Speaking at the Capital Jewish Museum [AKA DC in DC]

This past summer, I reluctantly loaned Bill Finger’s paperweight—one of the only items he owned that still survives—and other items to a Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum exhibit about the role of Jews in the comic book industry, with special focus on Washington DC-area contributors. 

On 11/11/24, I gave a talk at the museum about Bill—and Jerry, and Joe, and Jews. 

I have long compared the dramas of the creators of Superman and Batman to Biblical tales. I liken the conflict between Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and what is now DC Comics to David and Goliath—an upstart underdog versus a seemingly immovable object. I see the Bill Finger/Bob Kane injustice as a Cain/Abel allegory—brother versus brother. You can’t overlook that homophonic Cain/Kane.

And then there’s the Moses parallel.

Thank you, CJM, both for inviting me to speak with your community and for taking good care of Bill’s bronze bug.

Letting Bill Finger's paperweight out of my sight

Bill Finger's paperweight is going, in a way, back where it came from.

For an upcoming exhibit on Jewish comics creators, the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC asked me to loan Finger items.

This includes Bill Finger's scarab paperweight, which makes a cameo appearance in both Bill the Boy Wonder...

...and Batman & Bill.

It has barely left my desk since I inherited it in 2006. 

Insurance couldn't replace it. 

Agreeing to this made me very nervous.

Museum, synagogue, schools, women's club

In one week, I spoke and/or signed at four diverse venues, three in the Washington DC area:

• 12/8/18 two museums in the Smithsonian system, the National Museum of American History and the National Air and Space Museum
• 12/9/18 Temple Emanuel, Kensington, MD
• 12/11/18 two schools in Milwaukee as part of the Scholastic program My Very Own Library (MVOL)
• 12/13/18 Washington-Tokyo Women's Club, Bethesda, MD

At the museums, I gave no talk; I simply sat and signed. Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story tied in nicely with the focus of both sites.

This was my third time participating in MVOL; the first time was also Milwaukee (2/17), second was Newark (6/17). In 2/19, I'll be doing it again, in Kansas City, MO. 

In this program, Scholastic (specifically the Book Fair division) generously arranges a group of authors (in my experience, four at a time) to visit two schools in one day. These are schools that serve a low-income population. Scholastic not only covers all expenses (including a nice dinner) for the authors but also donates one copy of one of each visiting author's books and three other books to every student who hears him/her speak! 

The population of the two schools I visited is nearly 100% black. (I'd visited one of the schools on my previous trip to Milwaukee.) The kids asked thoughtful questions and exhibited delicious manners. At both schools, they dressed in red and black (reminiscent of Bob Kane's original Batman design). As usual, I wish we had more time together. 

The authors with whom I had the pleasure of MVOLing were Jo Watson Hackl (first time meeting), Angela Cervantes, and Jess Keating:

also pictured: Clifford; photo via Jo's Twitter feed

En route to one of the schools, my kind escort, Katy Wick, and I had to stop to take a photo because I found myself...

(It's a barber shop. See the scissors in the starburst/fireworks design?)

At Temple Emanuel, as I've done many times before, I emphasized the Jewish aspects of the stories behind Superman and Batman. (Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bill Finger, and Bob Kane were all Members of the Tribe.)

The talk for the WTWC was the first of its kind for me. The audience was over 100 club members, nearly evenly split between Japanese and American women (all of whom have lived in Japan), many of whom were or are military or diplomatic spouses.

This included Yoko Sugiyama, the wife of Shinsuke Sugiyama, the current Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Of course she wasn't there for me, but I was honored just the same.

with Mrs. Sugiyama and Alex Johnston, 

the member who kindly invited me to speak

A highlight of the event came during the Q&A when we heard from a woman who lived through and remembers the Doolittle Raid of 1942 (which was part of the impetus for the events that take place in Thirty Minutes Over Oregon). She was, of course, a young girl at the time. She said the planes were flying so low over Tokyo that they almost grazed rooftops (similar to how Nobuo's plane flew low enough to buzz treetops). She and other kids waved to the planes until they noticed that those planes did not have the red rising sun symbol of Japan but rather a star...meaning they were Americans.

Thank you again to all my hosts this week. I have been enriched by each experience.

Mazza Museum Summer Conference 2017

In 2008, mere months after Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman came out, I had the privilege of speaking at the Mazza Museum in Findlay, Ohio, a wonderful place dedicated to the art of the picture book.

It was then and there where I met fellow creators-turned-friends including Tad Hills and Marla Frazee.

Thanks to the grand marshal of Mazza, Ben Sapp, I returned on 7/17/17 to kick off the three-day 2017 Summer Institute. This time, I again met a fun group including Jane Dyer, Jeff Ebbeler, and Sherri Rinker:

Special thanks to teacher and professional storyteller Kevin Cordi for one of the most dynamic introductions I've ever had—ever heard.

