''Mendy and the Golem'', originally written by Leibel Estrin and later by

Matt Brandstein Matt Brandstein (born January 29, 1972) is an American writer and occasional Bollywood film actor. He is most known for his writing of the popular Jewish children's comic book series ''Mendy and the Golem''. Brandstein often employs the use of hi ...

, is the name of two

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

comic book series featuring Jewish characters. The original was a

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

comedy aimed primarily at children. The second series straddles a variety of genres, including swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mystery, and science fiction, while retaining slapstick humor offset by dashes of satire and political and cultural commentary.

Publication history

The first ''Mendy and the Golem'' series followed the exploits of Mendy Klein, who found a Golem in their father's

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

. The Klein siblings and their Golem (named Sholem) get into all sorts of scrapes, and walk out of them with a moral based on Jewish texts. In the second series, the Kleins have created a modern-day Golem with the assistance of the venerable Reb Zushe, an aging

Rabbinical Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

scholar. This version of the characters originated as a series of comic strips, ''Mendy's Fun Page'' that ran weekly in Jewish newspapers in

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and

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, beginning in 1997.

1981 series

Billed as "The World's Only Kosher Comic Book", Mendy Enterprises' ''Mendy and the Golem''

first appeared In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interes ...

in 1981. Written by Leibel Estrin and drawn by Dovid Sears, the comic book featured the offbeat misadventures of Mendy, an Orthodox Jewish boy, and his pet Golem. Other characters include Mendy's parents, Rabbi Yaakov and Sara Klein; Mendy's sister, Rivky; and a host of colorful supporting characters such as Moshe the Mayven; the Lone Stranger and his faithful friend Toronto; Captain Video; Dr. Hardheart and his evil robot Oy Vayder; and Professor Nemo. Nineteen issues were produced.

2003 series

A new ''Mendy and the Golem'' series appeared in 2003, published by The Golem Factory. Under editor-in-chief Tani Pinson, it was written by

and featured art by Stan Goldberg, Ernie Colón and

Joe Rubinstein Josef "Joe" Rubinstein (born 4 June 1958) is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' and the 1982 four-issue ''Wolverine'' miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank ...

External links

''Mendy and the Golem'' official site (preserved at the Internet Archive from Oct. 25, 2005)

How 'Mendy and the Golem' Became the First Kosher Comic Book

Mendy and the Golem (1981)
at the Comic Books Database
The first 'Mendy and the Golem' series online
Chabad-Lubavitch (Hasidic dynasty) American comics titles Jewish American literature Fictional golems 1981 comics debuts 2003 comics debuts Jewish-related comics {{comics-stub