The Escapist Day

Michael Chabon was born on today's date in 1963. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay at the beginning of this century. It was the story of two young men who rose from poverty to create an iconic comic book character named The Escapist. To extend the story Chabon then sanctioned an actual comic book series featuring the hero. 

It took forever to finally read this great book. Here's how it happened. 

When I bought my copy I cannot say, but it was years and years ago. They no longer sell this particular edition, and the bookmark which nested inside it came from a bookstore which went out of business longer ago than I can rightly remember. I kept waiting for the perfect time to read this respected novel, the right time. But that time never seem to come. I started a few times but rarely got past the first hundred pages or so. After each failed attempt, I'd have to let the book settle in my memory a bit, so that it was fresh enough for another bout.

Then last year I got hold of it and started again and made great progress, following the story of two young men finding out about the dangers of the world they lived in, both in the dark recesses of Europe under Hitler's shadow and a New York City bristling with ambitious men and women eager to define themselves and scrape up lives of dignity. I was nearly two-thirds of the way through it, reading it on my breaks at work and even a bit at home when I found enough quiet.

Then I lost track of it again.

For nearly a full year it was lost in the cataclysm which passes for my library in a secondary bedroom. Out of sight and out of mind, and as always, the distractions of other entertainments got in the way.

But when I stumbled across it a few days ago and knew I must finish this tale, which so many hold in such high regard. I picked it up and it was as if that year had not existed, I was immediately back in the world of Joe Kavalier, a complicated but wildly talented magician and artist who created heroes  who represented the worst and best of us, and Sammy Clay, Joe's American cousin who lacked the talent but had the drive and focus to make the most of Joe's. Together they became partners and friends in a business which could destroy both with ease and aplomb. Together they created "The Escapist", a hero who was a resounding metaphor throughout this saga.

We see Joe try to save his family from Hitler's evil, and we follow Sammy as he discovers that his own personal desires are too dangerous for even the freedom-espousing folk of America to accept. Both men, profound outsiders, bonded to one another, struggle to find lives worth the living. They both fail sometimes, and they both succeed sometimes too.

I didn't expect to find myself teary-eyed when I finished the last lines of the story, but there I was. I not only sympathized with Joe and Sammy, but empathized with them, and knew that anyone with heart would likewise do so. This is a great novel, I can finally say that on my own word and not rely on critics.

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Daredevils Battles The God Of Storms!

First mentioned, to my knowledge at least, in the pages of The Great Comic Book Heroes by Jules Feiffer is the legendary tale of how a Golden Age comic book was created in a single weekend, one in which the survival of the artists themselves was in some meager doubt. The comic book in question is the second issue of Daredevil Comics from Lev Gleason Publishing which hit the stands in the summer of 1941.

This tale has been told in several venues and even immortalized in fictional form in Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It kindles the imagination for a number of reasons, one it speaks to the helter skelter nature of comic book creation in its infant days, how raw energy often substituted for craftsmanship and care. How comics are an art, but they are also a product for sale which are fashioned within the demanding rigors of a deliberate and often unforgiving schedule.

Things have changed nowadays with comics having been reduced to a minor art and no longer a true mass medium, but throughout most of the history of the comic book, we fans want our comics to be good of course, but first and foremost we wanted them to simply be. We were eager to buy and publishers were sure to have it available so that the opportunity would not slip by.

I most recently ran across this legendary yarn in the biography Jerry Robinson - Ambassador of Comics, in which the story is told from the perspective of one of the men who was there on that prodigious weekend of March seventeenth.  The story goes that a gaggle of young energetic artists and writers assembled at a sparsely furnished New York City apartment rented for that very reason. Charles Biro has learned that because of a need to use up their allotment of paper they needed a new comic ready for the presses and they needed it by the following Monday. To that end the talent was assembled and given largely carte blanche to create stories to fill the needed sixty-four pages.

Charles Biro would handle the lead feature Daredevil which accounted for the first thirteen pages. After that it was every man for himself as a ferocious binge of creation ignited. Bernard Klein created "The Whirlwind" about boxing, and other talents such as George Roussos and Dick Wood contributed "Nightro". Jerry Robinson himself created "London", a masked hero who was involved with the Blitz. Dick Briefer wrote and drew "Real American". Others did what they could, creating characters, some which would only appear in this single comic, in the mad rush to hit the deadline.

