Tag Archives: miriam libicki

Around the Tubes

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Lawful #1

It was new comic book day yesterday! What’d you all like? Dislike? Sound off in the comments below. While you think about that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web to kick off the day.

The Comics Journal – Miriam Libicki on VanCAF, bannings, and political protests – The full scoop on the recent VanCAF controversy.

The Wrap – Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Loses Director Yann Demange – Again!?

Advocate – Trans employee slams Marvel’s ‘allies’ Pride series for ‘erasing’ LGBTQ+ voices – Uh, yeah. This was a bad decision.

Reviews

Comicbook – Lawful #1
Comicbook – Remote Space #1
Comicbook – Scarlet Witch #1

Vancouver Comic Arts Festival board resigns after controversy

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The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival (VanCAF) board has resigned after a controversy over the banning of a creator from the convention. The festival released as statement last week that it had banned an Israeli-American comic creator due to her past service in the Israel Defense Forces.

Though not named, the artist was Miriam Libicki and the decision to ban her caused an uproar and charges of antisemitism against the show. As far as we know, no other members of the military have been banned due to their service. We reached out to the convention and have heard no response as of this article’s publication.

The original accountability statement released by VanCAF stated there was a “public safety” concern due to her prior role and that Libicki wouldn’t be allowed to return to the festival. It went on to apologize for “harm” it caused by allowing Libicki to exhibit. She has exhibited at every VanCAF up until 2023 when a exhibitor application deadline was missed. The 2 individuals who made the complaint in 2022 were also banned as stated by those with more insider information as to events.

Libicki was at the 2024 show to promote her graphic novel But I Live, which is a collection of work based on the experiences of survivors of the Holocaust. Libicki had agreed with VanCAF to just focus on that and not her graphic novel jobnik! which chronicled her military service during the second intifada and other previous graphic novels. The convention admits that after agreeing to it, it then did a 180 after the 2024 convention stating it “failed to take the correct precautions to ensure (its) community’s safety” leading to the first statement and Libicki’s ban.

The original “Accountability Statement,” which you can read above, was taken down after pushback and the convention went silent over the weekend.

VanCAF has released a new statement, not only apologizing for the original but their decision to ban Libicki and statements made. The current board of directors has resigned and only a few remain to hand over the convention to new leadership and staff. You can read the new apology below.

JewCE 2023: Jewish Female Narratives in the Graphic Arts

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To go along with the Jewish Comics Experience exhibition, JewCE held a convention with numerous panels highlighting the history of comics and it connection to Jewish culture and history. Taking place in November, the convention has now released all of the panels for streaming and to watch on demand.

Join an amazing group of female creators to consider issues of gender and Jewishness in personal narrative. Panelists will discuss how gender and creed does or doesn’t, should or shouldn’t, inform their storytelling. They will also explore if and how their decisions change depending on whether the stories are creator-owned or with licensed characters, or if they are working with collaborators with differing backgrounds.

Moderated by Karen Green, the panel features Leela Corman, Amy Kurzweil, Alisa Kwitney, and Miriam Libicki.

JewCe 2023: Queering Jewish Comics

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To go along with the Jewish Comics Experience exhibition, JewCE held a convention with numerous panels highlighting the history of comics and it connection to Jewish culture and history. Taking place in November, the convention has now released all of the panels for streaming and to watch on demand.

What might it mean to queer Jewish comics? In this panel, we will explore the works of comics creators who have challenged normative notions of Jewish identity and belonging, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality, by experimenting with elements like form, style, characterization, and storytelling convention. Our panelists will discuss their experiences of shaping Jewish characters and stories to expand ideas of what Jewish comics storytelling can look like, and what it can say.

Queering Jewish Comics is moderated by Tahneer Oksman and features Ben Kahn, Shira Spector, Barry Deutsch, and Miriam Libicki. Watch it now!

Review – Jobnik!

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jobnik!One of my finds at the 2010 Small Press Expo was Jobnik! by Miriam Libicki.  This autobiographical graphic novel covers her time in the Israeli army.  Libicki isn’t suited for the army, yet she joins anyway thinking it’s the right thing to do.  What she doesn’t expect is the Al Aqsa uprising to occur at the same time.

Miriam Libicki, an American Jewish girl from a religious home, enlists in the Israeli Army one summer against everyone’s better judgment. Many qualities seem to make her unsuited for IDF life: her Hebrew isn’t great, she is shy and passive, and she has a tendency to fall in love with anything that moves. If that weren’t enough, the Al Aqsa uprising, a.k.a the second Palestinian Intifada, erupts a few weeks after she is stationed as a secretary in a remote Negev base. Will Miriam survive threats of terrorism, the rough IDF culture, and not least, her horrible taste in men?

This is a tale of youth with a backdrop of an uprising adding interesting context for the time.  Libicki doesn’t spare any embarrassing detail, showing herself in a true naive light.  There’s little glossed over, and only brutal truth shines through.

She also handles drawing duty.  Her figures are all short and stocky with big eyes, but every so often the style changes up.  It does the job and doesn’t distract, but at the same time, this is about the story.

The story is raw and not censored.  This is an important piece of work as it covers real life during a pretty turbulent time in Israeli history and one woman’s.

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SPX 2010

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This was my first Small Press Expo comic book show and I have to say I’m impressed, for the $10 or $15 dollars, it’s absolutely worth the trip, especially if you’re looking for smaller press comic books.  Most of the time, you can meet and talk to the writer and/or artist right there which is a nice touch.

The bad things were the show was a bit crowded, causing me to not stay too long.  The other issue is things are a bit expensive.  I have no problem paying for books, but it limits how many purchases I can make when I’m dropping $20 for a graphic novel.

Even so, I still walked away with a pile to review (there’s a nice back up and lots to come after this and Baltimore Comic Con).  Below are what I walked away with.

SPX 2010

Dad! – story and art by Scott King

Drinking at the Movies – story and art by Julia Wertz

Fortune and Glory: A True Hollywood Comic Book Story – by Brian Michael Bendis

Hellcity – story Macon Blair, art Joe Flood

Jewish Memoir goes Pow! Zap! Oy! – written and art by Miriam Libicki

jobnik! – written and art by Miriam Libicki

Market Day – written and art by James Sturm

Space Doubles – written numerous, art numerous

Towards a Hot Jew: the Israeli Soldier as fetish object -written and art by Miriam Libicki