Episode 141 – The Golem's Mighty Swing

In this episode, our Myth Takes miniseries concludes with a story that combines the mythic grandeur of America's pastime with Jewish folklore—The Golem's Mighty Swing by James Sturm, published by Drawn & Quarterly! In the early 1920s, money problems force a traveling Jewish baseball team to agree to a promoter's plan to increase ticket sales: Henry Bell, a Black player pretending to be Jewish, will take the field as a golem, an animated creature from Jewish legend! When racial tensions come to a head during an ugly game in an anti-Semitic town, will the Stars of David make it out alive? And will this powerful tale hit a home run and slide into that All-Star Game of graphic storytelling known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode: Sports nerds vs. comics nerds Casey at the Bat Yasiel Puig's hazardous journey to the U.S. The Golem in Marvel's Strange Tales Charley the Australopithecine The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay James Sturm's America: God, Gold, and Golems Jar of Fools by Jason Lutes The Der Golem episode of the Scream Scene podcast Reign of Terror Join us in two weeks as we look toward the Aug. 11 debut of What If ...? on Disney+ with a special What If episode! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook! And as always, thanks for listening!