This volume, the first full-scale anthology of Valley’s art, provides an essential retrospective of America and Israel at a turning point. With meticulously detailed line work and a rich satirical palette peppered with perseverating turtles, xenophobic Jedi knights, sputtering superheroes, mutating golems and zombie billionaires, Valley’s comics unmask the hypocrisy and horror behind the headlines. This collection supplements the satires with historical background and contexts, insights into the creative process, selected reactions to the works, and behind-the-scenes tales of tensions over what was permissible for publication.
"Valley has created one of the most fascinating and darkly humorous books in living memory. His examination of Jewish life in the 21st century is profane and depressing, bleak yet hopeful. A proud Jew of the diaspora, he crafts detailed comics that reflect the schisms, hypocrisies, beauty, and strangeness of Judaism in an age of unparalleled power and influence. ... Valley fits into a glorious Jewish tradition of dissent, and Diaspora Boy is a unique calling card for the strength and resilience of the secular, diaspora Jew." — The Los Angeles Review of Books
“Explosively subversive, with a MAD-meets-R. Crumb sensibility. … Much of the value lies in Valley's thoughtful and reflective annotation, which does not pull any of the punches he has struck with his drawings but provides some context on the current events that inspired him, the thinking that went into each piece, the process of publication (or not; some were spiked), and the reader's response. …. For those as interested as the artist in the limits of satire, this audacious, potent collection pushes past them." — Kirkus Reviews
"A gorgeous, enormous and important collection. ... It could be said of almost every one of Valley’s cartoons that it goes too far. Many were in fact censored by one publication or another, or, after being published, were criticized for insensitivity or branded as anti-Semitic—often by the very individuals Valley lampoons for crying anti-Semitism as a dodge. But even when they cross a line, and maybe especially when they cross a line, these comics deserve to be read by anyone who cares about contemporary Jewish life, especially about the relationship between Jews in America and Israel. They refuse to let you shrug your shoulders at or look away from contemporary Jewish problems, like labor abuses at kosher slaughterhouses or the gleeful exploitation of anti-Semitism for fundraising purposes by Jewish nonprofits. They are works of self-conscious Diaspora art in the tradition of the Prophets, and all their many descendants among modern Jewish writers, who are obsessed and energized by Jews’ individual and collective failings and hypocrisies." — Haaretz
"Valley is engaged in the bold, necessary, and extremely complicated work of examining this fraught situation. The compendium format of the publication shows the evolution of his thinking, as he continually sharpens his blade for more precisely cutting analyses of the contradictions and hypocrisy attending to contemporary Judaism. He manages this largely with satire — which, according to Valley, is so close to reality as to be questioned as satire by some of his Israeli readership, just as Portlandiamight be seen, by those familiar with Portland, as only faintly more hyperbolic than the reality. He’s also given to gently self-lampooning flights of fancy — such as a panel where a beautiful woman, referencing the association between Jewish creativity and subversive forms of entertainment culture, exhorts the artist to 'Ravish me with your jungle music and comic books, Jew'; allusions to comic books and the Jewish contributions to that canon; and finally, playfulness (albeit largely twisted and dark). The work is difficult, funny, powerful, mightily subversive, and a testament to the depth of his focus. Valley leaves his readers — particularly his Jewish ones — with the unenviable and uncomfortable moral mandate of attempting to heal generations of trauma and cognitive dissonance, which add, year by year, to the repetition of history." — Hyperallergic
"With his grotesque, sometimes puerile drawings, Valley connects these quotidian Jewish obsessions with the early Zionist writings, exposing how implicated we all are in what is essentially racism. He forces us to make a choice: Either laugh at ourselves and repent, or call Valley a self-hating Jew and escape. ... Indeed, it seems clear from reading “Diaspora Boy” that Valley loves Jews so much that he’s willing to suffer through this kind of abuse to keep calling us out. In this sense, Valley is like that slave who walked behind the conquering Caesar, whose sole job was to whisper, 'Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal.' Like Caesar, we too need that slave to slay our myths. ... So powerful is Valley’s world view that I believe if Valley’s detractors were seated in a quiet room with Valley himself discussing the issues he addresses in his work — hypocrisy, Jewish genetics, Israeli aggression, how the Jewish leadership abandons anyone who disagrees with them — they might even come to agree with at least some of his criticisms. ... This book helped me realize how important it is to be offended. I used to wish Valley would write well-reasoned arguments. But now I don’t. Do the Jews need another leftist to write op-eds in Haaretz about our failings? Probably not. But do the Jews need someone penning comics that whisper in our stubborn ears, 'You’re mortal?' Hell yeah. I bet Caesar would have called the slave a self-hating Roman, too." — The Forward
"Eli Valley has been torturing tribalist, Occupied Territory-seeking Jewish neoconservative and neoliberal hawks for about a decade now. His art style is utterly unique, a combination of cartoon and comic art all mooshed together, with odd items galore. If many readers miss a detail or two (or three) in this delightfully oversized volume, it must be on account of the dense content and story line, ruthlessly moral in an immoral world. … It is easy to read Diaspora Boy as a bigger, tougher version of Mad, closer to the intensity of Mad Comics than its successor. It is also easy to read Diaspora Boy as a running commentary on the many incidents in Valley’s life since his teen years, watching assorted developments with dread and responding, in a Dr. Strangelove way, with extraordinary humor. The grotesquerie is extreme, and hardly ever ceases to be extreme. This is not humor for the weak political stomach. ... The deeper truth here is one that Art Spiegelman made in Maus, about his own father, an unpleasant survivor in so many small ways: suffering, even the most extreme suffering, does not necessarily redeem the survivors, who may not have been either kindly or egalitarian before their suffering. It’s a hard truth that runs through this volume, and carries an even larger message that belongs to the artist quite as much as the political critic. To imbibe this truth fully demands immersion in Disapora Boy. Reader, look for this volume and dig in." — The Comics Journal
"A glorious production on a lavish scale, a magnificent 14”×12” compilation of cartoon strips produced over the past decade and more by one of the great masters of graphic satire. Unwieldy to pick up perhaps, in its monster format, it is impossible to put down. ... Always on the edge, often over the top, frequently disturbing and uncomfortable – they are images and stories you can return to again and again. A sheer joy!" — Red Pepper
"Though the comics in the book end with Valley’s interpretations of the Republican primaries, the ten years of work provide a timeline and analysis that helps make sense of the cultural shifts that led to an America where Donald Trump could gain widespread support. With both micro analyses of specific events in the Jewish political and cultural communities and macro interpretations of large scale issues in the U.S., Valley’s work helps the reader understand the cultural structures underlaying the problems facing a divided nation. Valley’s work blends history with satire in an effort to both inform and entertain the reader on the complex relationship between America and Israel." — Electric Literature
“If that's your best shot..” — Alan Dershowitz
“Your work is disgusting. And also stupid.” — Marty Peretz
“Grotesque. … Wretched.” — Bret Stephens
“Offensive and obnoxious and crosses the line. ... Bigoted, unfunny.” — Abe Foxman
“Ferociously repugnant.” — Commentary
“What’s the point of even pointing to that Kapo’s work any longer. He’s beyond rebuttal into some entirely new category of foulness.” — John Podhoretz
“Valley’s ‘art’ is hardly confined to radical websites. … Will these publications continue to run Valley’s work?” — Breitbart