Alas, I was looking forward to seeing friends Barbara McClintock, Drew Daywalt, and Matt Phelan, but all were speaking on days 2 or 3, after I was gone (I could not linger because I had to present at the Scholastic Summit in Virginia the following day).

Two kind volunteers, Catherine and Karen, picked me up at the Dayton airport—but didn't take me straight to the hotel as I was expecting. First they surprised me with a visit to the nearby business of Katherine's husband Doug. He builds Batmobiles. As one does.

Yes, that's his job. He takes orders for either the 1966 TV show version or the 1989 movie version. It takes about a year to build one (over the body of another car).

I did not order one. I can't pull off Batmobile.

Part of the lovely care package waiting for authors in our rooms included boxes of local chocolates wrapped to look like our books.

Another highlight of the whirlwind trip: since late 2015, thanks to an enterprising fellow named Dan (shown below), the Mazza makes molds of the hands of their visiting authors and artists. Which hand? The hand we create with, of course. (Yes, writers type with both hands so we go with whichever hand is dominant.)

Renata Liwska and I went into the goo at the same time and both lived to tell the tale.

I can't explain what the goo is but it a) doesn't smell, b) doesn't stick to your skin, and c) feels like thick yogurt. We had to keep our hands in the goo for eight minutes. 

Mazza will display the hand molds alongside our work.

Let's see if they follow through on either of my suggestions: face molds or ice sculptures.

Jewish Museum of Maryland

On 3/31/13, I had the honor of speaking about the mystery behind the majority creator of Batman at the Jewish Museum of Maryland.

The museum hosted the traveling Jewish-creators-of-superheroes exhibit, which includes a Bill Finger script that Jerry Robinson donated. The bio on this placard gets a few details wrong (starting with the city in which Bill was born), but I am thrilled that such an exhibit exists:

Note that address.

Jerry Robinson

National Museum of American History signing

On 11/9/12, author Larry Tye and I got the old band back together for a joint Superman signing at the National Museum of American History in Washington DC. 

No presentations, no panels, apparently no publicity—just us setting up outside the gift shop and taking advantage of the nonstop traffic flow the museum gets.

I was especially curious to see a parent buying a copy of Larry’s book (which is aimed at adults) for an elementary-aged son. It is not that the book is inappropriate for someone that age; in fact I applaud parents who encourage challenging reading. Still, I don’t imagine his attention will be held by some of the more sophisticated aspects.

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar meets Batman

On 2/16/13, I was honored to return to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, to speak.

Last time was on Superman (no known photos exist of this appearance), this time Batman. I was luckier than Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, who were scheduled for the Saturday prior, which ended up being canceled due to Nemo madness.

But my attempt to get there was not without obstacles.

First, my 5:25 a.m. Super Shuttle pickup was 30 minutes late. I still got to the airport in time—not that it ended up mattering.

My first leg (Washington to Philadelphia), scheduled for a 7:30 departure, did not leave till a bit after 8:30. My second leg (Philadelphia to Hartford) was even more troubled. The plane we were supposed to fly had a mechanical issue so we were put on another. Once seated, we were informed that that plane also had a mechanical issue, so we deplaned and boarded yet another.

This meant we left almost two hours later than planned.

This meant I would be late for my 1 p.m. presentation. It was not a certainty that anyone would notice, but I regretfully let my host know anyway.

Luckily, the Carle, as they call it, is no stranger to travel complications, and they nimbly pushed back the event an hour.

Equally luckily, the people who showed up were flexible, too.

After, I signed books and the Carle guest book; though I could not make out all the signatures, I still knew I was in esteemed company.

Magazine covers and pop culture museums

Coincidence 1 of 2

Hard as it is to believe, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman is the first standalone biography (for any age) of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. (They’ve been a part of more involved comics histories, of course, but they’d never had a book to themselves.)

Why was I the fortunate one who got to benefit from this odd oversight?

Because my uncommon last name sounds like one of Superman’s colleagues?

Because one of my high school friends turned out to be Lois Lane’s grandson?

Because my daughter has the same name as Superman’s Kryptonian mother—though I swear I didn’t remember that when we named her?

Or is it because of March 14, 1988?

That day was a milestone for both Superman and me. It was the date of the issue of Time magazine that featured Superman’s 50th anniversary on the cover.

It was also my 16th birthday—when a boy becomes a man. Wait, that’s 13…or is it 18? No, 21…

Regardless, sixteen is significant because it’s the age You’ll Believe a Man Can Drive.

I had first become acquainted with Superman a decade earlier, but I like to believe it was on that day when our destinies synced up. Exactly twenty years later, Boys of Steel came out.

Coincidence 2 of 2

This also involves Superman and also requires mention of a(nother) high school friend, a one Mr. Barker. (Stay with me—I’m also not done with Coincidence 1 of 2.)

Unlike most of my friends, I was not able to line up a post-college job before graduating. So I went to my hometown, Cheshire, Connecticut. It’s lovely, but not a place with much opportunity for a young person who wants to work in the popular arts.

