Fagin the Jew

Comic-book pioneer Eisner, creator of the masked crimefighter the Spirit in the 1940s, recently has made a series of graphic novels portrayingewish life in America. Now he tackles another aspect ofewish history--or, more precisely,ewish fiction--by reinterpreting Oliver Twist and focusing on Fagin, Dickens' sinister ringleader of a band of young thieves. Eisner's Fagin is forced into crime by poverty and prejudice, and Eisner envisions the character's youthful attempts at honesty and self-betterment being repeatedly thwarted by anti-Semitism. Moreover, Eisner appends a redemptive ending for Fagin. In its revisionist view of a classic literary villain, this is theohn Gardner Grendel of graphic novels. Eisner's renditions, if livelier and more expressive, are as caricatured as George Cruikshank's original illustrations of Fagin and, of course, eschew offensive nineteenth-century stereotypes. If Eisner's starkly melodramatic, agenda-driven narrative lacks nuance and so relies on coincidence that Dickens himself would blush, his heartfelt apologia for Fagin should be strongly considered forewish-studies collections as well as for graphic-novel collections. --Gordon Flagg Copyright 2003 Booklist

Eisner, the inventor of the graphic novel format, has been writing and drawing stories about Jewish working-class life since 1978's A Contract with God. This time, though, he's turned to an unlikely variation on that theme, by rehabilitating Fagin, the trainer of young thieves from Dickens's Oliver Twist. In Eisner's version, Fagin grows up in London's Ashkenazi communities, forced into crime by cruel fate and crueler prejudice; most of the book is framed as his pre-gallows plea for sympathy to Dickens (with a tacked-on epilogue in which the grown-up Oliver discovers Fagin should actually have inherited a fortune). Eisner has been drawing comics for 65 years, and his illustrations have become even more gorgeously expressive with time. He's done this book in a sepia wash that makes his carefully researched depiction of 19th-century London look both grubby and glorious, and wholly convincing. But the story errs on the side of extreme coincidence and melodrama, especially in the middle, where Eisner's inventive imagining of Fagin's early life and initiation into petty theft gives way to an awkwardly simplified run-through of Dickens's plot. The constant stream of expository dialogue becomes laughable after a while. No one can convey a story through drawn body language like Eisner can (his drawings of Fagin's partner, Sikes, convey an unnerving mixture of physical cruelty and hauteur); it's too bad his words aren't up to the same standard. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Adult/High School-The father of the graphic novel takes an iconographic character from Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist and gives him a personal history. The scheming but humane criminal depicted in the social novel might have experienced, according to Eisner, a childhood marked by emigration from Germany and the early death of his impoverished parents, a doomed romance, and a sojourn abroad as an indentured prisoner. The foreword explains how these details are historically probable and, indeed, relevant to the literary Jew depicted by Dickens. That Eisner has a mission to explore and redress past stereotyping-his own as well as Dickens's-does not diminish the aesthetic quality of this new telling of a fictional character's life and times. The sepia tones are of course well suited to extending the period mood, while facial and body expressions, costumes, the street scenes, and rooms are all sensuously detailed. This is a work not only for students wanting an alternative view of Oliver Twist, but also for those concerned with media influence on stereotypes and the history of immigration issues.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Comics legend Eisner (A Contract with God) here sets out to resuscitate the reputation of Fagin, ringleader of the thieving boys in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist. In early 19th-century England, Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal had the opportunity to thrive-but Moses Fagin is a lower-class Ashkenazic Jew, expelled from central Europe. As written by Eisner, Fagin gains depth and humanity, and he could have found success on the right side of the law had not persecution, poverty, and bad luck hindered him. As a boy, he is taught dishonest street tricks by his father; when his parents die, he has a chance at a better life as the servant of a wealthy Jew. But after being caught in a tryst with a woman above his station, Fagin is drawn back into the ways of the street and is eventually transported to a penal colony for ten years, returning a broken man. When Oliver is brought into his gang, Fagin develops genuine affection for the boy, and when Fagin is condemned to die, Eisner, unlike Dickens, gives him a chance at dignity. Illustrated in the same masterly black-and-white style as the books in DC's "Will Eisner Library," this is strongly recommended for adults and teens. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Comic-book pioneer Eisner, creator of the masked crimefighter the Spirit in the 1940s, recently has made a series of graphic novels portraying Jewish life in America. Now he tackles another aspect of Jewish history--or, more precisely, Jewish fiction--by reinterpreting Oliver Twist and focusing on Fagin, Dickens' sinister ringleader of a band of young thieves. Eisner's Fagin is forced into crime by poverty and prejudice, and Eisner envisions the character's youthful attempts at honesty and self-betterment being repeatedly thwarted by anti-Semitism. Moreover, Eisner appends a redemptive ending for Fagin. In its revisionist view of a classic literary villain, this is the John Gardner Grendel of graphic novels. Eisner's renditions, if livelier and more expressive, are as caricatured as George Cruikshank's original illustrations of Fagin and, of course, eschew offensive nineteenth-century stereotypes. If Eisner's starkly melodramatic, agenda-driven narrative lacks nuance and so relies on coincidence that Dickens himself would blush, his heartfelt apologia for Fagin should be strongly considered for Jewish-studies collections as well as for graphic-novel collections. ((Reviewed September 1, 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews

First published in 2003, this compelling counternarrative is framed as Fagin's apologia to Dickens and folds in plenty of historical background about Jews in Europe and England during the late 19th century. This new edition adds a foreword from writer Brian Michael Bendis, plus a meaty afterword by Canadian journalist Jeet Heer, with additional sources. Once chided for portraying a stereotypical African American, Ebony White, who was the sidekick to main character Denny Colt from The Spirit (1940), comics legend Eisner (A Contract with God) turned in later life to challenging stereotypes, here of the "evil Jew" Fagin in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist. Eisner's reenvisioned character becomes somewhat like Oliver in that his impoverished background makes him more prone to fall into crime simply to survive. Fagin thereby becomes a more nuanced character with a streak of goodness while still part of a heart-jerking melodrama—though Eisner's skill lies in his sepia brushwork more than in his words. VERDICT Several hundred U.S. libraries already own the earlier version of this classic of literary comics, which is excellent fodder for classrooms and discussion groups of tweens through adults. Larger libraries may want this expanded edition also, and libraries without the previous version should snap this up.—M.C.

Eisner, the inventor of the graphic novel format, has been writing and drawing stories about Jewish working-class life since 1978's A Contract with God. This time, though, he's turned to an unlikely variation on that theme, by rehabilitating Fagin, the trainer of young thieves from Dickens's Oliver Twist. In Eisner's version, Fagin grows up in London's Ashkenazi communities, forced into crime by cruel fate and crueler prejudice; most of the book is framed as his pre-gallows plea for sympathy to Dickens (with a tacked-on epilogue in which the grown-up Oliver discovers Fagin should actually have inherited a fortune). Eisner has been drawing comics for 65 years, and his illustrations have become even more gorgeously expressive with time. He's done this book in a sepia wash that makes his carefully researched depiction of 19th-century London look both grubby and glorious, and wholly convincing. But the story errs on the side of extreme coincidence and melodrama, especially in the middle, where Eisner's inventive imagining of Fagin's early life and initiation into petty theft gives way to an awkwardly simplified run-through of Dickens's plot. The constant stream of expository dialogue becomes laughable after a while. No one can convey a story through drawn body language like Eisner can (his drawings of Fagin's partner, Sikes, convey an unnerving mixture of physical cruelty and hauteur); it's too bad his words aren't up to the same standard. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Adult/High School-The father of the graphic novel takes an iconographic character from Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist and gives him a personal history. The scheming but humane criminal depicted in the social novel might have experienced, according to Eisner, a childhood marked by emigration from Germany and the early death of his impoverished parents, a doomed romance, and a sojourn abroad as an indentured prisoner. The foreword explains how these details are historically probable and, indeed, relevant to the literary Jew depicted by Dickens. That Eisner has a mission to explore and redress past stereotyping-his own as well as Dickens's-does not diminish the aesthetic quality of this new telling of a fictional character's life and times. The sepia tones are of course well suited to extending the period mood, while facial and body expressions, costumes, the street scenes, and rooms are all sensuously detailed. This is a work not only for students wanting an alternative view of Oliver Twist, but also for those concerned with media influence on stereotypes and the history of immigration issues.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.