Terry LeBan chuckles to himself when he reads his comics out loud, laughing at the jokes he wrote with his wife, and has probably read a dozen times.

Still, he’s proud of his nationally syndicated comic strip “Edge City,” and deservedly so. On the surface, the story is about the Ardin family: a grown couple dealing with work life, raising their children, interacting with in-laws and maintaining their relationship. But look closer, and you’ll see the comic is different that virtually any other out there because the Ardins are Jewish.

“This is the first syndicated comic strip to characterize the observance of Passover,” LeBan said. “We were groundbreakers.”

LeBan came to speak on campus after being invited by the College of Arts & Sciences Diversity Project Committee, the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization and the Kripke Center for the Study of Religion and Society

The lecture was called “Picture This: Portraying Diversity in Comic Strips,” and LeBan spoke on issue of racial diversity as well as religious diversity.

“When we first started doing the strip, it got to be the holiday season and we sort of dodged the issue,” LeBan said. “We had one frame with stockings in the background, but nothing more than that. Then the people at out synagogue asked if we were going to make the Ardins Jewish.”

LeBan said that was a swwcary thought to him, but his editor was pushing for comics to be diverse, so he pitched the idea and the rest is history.

They started off with the family celebrating Passover, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

“It’s nice because the fact that their Jewish isn’t what he strip is about, it’s just more of a backdrop,” he said. “The comic is not about the family having a Seder, it’s about the meal,” he said. This comic could have been about thanksgiving or Christmas, but it was about Passover. It’s accessible to everyone.”

He said after a few years, he started writing in new characters, a Jewish coworker, a Latina nanny and a black family friend.

He said it was difficult to write without being stereotypical, denigrating or writing himself into a tough spot, but he said all of his characters have become popular.

“You know if a trip is popular if it ends up on a lot of people’s refrigerators.”

LeBan got his start in cartooning in college at the University of Michigan and got his first paying job as a political cartoonist for his hometown paper in Ann Arbor.

Leonard Greenspoon, Klutznick chair, had the idea to bring LeBan to Creighton after being a reader of his comics for years.

“I wanted to something about the power of images,” Greenspoon said. “I wanted to bring in someone practical, someone who could so images that aren’t focusing on what’s offensive.”

Greenspoon said he considered himself a fan, and considered LeBan a positive influence in the Jewish community.

Zach Kesthely, Business freshman, said the lecture was eye opening about how people are portrayed in the world of comics.

“I’d never heard of ‘Edge City,’ but I’d like to read more of it now,” he said.

If you would like to read “Edge City,” you can buy the compilation book online, or read it for free at www.edgecitycomics.com.