Silent Auction (closes 6pm)
Silent Auction Lot #1
Collection ID#: 7
DC Comics
Action Comics (Vol. 1) (1938 - 2011)
Action Comics #835 (RARE ISSUE)
Published: January 2006
SUPERMAN WEARS A KIPPAH, comes to Shabbat dinner and comments, “I’m familiar with Kiddush”. A philosophical conversation ensures about the value of Tikkun Olam despite personal risk. It’s the only comic I’m aware of with Superman clearly engaging in a Jewish ritual.
It also happens to be a particularly sought after comic as it is also the first appearance of LIVEWIRE.
Silent Auction Lot #2
Collection ID#: 39 & 40
DC Comics
Batman (Vol. 1) (1940 - 2011)
Batman #551 & 552
Published: December 1997
FEATURING: RAGMAN
2-ISSUE STORY
Batman confronts a series of hate crimes in Gotham City, perpetrated by a white supremacist group known as the Aryan Reich. The story introduces Rory Regan (Ragman), who returns to Gotham to attend the funeral of a Jewish man murdered by the Aryan Reich. Seeking guidance, he consults Rabbi Isaac Ben Luria, discussing the nature of his powers and the moral complexities he faces. The whole issue is amazing, and I especially love that the name of the Rabbi is Isaac Ben Luria. It’s also notable that Ragman’s “Emet” is in Hebrew letters this time.
SPECIAL NOTE: Gorf is credited as the associate editor on both of these... get his autograph!
Silent Auction Lot #3
Collection ID#: 112
Marvel Comics
Excalibur (Vol. 1) (1988 - 1998)
Excalibur #121 (RARE ISSUE)
Published: April 1998
FEATURE CHARACTER: SABRA
SUPPORTING CHARACTER: KITTY PRYDE (also Jewish!)
Excalibur arrive in Israel where they meet with Sabra to help investigate strange goings-ons involving whom they suspect to be Legion, however when they arrive at the location of the destruction, they learn it is Legion’s three personalities, hovering between life and death. Excalibur and Sabra do not really get on, as she already knows plenty of personal information on them after reading up on them, and challenges Nightcrawler’s leadership. By the end of the battle though, Sabra appreciates Excalibur’s cohesiveness and team work, while Meggan convinces the personalities to pass into the other side. Sabra gives Excalibur a disc of information on a “mutual friend” and they part as new friends Colossus and Shadowcat, who sports a new uniform, also share a moment of friendship. Sabra re-tells the adventure to officials at the Mossad who want to know if Excalibur would be sympathetic to their cause, and get concerned when Sabra mentions she promised Excalibur information, assuring the officials she never gave it to them. Meanwhile, on Muir Island, Moira MacTaggert informs the Beast and Cecelia Reyes that her quarantine has ended and she is taking a sabbatical from her research into the Legacy Virus, while Wolfsbane tells Douglock that she will never forgive him for ending the quarantine.
Silent Auction Lot #4
Collection ID#: 137
Marvel Comics
The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) (1968 - 1999)
The Incredible Hulk #256 (RARE ISSUE)
Published: October 1980
FEATURING: SABRA
FIRST APPEARANCE OF SABRA
Stowed away on a ship, The Hulk finds himself in the port of Tel Aviv. The story portrays a surprisingly nuanced understanding of the conflict, showing both terrorism and humanity. Sabra mistakes the Hulk for allying with the terrorists, and the fight begins…
Silent Auction Lot #5
Collection ID#: 140 & 141
Marvel Comics
The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) (1968 - 1999)
The Incredible Hulk #386 & #387
Published: August & September 1991
2 - ISSUE STORY FEATURING: SABRA
In Jerusalem, the Hulk is sent by the secretive Pantheon to intercept a boy prophesied to become a future dictator, he arrives to find the mission already unraveling. A rogue Pantheon operative is hunting the child—and Sabra is the only one standing in his way. As the chase unfolds through the Old City and beyond, Sabra mistakes the Hulk for the true threat, triggering an explosive showdown between two of Marvel’s most powerful heroes. But this isn’t just a fight—it’s a tense moral dilemma: Can a child’s future be changed, or should he be eliminated before he becomes a monster?
