Fagin the Jew

FAGIN THE JEW is the latest full length graphic novel from one of comic's most renowned story tellers (called "the Elvis of comics" by Amazon.com). Throughout history certain fictional characters in our literature have, because of their popularity, achieved a certain reality. One such character, Fagin, created by Charles Dickens for OLIVER TWIST, ultimately became a "profile" of a Jew that embedded itself in popular prejudice. While Dickens never intended to defame Jewish people, by referring to his character as "the Jew" throughout the book he abetted the prejudice against them. In his award-winning artistic style, Will Eisner takes the infamous villain and develops him as the complex and troubled anti-hero that he very well may have been had he had the opportuni ty to tell his own tale. Originally conceived as a short introduction to a pictorial adaptation of OLIVER TWIST for educational use , FAGIN THE JEW grew out ofEisner's fascination with this unexplored territory. Eisner places Fagin in his historical context as an Ashkenazi Jew and looks at life in London's immigrant Jewish community during the time of Dickens.