New York City under snow in March, 1941

The story then takes a dangerous turn when, while the artists are furiously creating in the apartment a heavy winter storm strikes the city, closing down everything save the subways, and forcing stores to close. Getting something to eat was problematic, and Bernie Klein was sent off into the white wastes to find sustenance. He returned hours later with only some eggs and a can of beans. The artists desperately pried loose ceramic bathroom tiles and created a fire to cook the eggs and heat the beans, which staved off fits until the streets quickened with life once again.

Needless to say, the book was completed and assembled and sent to the printer on time. This story shows not only the ruthless nature of publishing but also the wild bristling energy which informed the earliest days of comics, an art form still in its infancy and eager to please the audience which fondled it with such devotion.

The story is made more poignant in that Bernie Klein, a talent with much promise was one of those multitude of young men who lost their lives defeating the Axis powers on the battlefields of Europe. His death made all the more tragic, because as the legendary weekend showed he was like so many of his peers a man filled with spirit and life.

Daredevil must break out the boomerang and confront an evil from ancient history when a deadly mummy is revived. Charles Biro presides. 

Terry Turner is a powerful boxer, but he might have met his match in Jean Jacques, a savage lumberjack. Dick Wood and Bernie Klein do the honors.

Nightro isa rather nifty version of Dr. Mid-Nite when Hugh Goddard is blinded in a radiation accident. He can see in the dark thanks to special lenses and mops up the criminals who attacked him. Dick Wood writes and George Roussos draws this one. 

Dash Dillon at Hale (not Yale I notice) is a sports natural and is recruited by a young woman to join the team and save the season for her school and her dad, the coach. Ed Ashe is both writer and artist. 

Pioneer is a naive young man who lives in a remote valley and is lured to civilization by some thugs who see riches. He turns the tables. Bob Woods wrote this one for Jay Gahr. 

The Bronze Terror is "Real American #1". He's a denizen of the Indian territory and uses his strengths to save the chief from villains who want to prey on the people. Dick Briefer is man for this one. 

London is the hero and London is the place where a brave young man fights against the Nazis for the sake of us all. This one is all Jerry Robinson. 

Pat Patriot is born when a brave young woman stands up for her overworked companions and discovers a smuggling ring. Bob Wood likely wrote and Reed Crandall might well have drawn it. 

The Claw is in fine malicious form as he steals a train and all the men aboard it. He tries to blackmail the government, but one brave man has an idea which might defeat the towering menace. This one is by Bob Wood. 

To read this epic iconic comic in its glorious totality check this out. They don't make like that anymore.

I enjoyed this wild yarn in the pages of The Original Daredevil  Archives. Tomorrow. we back things up a bit, as the Dojo takes a look at the debut issue of this comic book series. 

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The Monkees Christmas Party!

My attitude this holiday season has been one of a confirmed Scrooge as I announced more or less at the beginning of his month. But I must admit that I have been thawing just a wee bit, especially in the last few days since my girls have been in to visit and celebrate the holiday with me. We were out doing some last-minute shopping and I chanced upon The Monkees Christmas Party, a CD featuring new music (mostly) by the band I adored as a boy. This is pure pop bubblegum -- breezy and light-hearted whimsy. Just the kind of music the Monkees produced in the heyday of their TV show.

With a cover by Mike Allred the package is handsome indeed. While most of the music is frothy enough one song entitled "House of Broken Gingerbread" was written by award-winning author Michael Chabon. It's a hoot. This ain't grand music, it ain't even always good, but it is diverting and for this Scrooge, it found a way into my hard flinty heart.

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Golden Age - The Legendary Weekend!

First mentioned, to my knowledge at least, in the pages of The Great Comic Book Heroes by Jules Feiffer is the legendary tale of how a Golden Age comic book was created in a single weekend, one in which the survival of the artists themselves was in some meager doubt. The comic book in question is the second issue of Daredevil Comics from Lev Gleason Publishing which hit the stands in the summer of 1941.

This tale has been told in several venues and even immortalized in fictional form in Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It kindles the imagination for a number of reasons, one it speaks to the helter skelter nature of comic book creation in its infant days, how raw energy often substituted for craftsmanship and care. How comics are an art, but they are also a product for sale which are fashioned within the demanding rigors of a deliberate and often unforgiving schedule.

Things have changed nowadays with comics having been reduced to a minor art and no longer a true mass medium, but throughout most of the history of the comic book, we fans want our comics to be good of course, but first and foremost we wanted them to simply be. We were eager to buy and publishers were sure to have it available so that the opportunity would not slip by.

