Originally published on JewishBoston.com.

Tomorrow, August 28, is the first ever International Read Comics in Public Day. Since the American comicbook industry was largely built by Jewish immigrants, the book generally considered to be the first “graphic novel” was all about Jewish life on the Lower East Side, and even today many of the luminaries of the field are Jewish, I think it’s fair game to claim this as a Jewish holiday of sorts.

The day is being sponsored by comics blog The Daily Cross Hatch, prompted by a joke between editors Sarah Morean and Brian Heater. You see, despite deacdes of news articles “discovering” that comics are for adults, all sorts of book awards including the Pulitzer going to comics, and a string of high-grossing and Oscar-winning films based on comics, there’s still some stigma attached to reading them. So Morean & Heater put out the call to comics lovers everywhere – be proud of what you’re reading, and let others see it.  Continue reading →