I am surprised that the Pulitzer people deem comics worthy of serious consideration of an artform. They’ve given a Pulitzer to Art Spiegelman’s Maus and lately they’ve awarded the Pulitzer for fiction to an otaku. Since I am myself a comic book fan, I’m glad that they do think it worthy of praise. So I searched out the one Pulitzer winner dealing with comic books and men in tights, Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
It’s the story of the infancy of the comic book industry in the United States. It covers the beginnings of the super hero genre from the introduction of Superman to the first twilight of the industry in the Congressional hearings into juvenile delinquency in the 50s. It the story of two cousins who embark on a blaze of creativity bringing into being several superheroes. It is the story of immigration and assimilation into the United States as all stories of the populace of the American people is really about. It is the story of Jews in America, and the story about escaping who we really are. They are looking for their own übermensch — the Golem or Warsaw, an alien from the planet Krypton, the un-imprisonable Escapist — to do battle with the Germans.
The plot follows Josef Kavalier as he escapes the Prague ghetto before its demise by the Nazis, flees to America, and becomes a comic book artist. The plot also involves Sammy Clay, Josef’s cousin and collaborator, and Rosa Saks the bohemian girl in love with Josef.
Kavalier and Clay begin with their super heroes a few months after the introduction of Superman. They create the Escapist, the super hero who cannot be confined by any jail, box or ropes. He fights to free people from injustice, and at the time he fights the Nazis. He is Kavalier and Clay’s Jewish super man. They also created Luna Moth, a sensual lady crime fighter, inspired by Rosa Saks. These two super heroes are their most famous creations.
Kavalier is the artist. He sees the potential artistry in the comic book medium, and he attempts to break out of the squares of the format. Clay is the prolific writer. He has plenty of stories to tell. He writes all their stories. Brothers by their pen, they create what becomes legend. They mix with the early comics industry making friends and making legends.
The book is written like Kavelier and Clay were real comic creators. Mixing the real New York city in as part of the milieu. Gotham. Metropolis. Empire City. America.
I really liked this book. The comics creation part early was the boring stuff. The story afterwards of the two creators is the important interesting part of the book. It wasn’t they who created art, but art created them. They lived their lives open and free in reaction to being comic creators. It makes me want to be a creator myself.
A-
