen from Queens who learns that “with great power comes great responsibility”—was a subtle sermon on tikkun olam, the Jewish call to repair the world.

Jewish Values Beneath the Mask

Many superhero narratives echo themes of exile, dual identity, moral responsibility, and fighting injustice—core to Jewish theology and history. Whether Bruce Banner wrestles with his inner monster (a kind of golem story) or the Fantastic Four acts as a dysfunctional chosen family, the DNA of Jewish storytelling runs deep.

These creators weren’t necessarily observant but were influenced by Jewish culture. Their characters—outcasts, vigilantes, reluctant saviors—often embodied a distinctly Jewish longing for redemption in a hostile world.

Legacy and Relevance

Today, as antisemitism reemerges and identity politics rage on, the origin stories behind our favorite heroes matter more than ever. The Jewish roots of the superhero genre are not incidental—they’re foundational. Comic books offered Jewish Americans a canvas to assert their humanity, creativity, and sense of justice in a world that often denied all three.

From Exodus to X-Men, the journey continues—not just in comic panels, but in the enduring question: What makes a hero?