Jerusalem's superhero: Meet the man bringing comics to evacuees, lone soldiers

Jerusalemite Arye Dobuler has been drawn to superhero comic books for most of his life.

“I loved the idea that ordinary people, through the power of circumstances, can be a superhero,” he told In Jerusalem, gesturing at the huge swathes of organized comic books, manga, and science fiction/fantasy books meticulously organized for display in his German Colony apartment. “My superpower is the organizational skills to set all this up.”

And set it up he has. His annual comic book sales have become legendary among Anglos in Jerusalem, and now he is putting his talents to good use: helping support the evacuees who had to flee their homes in the North and the South and now reside in some of Jerusalem’s many hotels.

Entering his home, one sees a veritable geek haven, practically wall-to-wall with a Jerusalem-based comic book lover’s dream come true: an actually good selection of comic books. This writer can confirm that he managed to find a comic he had looked for in Israel for years: a full paperback of the 12-issue limited Marvel series Secret Wars from 1984.

But good luck actually finding any of these in Jerusalem – in fact, in most of Israel. While Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim have a small selection of comics and manga, there are only a few real comic book stores in Israel: Comikaza in Tel Aviv; and Comics and Vegetables, which has a branch in Tel Aviv and one in Ra’anana. So for comic book fans in Jerusalem, there’s no option other than to go to Tel Aviv and pay their rather pricey costs. Or you could wait for one of the comic conventions to come around, but most of those are outside of Jerusalem, and they only come a couple of times a year.

But Dobuler was a man with the resources at his disposal to change this – namely, a slew of comics of his own that he wanted to sell.

“This all started with my collection. I had around eight boxes at the time,” he recounted. 

At first, it was just a small sale, and Dobuler never planned on it going any further than that. But then, more and more people kept asking him for comics, so he slowly expanded his sales over time. Then, friends of his said they also had comics they wanted to sell. Soon, he became the guy to see for people looking to downsize their collections – and these come from all over the country.

While Dobuler does purchase many of his comics from bulk sales abroad or from some Israeli retailers, donations still make up a huge source of his stock. In fact, the sheer volume of comic book donations is actually so significant that he is able to avoid high price tags.

“Because people donate to me, I am always able to keep prices low, despite inflation,” Dobuler explained. “There will always be NIS 5 comics and NIS 10 comics. There is always something for everyone, no matter how much money you have, even if you have just NIS 1 in your pocket.”

That is no empty boast, either. Dobuler showed In Jerusalem one such example, picking up a copy of Marvel’s Eternals: Hail Thanos from one of the stacks of comics. On the back, one can see a price tag from Steimatzky labeling it as costing NIS 119. Dobuler’s price? Just NIS 65.

Despite these low prices, Dobuler usually makes enough money to sustain himself for the next round. Each sale costs him between NIS 4,000 and NIS 6,000 to prepare, and he generally makes up for these costs by his sales figures alone – sometimes even turning a profit. But that doesn’t really matter for him personally, since this isn’t his main source of income.  His profession is digital marketing and advertising for small businesses.

Dobuler’s sales typically last a month, after which he sets up a more wide-ranging sale for general fiction, sefarim, and the like.

“But this,” he said, gesturing toward the comics, “is where my soul is.”

With this line of work, Dobuler has also been asked to find numerous specific items for prospective buyers, whether that be books, comics, board games, or toys. Some of these requests have gotten really obscure, such as a woman who asked to find a very specific Spider-Man toy for her son, but Dobuler always does his best to find them all.

“I do my best to please everyone, but I’m not a shop – I can only promise to look,” he explained. However, the mystery of it all is part of what makes his sale so exciting. “It’s like a treasure hunt; you never know what you’ll find here,” he explained. Holding on to a purchased copy of Secret Wars, this reporter couldn’t agree more – there are certainly treasures that abound here.

Over the years since he’s had these sales, there have been people who have asked him if he’ll come to other cities in Israel.

“People ask me, ‘Oh, will you come to Tel Aviv? Will you come to Haifa? Will you come to ICon [the annual comic convention in Tel Aviv]?’” Dobuler said. “No. I am a Jerusalem institution because in Jerusalem, there’s no way to find this stuff. But now, no one can say that comics only exist in the Center.”

