Diaspora Boy: Comics on Crisis in America and Israel

by Eli Valley, Peter Beinart (Contributor)

Eli Valley’s comic strips are intricate fever dreams employing noir, horror, slapstick and science fiction to expose the outlandish hypocrisies at play in the American/Israeli relationship. Sometimes banned, often controversial and always hilarious, Valley’s work has helped to energize a generation exasperated by American complicity in an Israeli occupation now entering its fiftieth year.

This, the first full-scale anthology of Valley’s art, provides an essential retrospective of America and Israel at a turning point. With meticulously detailed line work and a richly satirical palette peppered with perseverating turtles, xenophobic Jedi knights, sputtering superheroes, mutating golems and zombie billionaires, Valley’s comics unmask the hypocrisy and horror behind the headlines. This collection supplements the satires with historical background and contexts, insights into the creative process, selected reactions to the works, and behind-the-scenes tales of tensions over what was permissible for publication.

Brutally riotous and irreverent, the comics in this volume are a vital contribution to a centuries-old tradition of graphic protest and polemics.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Politics, Graphic Novels Comics, Judaica, History

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 22, 2017

About the author

New York based cartoonist, Eli Valley's work has appeared in a range of publications including The Nation, The New Republic, The Village Voice, The Forward and Gawker.

Reviews

[Bec Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great; these comics were really eye-opening and creative, illustrating the hypocrisy of Zionist leaders and Israel. I can see why some of them are so controversial, since nuance can go out the window with satirical caricature. I also appreciated the context provided for each comic—the reactions from Jewish communities to Valley’s work and the sources of inspiration for it helped to further educate on the issues.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendous, provocative, hilarious, insightful, all the best stuff

[Sarah Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant, gruesome, and precise. I’ve always admired Valley’s ability to illustrate my own rage, grief, and frustration, and reading some context regarding his comic influences (something I know little about) adds another layer of appreciation regarding his oeuvre. The introduction is one of the most resonant pieces of writing I’ve ever encountered.

[John Mihelic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Eli Valley. What his art is able to do is really make you uncomfortable. And it makes you uncomfortable because he's telling you the truth and he's showing you things as they are.



I think it's a skill a lot of cartoonists don't really have. I think the other thing that I really like about him is his drawing style - that real heavy dark line work I'm sure has the name but it reminds me of old school woodblock prints. So they're also very visually interesting.



The book itself is actually kind of hard to read. And it's not because of subject matter but because of the very physicality of the book. It's printed as if they were printing a broadsheet page but it's much heavier than a broadsheet page so I had to lay it out on the table to thoroughly read it. The other piece about this specific text is that it is really focused on Jewishness and the Jewish experience as a left-wing American Jew and how to deal with the state of Israel and how it goes against so many of your ideals. Something I really like that Valley does here is that he includes short essays to give context to what was going on both in his career and World politics of the time because there's a lot of deep cuts that if you're not hyper conscious and aware of what's going on within that specific context you'll only miss it.



Unfortunately the conflicts that Valley writes about are daily ongoing and they don't seem to have any resolution so that even though this book was published 4 years ago it still feels very timely I would recommend that you read it.

[Reb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six stars. Read immediately. Insight, scathing criticism, humor, great brushwork.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eli offers a unique insight into the Jewish experience and much of the cultural tensions between conservative Zionism and Diasporic Jews. I appreciate his biting commentary.

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always had plenty of ideas about Zionism and how it is basically a manifestation of a plethora of antisemitic tropes that self-enforce themselves, and what interested me most in conversations with "anti-zionist israelis" are the conversations on this abomination of an ideology and how they "got out" of it.
What always surprised me is that they didn't really "get out" of Zionism, they were always too Israelised that it was frustrating to reckon with the idea that this is what's supposed to be radical here.
I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon Diaspora Boy, and enjoyed most of the social commentary from a true anti-zionist that is far enough from Israel to see it for what it is and actually mean what he says. Eli is incredibly funny and talented, knows how to get under people's skins and tickle fiddle brains. My only complaint would be that some of the comics felt reaaalllyyy specific that they weren't fun or relevant, and that's okay.

