‘Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero’ (review)

Written by Roy Schwartz
Published by McFarland

Is Superman Circumcised? is a terrible, exploitative title for Roy Schwartz’s book which is subtitled, The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero. First of all, millions of non-Jews are circumcised as well. Second of all, there’s much more to this book than its Jewish backstory.

In actuality, it comes across to me as a sincere and concerted attempt to place the overall history of Superman in the context of its times and the times of its creators.   As with many books along these lines, the author, I believe, ascribes perhaps a bit too much as far as intent.

For instance, when he writes about how Jerry Siegel instilled this or that bit of Jewish history or legend into Superman’s background, there’s a presumption that young Jerry actually knew any of that stuff. And yet, conscious or not, it’s hard to deny many of the analogies Schwartz makes

Overall, the book distills a succinct history of the Jews in general, as well as in particular the major influence of the Jews on 20^th Century pop culture—from radio and motion pictures, television, and beyond. Throughout this loose narrative, from time to time the history of Superman is dropped in so we as readers can see where it all fits. The adventures of Superman, of course, were never created in a vacuum, and the author shows us where they intersect with the bigger picture.

Outside of some typos (typical of McFarland books), Schwartz shows a good grasp not only of the religious and cultural aspects but also of the history of comics in general and superhero comics in particular, thus enabling him to spot and detail the parallels, subconsciously unintentional as they may or may not have been.

Is Superman Circumcised? is quite readable, even at nearly 400 text-heavy pages, and offers just enough well-chosen illustrations to make its points. There are quotes aplenty from Superman writers, editors, and artists but also various comics and Superman historians, showing the author did his research, a fact backed up by more than 30 pages of footnotes and attributions at the end of the volume.

While much of this ground has certainly been covered elsewhere, even the seemingly paramount topic of Superman’s Jewish connection, in my opinion Is Superman Circumcised? takes a further step back to give an even fuller picture of the character we’ve all known our entire lives.

Booksteve recommends.