I most recently ran across this legendary yarn in the biography Jerry Robinson - Ambassador of Comics, in which the story is told from the perspective of one of the men who was there on that prodigious weekend of March seventeenth.  The story goes that a gaggle of young energetic artists and writers assembled at a sparsely furnished New York City apartment rented for that very reason. Charles Biro has learned that because of a need to use up their allotment of paper they needed a new comic ready for the presses and they needed it by the following Monday. To that end the talent was assembled and given largely carte blanche to create stories to fill the needed sixty-four pages.

Charles Biro would handle the lead feature Daredevil which accounted for the first thirteen pages. After that it was every man for himself as a ferocious binge of creation ignited. Bernard Klein created "The Whirlwind" about boxing, and other talents such as George Roussos and Dick Wood contributed "Nightro". Jerry Robinson himself created "London", a masked hero who was involved with the Blitz. Dick Briefer wrote and drew "Real American". Others did what they could, creating characters, some which would only appear in this single comics, in the mad rush to hit the deadline.

New York City under snow in March, 1941

The story then takes a dangerous turn when, while the artists are furiously creating in the apartment a heavy winter storm strikes the city, closing down everything save the subways, and forcing stores to close. Getting something to eat was problematic, and Bernie Klein was sent off into the white wastes to find sustenance. He returned hours later with only some eggs and a can of beans. The artists, desperately pried loose ceramic bathroom tiles and created a fire to cook the eggs and heat the beans, which staved off fits until the streets quickened with life once again.

Needless to say, the book was completed and assembled and sent to the printer on time. This story shows not only the ruthless nature of publishing but also the wild bristling energy which informed the earliest days of comics, an art form still in its infancy and eager to please the audience which fondled it with such devotion.

The story is made more poignant in that Bernie Klein, a talent with much promise was one of those multitude of young men who lost their lives defeating the Axis powers on the battlefields of Europe. His death made all the more tragic, because as the legendary weekend showed he was like so many of his peers a man filled with spirit and life.

To read this epic iconic comic in its glorious totality check this out. They don't make like that anymore.

Rip Off

The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay!

What a weird and wonderful journey.

I have at long last finished the magnificent novel by Michael Chabon, The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. When I bought my copy I cannot say, but it was years and years ago. They no longer sell this particular edition, and the bookmark which nested inside it came from a bookstore which went out of business longer ago than I can rightly remember. I kept waiting for the perfect time to read this respected novel, the right time. But that time never seem to come. I started a few times but rarely got past the first hundred pages or so. After each failed attempt, I'd have to let the book settle in my memory a bit, so that it was fresh enough for another bout.

Then last year I got hold of it and started again and made great progress, following the story of two young men finding out about the dangers of the world they lived in, both in the dark recesses of Europe under Hitler's shadow and a New York City bristling with ambitious men and women eager to define themselves and scrape up lives of dignity. I was nearly two-thirds of the way through it, reading it on my breaks at work and even a bit at home when I found enough quiet.

Then I lost track of it again.

For nearly a full year it was lost in the cataclysm which passes for my library in a secondary bedroom. Out of sight and out of mind, and as always the distractions of other entertainments got in the way.

But when I stumbled across it a few days ago and knew I must finish this tale, which so many hold in such high regard. I picked it up and it was as if that year had not existed, I was immediately back in the world of Joe Kavalier, a complicated but wildly talented magician and artist who created heroes  who represented the worst and best of us, and Sammy Clay, Joe's American cousin who lacked the talent but had the drive and focus to make the most of Joe's. Together they became partners and friends in a business which could destroy both with ease and aplomb. Together they created "The Escapist", a hero who was a resounding metaphor throughout this saga.

We see Joe try to save his family from Hitler's evil, and we follow Sammy as he discovers that his own personal desires are too dangerous for even the freedom-espousing folk of America to accept. Both men, profound outsiders, bonded to one another, struggle to find lives worth the living. They both fail sometimes, and they both succeed sometimes too.

I didn't expect to find myself teary-eyed when I finished the last lines of the story, but there I was. I not only sympathized with Joe and Sammy, but empathized with them, and knew that anyone with heart would likewise do so. This is a great novel, I can finally say that on my own word and not rely on critics.

If you haven't read this novel you must. It's a golden key you cannot pass up.

The only issue of Dark Horse's The Escapist that I bought and own.

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