Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Author: Michael Chabon
Year of Publication: 2000
Genre: Fiction
Length: 656
Rating: 4/5 – Worth paying full price.
I was first clued in to the existence of “The Escapist” via a limited comic series written by Brian K. Vaughn. The story was good, but I knew I was missing something.
Then, upon a visit to my local library, I found a copy of Micheal Chabon’s novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Shelved right next to it were two follow-up comic collections: The Amazing Adventures of The Escapist volumes 1 & 2. At first, I mainly was reading through the novel to get to the comics. But I soon found myself engrossed in the Pulitzer Prize-winning story from start to finish.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay primarily follows two Jewish teenagers. When the story begins, Josef Kavalier has just arrived in America from Prague, where his parents have sent him to escape from the upcoming horrors of World War 2. In America, he moves in with his cousin Samuel Clayman, a New York born and raised artist, who lives with his mother. Through Chabon’s narrative use of jumping around in time, we see both boys’ past. Kavalier is trained as a stage magician while helping to smuggle the legendary Prague Golem out of the country. Clayman’s father is a circus strongman named the Mighty Molecule who drifted in out of his life.
Soon we’re up to speed on both boys, as they hatch a plan to strike in rich in comics, and send the rest of the money back to Prague to help his family come to America. After a succesful pitch to the company where Clayman works (wherein he takes the name Clay professionally) the two begin to hatch ideas for “the next Superman.” While walking around the city, the two strike on an idea that draws upon Kavalier’s magician background and Clay’s knowledge of every comic out there and a desire to do something new: The Escapist. Chabon gives us a chapter that at first seems completely random, but we soon figure out that we are seeing the secret origin of the costumed hero, The Escapist. From there, the boys strike it big in comics. Without going into too many spoilers, the boys find that even with a major successful superhero, life is still not easy.
There are many different threads for readers to latch on to: it’s a story about life during World War 2, it’s a story about growing up Jewish, it’s a story about growing up in New York City, it’s a story about growing up. But the most impressive part to me is how Chabon weaves The Escapist and its publishing company Empire Comics into history, creating a completely convincing story that leaves you wondering which parts are true and which were invented. (The same goes for his cast of characters- at one point, there’s a watercolor discussion that involves Stan “The Man” Lee and the head of Empire Comics.)
For the even casual comic fan, this book has a lot to offer. The dawn of the superhero era of comic books is heavily referenced, and tribute paid to the greats who defined the medium. Kavalier is heavily reminiscent of comics legend Will Eisner. Both are responsible with coming up with new innovative panel layouts for comics, inventing new ways to tell superhero stories (some of The Escapist tales are right out of The Spirit archives), and for inventing the graphic novel. It’s also impressive in representing both sides of the business end of the invention of comics: most major superheroes have had issues with giving the original creators the credit and share of profits they deserve. In the book, you see the exact scenario of how this could have happened, and it’s not so cut and dry.
The novel is a great and compelling read from start to finish, with something for everyone. It’s especially good for those who have any interest in the history of comics (both real and invented.) It’s also more fun that there have been the follow-up books that show actual comics of The Escapist, representing different stories from all the eras of The Escapist. Chabon has created a very engaging world that exists within our own.
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