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Deconstructing Gilgul, Finding Identity | 107www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 105–121 but is prepared and performed by an obviously Christian clergyman.8 in Captain America explicit positive references to Christianity can even be found. At the end of one of his frays with Batroc, Captain America emphasizes the value of giving one’s “life for the masses” as someone did “centuries ago”, an apparent reference to Jesus.9 two years later Captain America cites Matthew 16:26 to underline the importance of remaining true to oneself.10 A reader’s comment on the first reference that appears on the letters page supposes that Stan Lee’s “religious background probably is that of the traditional Christian view in Amer- ica”, a supposition that goes uncorrected.11 While it is indeed the case that there are no responses to any of the letters on that page, when that absence is seen together with the positive references to Christianity, it can be understood as an attempt to camouflage Lee’s Jewish identity and assimilate the comics to the dominant Christian culture. thus, aside from izzy Cohen of sgt. fury’s howling Commandos or sidney Levine of S.H.I.E.L.D, who seem to have been the very first Jewish characters in comic books (and still could not be labeled as such),12 explicitly Jewish char- acters and Jewish themes are only found in Marvel comics more than a dec- ade later – for example, in Kitty Pryde and in Magneto’s Jewish background in Chris Claremont’s X-Men stories and subsequent films.13 Comic experts and scholars broadly agree, however, that Lee and Kirby both intuitively drew on their Judaistic and Jewish heritage when they developed their characters and plots.14 Consequently such references in their comics remain indirect: Judaism appears in disguise in character traits, transfigured narrative topoi, and values that are often amalgamated with American civil religion. in Lee and Kirby’s Cap- tain America the references to Judaism that can be reconstructed are therefore mostly, perhaps solely, implicit. Ed Brubaker attests to having been “raised going to church“; he therefore has a Christian background, even though he emphasizes that he does not be- lieve in God and is not a religious person.15 While it is still possible that Brubaker uses Judaistic references to embellish his stories, they would therefore seem unlikely to be intentional. None of his interviews give any clues to anything more. Christopher Markus and stephen Mcfeely, the scriptwriters of the Cap- tain America movies, also provide no information about any deliberate refer- encing of Judaism. Certainly Brubaker, Marcus and Mcfeely draw heavily upon 8 Fantastic Four 37/1965, 19f; Fantastic Four Annual 3/1965, 23. 9 Captain America 105/1968, 20. 10 Captain America 122/1970, 4. 11 Captain America 108/1968, LP. 12 fingeroth 2007, 108–109. 13 Brod 2012, 93–94. 14 Fingeroth 2007, 92–112; Kaplan 2008, 92–115, 126–136; Brod 2012, 66–100. 15 Brubaker 2012.