In PART 2, Hulk and Sabra race to stop a rogue agent from committing murder in the name of preventing future evil. Still reeling from a prophetic vision that a boy named Max Meer will one day become a genocidal dictator, the Hulk and Sabra clash—both physically and ideologically—while the mysterious Pantheon warrior Achilles closes in on his target.
The battle between Hulk and Sabra takes them across Israel’s most sacred and symbolic sites, from the Israel Museum, to the Shrine of the Book, to the Kotel. Meanwhile, Achilles reveals his shocking origin: a Jewish child survivor of Dachau, whose mutant powers first manifested in a Nazi gas chamber. His trauma, and vow to prevent another Holocaust, fuels his obsessive quest to kill Max.
Silent Auction Lot #6
Collection ID#: 186
Marvel Comics
Moon Knight (Vol. 1) (1980 - 1984)
Moon Knight #37 (RARE ISSUE)
Published: January 1984
JEWISH ORIGIN STORY OF MOON KNIGHT
This issue is the origin story of Moon Knight establishing him as a Jewish character, the son of an Orthodox rabbi. The writer is Rabbi Alan Zelenetz, who at the time was a junior high school principal at the Yeshiva of Flatbush, an Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn. He is the only rabbi known to have written for mainstream comics. The story reveals how Mark Spector became estranged from his father, disagreeing about his pacificst approach to antisemitism. A new villain, named Zohar (seriously!), seeks to acquire the great rabbi's power derived from knowledge of Kabbalism.
(The part 2 to this story, is an even more rare issue that completes the entire series. That issue IS available, and will part of the Premium Auction at 5pm, Lot #2: Moon Knight Showcase.)
Silent Auction Lot #7
Collection ID#: 193 & 194
Marvel Comics
The New Warriors (Vol. 1) (1990 - 1996)
The New Warriors #58 & 59 (RARE ISSUE)
Published: April & May 1995
2-ISSUE STORY FEATURING: SABRA
Sabra attends a conference with Yitzchak Rabin in NYC. On the way, her the convoy comdes under attack... I don't want to ruin, the story... kaddish is recited at the very climax of the narrative.
Silent Auction Lot #8
Collection ID#: 201
DC Comics
Ragman (Vol. 2) (1991 - 1992)
Ragman #3
Published: October 1991
Ragman, defender of the downtrodden is a superhero who's Jewish identity is central to his character, his story, and his superpower. In this issue Rory Regan's (Ragman) mentor, a rabbi, tells the story of the previous Ragman, Rory's father, who failed to save the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto.
The entire issue is amazing, in particular a depiction of a concentration camp with Jews huddled together behind barbed wire in striped prison clothing on page 14. Later, text suggests that the image was of Treblinka. The cover art is powerful, and each of the full page panels in the book are just as incredible.
Silent Auction Lot #9
Collection ID#: 236
DC Comics
The Super Friends (Vol. 1) (1976 - 1981)
The Super Friends #38 (RARE ISSUE)
Published: November 1980
It might be just because I'm a cantor, but this book contains my most favourite image in the entire collection... The Seraph, leading Kol Nidre, close-up.
The Seraph is DC's Israeli Superhero, you might say that Sabra would be his Marvel equivalent. But while Sabra embodies the prickliness of her namesake, The Seraph is sweet, gentle, a teacher in his ordinary life, and deeply spiritual.
The second story of the book is, “The Seraph’s Day of Atonement”, penciled by Ramona Fradon, who not Jewish, but one of the few women comic creators. It was written by Nelson E. Bridwell who was also not Jewish, but a savant who memorized the entire Christian bible and the complete works of Shakespeare. It was edited by the illustrious and deeply Jewish, Julius Schwartz, who's influence is apparent in this issue. In the story, The Seraph goes too far, killing a terrorist who had fallen defenseless. God punishes Seraph by removing his powers. Seraph then speaks to God, prays for forgiveness on Yom Kippur, and his powers are restored.
Silent Auction Lot #10
Collection ID#: 249
DC Comics
The Thing (Vol. 2) (2005 - 2006)
The Thing #8
Published: July 2006
The Thing's Bar Mitzvah! (It doesn't disappoint)