Eli Eshed
Encyclopedia
Eli Eshed is an Israeli researcher of popular culture
who has spent considerable time and effort analyzing the Israeli pulp magazines and paperbacks of the 1950s and 1960s.
He made an investigation, especially the pirated Tarzan
brochures which were highly popular among Israeli youths at the time, published anonymously and without any authorization from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs
. In 2000, he published a very limited edition of a Hebrew book called Tarzan in the Holy Land. This book is a history and a bibliography of the Tarzan phenomenon in Israel
, where there were more than a thousand original stories about Tarzan. Although it is in Hebrew, it is illustrated throughout with dust wrappers and pictorial bindings from all the main Tarzan series published in Israel. It is then a book of interest even for the majority who do not read Hebrew.
In 2002, Eli Eshed published From Tarzan to Zbeng about the pulp literature of Israel. This book became a best seller and earned Eshed the title "Writer of the Year" from Maariv
. He also researched the adventures of many other pulp icons, such as Patrick Kim, a fictional Korean CIA agent using karate
against a variety of enemies worldwide.
In 2003, Eshed published with the leading and best known Israeli comics
artist Uri Fink
. The book The Golem: A Story of an Israeli Comicbook is about the history of a comics series in an alternative state of Israel, an Israel in which there has been a fully developed and flourishing comics industry since the 1940s as a result of the success of this particular series. The series and the book are called The Golem. The Golem is the ultimate Hebrew super-hero and works alongside a beautiful woman super-heroine, Lilith.
The book describes the history of the series since the 1940s, when it was drawn by the young comics artist Jack Kirby (Jacob Kurtzberg in that alternative reality), who had immigrated to Palestine like so many other Jews. It offers “examples” from many comic-strips, in which the Golem collaborates with various real Israeli personalities, such as Itzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon, as well as with fictional characters, such as Tarzan the Jungle King in Africa and versions of well known Israeli fictional heroes such as Dani Din the invisible boy as well as many others. Specifically for the book, there have been created by master animator Gil Biderrman a song and a movie clip with limited animation sung by award-winning artist Yasmin Even about the Golem’s adventures. Both are supposedly made in the 1970s and imitate the style of that time.
Though imaginary, the book is based on real events and personalities in the world of Hebrew popular culture, people such as Pinchas Sade, Asher Dickstein, and Etgar keret who are presented as writers and artists of the series in the alternative universe. The “Golem artwork” in their styles was produced by Uri Fink. The book has been very successful in Israel and has become something of a cult book and was called by leading Israeli literary critic Menachem Ben “a master work of Israeli mythology“ and by screen writer and producer Alon Rozenblum "A must have book in every home". It is the last word on the subject of the super-hero in Israeli popular culture in 2005 the character of the Golem and Lilith had becomes the heroes of an English comic strip by Fink and Eshed.
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
who has spent considerable time and effort analyzing the Israeli pulp magazines and paperbacks of the 1950s and 1960s.
He made an investigation, especially the pirated Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
brochures which were highly popular among Israeli youths at the time, published anonymously and without any authorization from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
. In 2000, he published a very limited edition of a Hebrew book called Tarzan in the Holy Land. This book is a history and a bibliography of the Tarzan phenomenon in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where there were more than a thousand original stories about Tarzan. Although it is in Hebrew, it is illustrated throughout with dust wrappers and pictorial bindings from all the main Tarzan series published in Israel. It is then a book of interest even for the majority who do not read Hebrew.
In 2002, Eli Eshed published From Tarzan to Zbeng about the pulp literature of Israel. This book became a best seller and earned Eshed the title "Writer of the Year" from Maariv
Maariv
Maariv is a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel. It is second in sales after Yedioth Ahronoth and third in readership after Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel HaYom. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Maariv saw its market share fall slightly...
. He also researched the adventures of many other pulp icons, such as Patrick Kim, a fictional Korean CIA agent using karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
against a variety of enemies worldwide.
In 2003, Eshed published with the leading and best known Israeli comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
artist Uri Fink
Uri Fink
Uri Fink is an Israeli comic book artist and writer, and creator of the comics series Zbeng!. Fink is considered to be one of Israel's leading comic book artists.-Biography:...
. The book The Golem: A Story of an Israeli Comicbook is about the history of a comics series in an alternative state of Israel, an Israel in which there has been a fully developed and flourishing comics industry since the 1940s as a result of the success of this particular series. The series and the book are called The Golem. The Golem is the ultimate Hebrew super-hero and works alongside a beautiful woman super-heroine, Lilith.
The book describes the history of the series since the 1940s, when it was drawn by the young comics artist Jack Kirby (Jacob Kurtzberg in that alternative reality), who had immigrated to Palestine like so many other Jews. It offers “examples” from many comic-strips, in which the Golem collaborates with various real Israeli personalities, such as Itzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon, as well as with fictional characters, such as Tarzan the Jungle King in Africa and versions of well known Israeli fictional heroes such as Dani Din the invisible boy as well as many others. Specifically for the book, there have been created by master animator Gil Biderrman a song and a movie clip with limited animation sung by award-winning artist Yasmin Even about the Golem’s adventures. Both are supposedly made in the 1970s and imitate the style of that time.
Though imaginary, the book is based on real events and personalities in the world of Hebrew popular culture, people such as Pinchas Sade, Asher Dickstein, and Etgar keret who are presented as writers and artists of the series in the alternative universe. The “Golem artwork” in their styles was produced by Uri Fink. The book has been very successful in Israel and has become something of a cult book and was called by leading Israeli literary critic Menachem Ben “a master work of Israeli mythology“ and by screen writer and producer Alon Rozenblum "A must have book in every home". It is the last word on the subject of the super-hero in Israeli popular culture in 2005 the character of the Golem and Lilith had becomes the heroes of an English comic strip by Fink and Eshed.