While there's no accounting for the long process of publishing a book or producing the movie, it sure seemed like there was a concerted effort to re-frame comic books and their heroes in 2000. Along with Unbreakable, Spider-Man, X-Men, Mystery Men, and any that I'm forgetting, comic books were pushing for a new age on the big screen, and in the midst of this was Chabon delivering a remarkable re-telling of the golden age of comics with his own hero. I've seen the book described as a historical fiction, but maybe it's more of a historical tribute.
Chabon introduces Josef Kavalier and Sammy Clay as cousins brought together by circumstance and a shared skill in art. That's more Kavalier's bag as the somewhat reluctant artist, while Sammy is more of the business-minded optimist. I can't help but picture them as Josh and Ivan from Tapeheads.
Their amazing adventures are all tied up in the world of comics as Superman hits the stands and gives the cousins, along with most everyone else, ideas of how to create their own Man of Steel. They do, with the Escapist, a do-gooder whose skillset is based on Kavalier's dalliances with becoming as escape artist himself. This part is really fun.
That's really just the beginning, however, and though I get the feeling that the subsequent amazing adventures (the outbreak of World War 2, the parting and reconciling of friends and family, and Joe and Sammy growing into themselves as adults) are the elements that pushed this over the edge and into a Pulitzer Prize winner, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the stories from the world of comics.
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