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kurtwombat's review against another edition
4.0
THE GOLEM’S MIGHTY SWING snuck up on me. Despite being aware of some glowing reviews before my reading of the story, my expectations were subdued--I could not imagine that something so spare with its dialogue and relatively few frames for its hundred pages could wield such power. As I read though I began to feel the slights suffered by the almost all Jewish baseball team barnstorming 1920s America. Despite baseball’s laconic nature, the turns of fortune are usually sudden and thus hitting with all the more power. So it is for these characters. Race and religion should not impact the rules of baseball but they do. They should have no place on a ball field, but are carried onto it every time cleats cross the chalk lines. I felt the smooth wood of a bat and the rough hewn benches of the visitor’s dugout—Blacks and Jews are often still in the visitor’s dugout. Each character is indelible after just a few words so you have little choice but to feel what they feel. All of this sharpened the disappointment I felt at the conclusion. While I understood that realistically the final game couldn’t be completed, we are waiting for the finish of that game still, but ending the book so suddenly with an odd and detached “and many years later” little addendum left me flummoxed. I actually checked the binding of my copy to make sure there weren’t some pages missing. Aside from that unfortunate choice, still highly recommend this wonderful work.
bloodravenlib's review against another edition
3.0
Just realized I did not write a little note on this one after I read it. Anyhow, this was a nice little book looking at a Jewish baseball team in the 1920s. The book gives a good look not only at baseball in a time of traveling exhibition teams, but it also looks at a time when racism and ignorance were common and rampant (I could make the crack about how that has not changed. Oh wait, I just did). Anyhow, the book has a good story, and the art is very good. The art complements the story nicely, and it enhances the feel of the story's ambiance. I picked it up at the local public library, and I am glad I did for I got a chance to read something different. It did feel a bit short, but that's ok.
shinychick's review against another edition
2.0
This was a little odd. First, it was definitely not what I expected out of [author:James Sturm|186652], mostly because I'm familiar with him through [book:Adventures in Cartooning|10380561]. I get that it's a historical fiction comic book, but it still didn't really hit home for me - it felt like there were pages missing here and there, because there wasn't necessarily a clear through-line from some parts to others.
mxsunny's review against another edition
3.0
I think I'd make it a 3.5 but it's been awhile since I've read it. I might change this after a re-read...
kevinsmokler's review against another edition
3.0
Nice choice of setting and subject. Too much time on the minutaie of baseball. At 100 pages, feels a bit slight and incomplete.
jayshay's review against another edition
3.0
An atmospheric graphic novel about an all Jewish team touring the old baseball leagues and the rascism they face.
Ironically the one player who isn't Jewish, Henry Bell who played 20 years in the negro leagues, is set up by a promoter to play the Golem as a gimick to generate excitement and money. Except it also stirs up even more racism by playing to sterotypes.
I don't know if the book felt like an emotional whole. The final coda section seems to be there to show how effective sterotypes are at hooking people with stories (titling the book The Golem's Mighty Swing probably got me to buy it), but it feels a little too detached and didn't really give me much emotional investment. A good, if incomplete book.
Ironically the one player who isn't Jewish, Henry Bell who played 20 years in the negro leagues, is set up by a promoter to play the Golem as a gimick to generate excitement and money. Except it also stirs up even more racism by playing to sterotypes.
I don't know if the book felt like an emotional whole. The final coda section seems to be there to show how effective sterotypes are at hooking people with stories (titling the book The Golem's Mighty Swing probably got me to buy it), but it feels a little too detached and didn't really give me much emotional investment. A good, if incomplete book.
erine's review against another edition
A thrilling account of a Jewish Baseball team in the 1920s. They experience wins, losses, and violent anti-Semitism.
Missing the backmatter that would have offered some perspective on how this story came to be, how much is historically accurate, or whether this was based on any particular team or event. In a brief quest to find out whether this team was based on reality, I discovered a piece of Michigan Jewish history: https://mashable.com/feature/house-of-david-baseball-team
Missing the backmatter that would have offered some perspective on how this story came to be, how much is historically accurate, or whether this was based on any particular team or event. In a brief quest to find out whether this team was based on reality, I discovered a piece of Michigan Jewish history: https://mashable.com/feature/house-of-david-baseball-team
balesnar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
victoriae's review against another edition
5.0
This is great. Baseball, racism, anti-Semitism, histories we ignore, very good art.
zachkuhn's review against another edition
4.0
Solid graphic novel about a travelling Jewish baseball team in the 1920s.