After a demoralizing summer of fruitless searching, I finally landed a position at Abbeville Press, a book publisher in New York. (This was the company at which I would publish my first book and meet my future wife.)

A couple of years later, I learned that the Barker Animation Art Gallery and the Barker Character, Comic, and Cartoon Museum opened…in Cheshire. A world-class collection of pop culture prints and obscure memorabilia, side by side…in Cheshire.

(I asked my high school friend Barker about it, and the founders are his cousins.)

My parents had left Cheshire soon after I moved to New York, so I rarely went back. When I did, if I saw the Barker comic compound, it was only from my passing car. Always in a hurry but not always with good reason, I never stopped.

Flash forward to 2008. To promote Boys of Steel, I went to the 30th annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois, also a lovely town but even sleepier and more remote than Cheshire. Yet it does boast a pair of rather unusual tourist attractions.

Being the “official” home of Superman, it is home to the world’s only Superman Museum. It also has the Americana Hollywood Museum. I marveled at the seemingly endless array of pieces this place houses, including collectibles related to superheroes, film noir, science fiction, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, James Bond, probably Jesse James for all I know. Life-sized models of classic monsters, TV Guide issues, old board games, movie props, and more kitsch are arranged high and thick in room after room.

I was astounded that such a collection was assembled in this unassuming town. Some of the people who lived nearby probably didn’t fully appreciate the magnitude of it, or even know about it. I remember thinking that the town was lucky to have this sprawling time capsule of pop culture icons in their collective backyard and remember thinking how much I would’ve loved to have lived near a place like it when I was a kid.

Flash forward to this past weekend. It just so happened to be the 31st annual Superman Celebration and I just so happened to be not in Metropolis but in Cheshire. For the first time, I went inside the Barker Character, Comic, and Cartoon Museum. But I felt like I was back in the Americana Hollywood Museum.

It hadn’t occurred to me that they could be two of a kind—maybe the only two of their kind in the world?

And one of these rare places, a place I would’ve loved to visit as a kid and work for as a young adult, was in my hometown…just too late for me.

But not in every way.

In the fall I will be doing a Boys of Steel event at the Barker Museum…

…which, incidentally, perhaps coincidentally, displays a copy of the March 14, 1988 Time.

A writer at an artists' museum

In November, I was one of eight honored guests (all either illustrators or author-illustrators) to give a talk at a weekend institute at the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books in Findlay, Ohio. Two spoke Friday night after dinner and the other six went back-to-back on Saturday. It was a challenging event for the audience's posteriors.

PBS filmed the presentations and posted them online. Here is mine.

A few disclaimers:

• They labeled me a children's book artist, but that's mostly not true. I have drawn a book of cartoons for young people, but that's it.
• The beginning of the video is cut off, making it look like I began with a stammer.
• I have been working on speaking slower as I present. This particular talk is not a good example of my practice paying off.
• The first PowerPoint remote they gave me barely worked, which is why at the beginning a few slides don't change, followed by awkward silence. Finally I mumbled about technical difficulties and someone kindly handed me (off-screen) a replacement remote.

Kind folks in Ohio

In November 2008, I spoke at (then blogged about) the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books. The way this place runs an event is as close to magic as I've experienced as an author.

A mother and father I met that day also blogged about the event. When mentioning me, they used more than kind words (and a photo of me with their son):

Marc was SO incredible with Hayden. He spent a great deal of time speaking with Hayden, and encouraging him to write and draw a lot. They even posed for a picture too (you can see the cover art of the book behind them - it is a very cool story, and a neat way to introduce younger kids to biographies).

Then:

Next was story time, and during the presentation Marc included some audience interaction. While doing so, he called on Hayden BY NAME a few times, and you could just see Hayden beam! It was a wonderful day and we're looking forward to Marc's next book; another biography, this time about the man who created Batman - Bill Finger.

What the parent bloggers modestly didn't mention is that Hayden was incredible with me! There was a reason I remembered his name.

Photos from a mini-book tour

Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco, 10/26/08

Top billing: baked goods. Technically, unbaked goods.

Sequoia Middle School, Pleasant Hill, CA 10/28/08

Sequoia interior photos courtesy of Nancy Brenner

Bancroft Elementary, Walnut Creek, CA, 10/30/08—no baked goods!

books to sign

Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books, Findlay, OH,
"Funday Sunday" (event held every first Sunday of the month);
Superman theme, 11/2/08;
volunteers wore homemade Superman outfits, author did not

Kids (and adults) "signed in" on a window on a Metropolis cityscape drawing.

I did not drink this.

Superman and Lois Lane

Clark Kent and (another) Lois Lane

This actually gives me a better hairline.

Kids could design their own blue, red, and yellow cookies.

certain Mazza photos courtesy of Diana E. Hoffman

The Cleveland Public Library made a spiffy handbill for my two 11/6/08 talks there.