7 October in comics
- The founding of comics in Israel
- The tragedy of 7 October in comics
- Collective work ‘In the Heart of 7 October’
- Ouri Fink and his influence on Israeli comics
- The importance of comics as a cultural tool
The founding of comics in Israel
The State of Israel was founded mainly by Jews from Poland and Russia, countries where comics are not highly regarded.
When many other Jews from the diaspora arrived from other parts of Europe and America to settle in Israel, this graphic art of storytelling began to take shape and gradually became part of the country's publishing landscape.
The tragedy of 7 October in comics
As in many other parts of the world, comics were then limited to children's stories before the emergence of superheroes, but no one would have thought of capturing the tragedy of 7 October 2023 in comics. Until now. A date that has been etched forever in the memory of the Jewish people, almost on a par with the date that commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz every 27 January, and consequently the Shoah. This was pointed out by David Hachuel, president of the Hispanic Jewish Foundation, at the presentation of the first Spanish edition of the date on which the horror of that day is captured in the testimonies of those who lived through it and who make up this graphic novel.
Collective work ‘In the Heart of 7 October’
The result is this collective work, entitled ‘In the Heart of 7 October’ (Nagrela Editores, 144 pages, hardcover), coordinated by one of the leading figures in Israeli comics, Ouri Fink, who brings together eleven other authors, men and women of very different ages and political ideologies, to compose twelve stories in the form of accounts of survival, solidarity and courage in the kibbutzim and towns near Gaza, as well as among those attending the Nova festival. A cast of cartoonists including Michel Kichka, Reut Bortz, Shay Charka, Ilana Zeffren, Yonatan Wachmann, Moshik Guist, Guy Lenman, Koren Shadmi, Noa Katz, Tohar Sherman-Friedman, Nusko and Ouri Fink himself.
Among the protagonists are figures such as Yossef, the Bedouin taxi driver who saved 30 lives, and Shaylee, a mother who survived thanks to Yahav's sacrifice. These stories are illustrated with sensitivity and strength, paying tribute to ordinary people who faced the extraordinary with humanity.
Ouri Fink and his influence on Israeli comics
Ouri Fink, who took part in an intense discussion in the Ruth Bader Ginsburg auditorium of the Cremades & Calvo Sotelo law firm in Madrid, is a cartoonist for the daily newspaper Maariv and an active member of Cartooning for Peace, an international network of cartoonists committed to dialogue and freedom of expression. Fink combines humour, social criticism and an accessible aesthetic to address complex issues such as identity, politics and everyday life in Israel. His work has been key to popularising comics as a cultural and educational tool in his country.
A regular at international festivals of the genre, Fink has eloquently shown how comics can be a tool for memory, criticism and intercultural dialogue. His work has inspired authors seeking to combine humour with social awareness and has helped to raise the profile of Israeli comics on the global stage.
The importance of comics as a cultural tool
Despite his initial influence from American comic book superheroes, Fink now recognises France as the undisputed leader in this publishing art, a dominance corroborated by the fact that the great European cartoonists prefer to publish their works first through French publishers, and from there they are projected to their own countries and around the world.