Zoom Rockman came up with a novel way to tell his family and friends about his barmitzvah — design a comic strip about it.

It was an obvious thing for the 13-year-old from north London, to do — Zoom is a talented cartoonist who produces his own comic and contributes a column to The Beano.

The JCoSS pupil will be reading his portion —about the story of Isaac and Rebecca— at the Congregation of Jacob Synagogue in the East End this weekend.

It is a shul he has a special fondness for.

“It’s the sort of place you want to keep going back to. You get the feeling that it’s stayed exactly the same as it was when it first opened in 1903”.

His mother Kate Lennard stressed that the occasion would be more conventional than the comic-strip invitation would suggest. “The service will be very traditional – exactly how it would have been 100 years ago.

That’s exactly how Zoom wanted it to be. He’s a real individual. I’m really proud of him.”

As well as his barmitzvah, Zoom is celebrating his nomination by a national newspaper as one of the UK’s most influential media players in the UK, alongside J K Rowling and Caitlin Moran.

“I still can’t believe it. It’s certainly an honour,” he said