Venice, CA has a huge homeless problem, even more so than the rest of Los
Angeles, which is saying something. Not so surprisingly, it is partially its
own fault, since local zoning and regulation has made it impossible to build a
single new unit of housing since 2007. That means there are plenty of homeless
camps where you might find strange and unsavory types. The Golem definitely
counts as strange, but he does not look so glaringly out of place in the home
of Muscle Beach. He now goes by the name “Adam” and his personality has
evolved, but he is still a product of his Kabbalistic origins in Chanan Beizer’s
graphic novel The Golem of Venice Beach, mostly illustrated by Vanessa
Cardinali, which goes on-sale today.
Jake
is descended from the line of the original Prague rabbi whose blood first
animated Adam, so the Golem is sworn to protect him and his last living relative—a
Holocaust survivor from the old country (in the 1950s, Venice was home to many
survivors, because of their cheap rents). Adam already saved Jake once during
childhood, but the moody slacker still carries guilt from the incident.
Adam
is keenly aware of man’s inhumanity by now, so he only intends to act
exclusively when the Rabbi’s bloodline is in jeopardy. That rather annoys Jake,
who wants Adam to save his new girlfriend, who is forced to preside over Santa
Muerte ceremonies to protect a brutal Venice drug gang. Frankly, she is one of
the graphic novel’s most intriguing characters, because she is part damsel-in-distress
and part femme fatale. The exact ration is yet to be determined in part one.
That
means there is a part two yet to come. As a result, part one ends without a
whole lot of resolution. There is a little, but not much. On the other hand,
the mix of visuals styles is distinctive. Particularly notable is the renowned
comic artist Bill Sienkiewicz, who contributed the cover and the Prague-set prologue.
Cardinali handles most of the contemporary story, in a slightly cartoony style,
but evokes the funkiness of Venice.
The Golem of legend is an avenger, but its unthinking actions often entail
unintended consequences for those who summon it. As a result, it frequently
punishes hubris. The desperate Jewish population of occupied Prague has no
hubris left to rebuke, but the wakened Golem remains an unpredictable wild card
in Francesco Artibani’s graphic novel He Who Fights with Monsters,
illustrated by Werther Dell’Edera, which is now on-sale wherever comics are
sold.
Now
that the Soviets have “liberated” Prague, the old puppeteer can tell his story
through his puppets to an interested officer. Three years ago, Jewish Dr. Radek
Molnar did his best to tend to his patients, thanks to forged papers. However,
he was not a proper arm-carrying member of the resistance, like his lover
Zuzka. Yet, perhaps that is why the elderly professor they sheltered is so
convinced Molnar is sufficiently righteous to re-animate the Golem. He even
knows where the original clay and ancient texts are hidden in the city’s
surviving synagogue.
This
would indeed be an opportune time to raise the Golem. The occupying Germans are
still taking brutal reprisals for the assassination of Heydrich. Transports are
due to ship thousands of prisoners to the concentration camps. There is plenty
for the Golem to avenge. Yet, the passage of time and the previous deaths on
its hands have made the Golem unexpectedly mournful regarding the dire state of
humanity.
It
turns out, the Golem is one of two highly intriguing characters in Artibani’s
fable-like war-horror story. The other is the puppeteer, a former informer. Instead
of illustrating Nietzsche’s warning regarding monster-fighting, he is an
acutely tragic example of what happens when you make a deal with the devil.