[Matthew Petti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the comics/articles in the book were written about events a decade ago, but they could have been written yesterday.

I actually enjoy Valley's Obama era caricatures more than his Trump era ones. During the Obama administration, Valley was responding to difficult questions about Zionism and liberalism. Eventually, Valley had said everything he had to say about the fundamental issues. (On Twitter he often reacts to news stories by reporting old comics of his that predicted the situation.) So by the Trump administration, his comics became a series of grotesque shock caricatures.

The articles were valuable not only for explaining more specific historical/cultural references in a lot of Valley's comics, but also for explaining the backstory of Valley's own career. His aggressive style today makes more sense when you see how he was consistently gaslit for making valid points in the earlier years, and called a self hater for engaging deeply with the tradition he loves.

[Michał Józef Gąsior · Rating 5 out of 5]

Książka jest zbiorem komiksów, które wydawane były w żydowskich periodykach od roku 2008 do roku wydania, czyli 2017. Porusza ona temat konfliktu ruchu syjonistycznego z diasporą, który obecnie przyjął formę walki pomiędzy zwolennikami, a przeciwnikami polityki prowadzonej przez Izrael. Niemal każda z przedstawionych historii, będąc bardzo mocnym komentarzem do ówczesnej sytuacji społecznej, posiada odpowiedni zarys i kontekst niezbędny do zrozumienia przedstawionej satyry. Autor przyjmuje postawę krytyczną i trzeba podkreślić, iż wyjątkowo celnie i brutalnie punktuje absurdy narracji ruchu syjonistycznego. Warto wspomnieć, iż w konsekwencji swojej działalności stracił on pracę w jednej z gazet. Bardzo pomocny jest także świetny wstęp opisujący historyczne zaszłości konfliktu oraz zawierający krótką autobiografię autora, przybliżającą środowisko w jakim się wychował. Na koniec muszę jeszcze pochwalić niesamowitą i bardzo charakterystyczną kreskę autora, która powoduje, że komiks jest także niezwykłym doznaniem estetycznym. Jedyna moja uwaga, to kwestia wydania - format jest bardzo niewygodny do czytania. Poza tym nic więcej mi nie przychodzi do głowy. Polecam bardzo!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning: If you have no sense of humor about Jewish continuity, the Diaspora versus Israel debate, Jewish American communal politics or the Israeli government, then you definitely won’t want to read Eli Valley’s “Diaspora Boy: Comics on Crisis in America and Israel” (OR Books). Of course, you’ll miss some very funny and extremely challenging looks at the extended Jewish world. Valley’s style is satire a la Mad Magazine, meaning that his drawings are caricatures and his humor heavy-handed, but he also has a gift for duplicating the double talk offered by some Jewish communal and political leaders.
See the rest of my review at www.thereportergroup.org/Article.aspx...

[Peter Hollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adding this because I don't seem to have done so before and I'm about to read his second big collection.
Eli Valley is a treasure. He elicits a lot of hate for showing up the grotesquery of Zionism for what it is.

[Marguerite Dabaie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review of this book is here: https://electronicintifada.net/conten...

[Morey Lipsett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great politics. Mediocre Comics

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best to go through and pick ones that you'll understand and ignore the rest. Following him on Twitter is good because you'll understand the references better give that he reacts to current events.

[Yak · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing

[Ravi]

valley is an excellent, cutting satirist.

[Si Squires-Kasten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eli Valley accomplishes the Herculean task of redeeming both Jewish identity and political cartoons. These comics are packed to the brim with references to classical and contemporary Jewish culture, as well as to EC Comics and Mad Magazine, and they are as vulgar and sincere as the subject demands.