Helping out the evacuees and IDF lone soldiers

Another major part of Dobuler’s sales is what he does to help out others, and that goes beyond the massive discounts he gives to people.

“Whenever a sale is finished, a huge chunk of what I have left over gets donated to IDF lone soldiers,” he explained. “The rest goes into storage and becomes the seed for the next sale.”

With so much going to lone soldiers, a prospective shopper might feel some guilt about buying comics – after all, every comic bought at the sale is one that won’t get donated. But Dobuler assures that there’s no need to feel guilty about it, due to the sheer amount of stock he has.

“Here, look,” he said, hefting a heavy bag filled to the brim with comics stored in another room. 

“All of this is already set to be given to lone soldiers.”

But Dobuler’s charity work extends beyond just giving to soldiers. Ever since the October 7 massacre and the ongoing war with Hamas, he has been doing the rounds at hotels throughout Jerusalem, bringing what he has for the evacuees – for free.

This comes in two ways. The first way is, of course, comics and board games. 

He explained that since the war started, he knew that people would start donating things, and only then bother to look into what people actually needed. Dobuler took a different approach and considered what they would need first. 

To do this, he organized a Facebook group called Jerusalem Helping Others, where he and others like him can coordinate what people need, such as laptops, tablets, and toiletries.

But he also wanted to bring things that would kindle joy, comfort, and entertainment – something comic books excel at.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the only one giving comics, action figures, and board games to lone soldiers and evacuees,” he said, adding that he tries to tailor what he brings to specific needs. That also means catering to niches that often get overlooked, namely adults and teenagers.

Holding up a box of chess, checkers, and Chinese checkers, Dobuler said, “People forget about adults, but they need help and support, too.”

Regarding comics, Dobuler was quick to point out that despite their being often stereotyped as something mostly boys were interested in, plenty of girls were excited to check out his comic books as well.

The second way Dobuler is helping out is through a very different method: Operation Teddy Bear Hug Tour.

As part of this, Dobuler goes to different hotels, carrying several large teddy bears for people to hug.

“After two weeks of covering basic needs first, I saw the emotional state of the evacuees and saw they needed something to uplift them,” he explained. “Someone gave me a teddy bear, and I saw it had a higher purpose. So I gathered more teddy bears and started Operation Teddy Bear Hug Tour. I set up stalls at the hotels, and they’re not just for kids but for people of all ages – even the mayor.”

Indeed, among the many pictures of children and grandmothers smiling with joy at hugging these large teddy bears is a picture of Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion with a teddy bear in hand.

Dobuler recalled his experience meeting the mayor.

“One day at one of these hotels, Mayor Lion walked in and saw I was set up there with all the bears,” he said. “The mayor said to me that this was a great initiative and asked which organization I was part of. I just said ‘Arye,’ and he said he never heard of it and asked where it was based. I had to explain, ‘No, it’s just me.’”

And at the end of the day, that is what characterizes Dobuler’s mission. He is just an ordinary man with an organizational superpower, taking on this heroic endeavor to help others.

If one were to visit Dobuler’s Facebook page, one would see his intro, which reads as follows: “Trying each day to help make the world a better place, and make those around me smile!”

And that explains why he still opened his sale during the war.

“At first, I was hesitant to open the sale now; I didn’t think it was appropriate,” he said. “But people, including soldiers, began reaching out to me for comics.”

In stressful and traumatic times like this, people yearn for something to give them comfort – and the world of comics has been doing exactly that for people for almost a century now. Ever since that fateful day when Superman hit store shelves, the world of caped heroes has been inspiring people, giving them hope in times of darkness that in the right circumstances, even someone ordinary can become a hero. 

And Dobuler, with his organizational skills and his huge stockpile of comic books at his disposal, has been doing exactly that, proving one of the other classic maxims of superheroism, this time from the words of Uncle Ben Parker and the pen of Stan Lee: With great power comes great responsibility. ❖

Arye Dobuler’s comic book sale is open until the end of December, after which he will begin his general sale. All books are sold at his home in the German Colony. For more information, and to arrange a time to go over to buy books, contact Dobuler at 052-339-2814.