Q&A: Michael Chabon

By Nathan Ward -- Library Journal, 7/15/2004

Lifted like a rib from his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel about the Golden Age of comics, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the first three editions of Michael Chabon's Escapist comics serial have been bound together in a colorful trade version, Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist (Dark Horse. ISBN 1-59307-171-X. $17.95). LJ asked comics fan Chabon about his most recent collaboration.

You've seen your work adapted to the screen (Wonderboys), you're an adapter yourself (Spiderman II), and now you have collaborated on the Escapist series. Were any of these artistic processes more messily enjoyable or painful than others?

Seeing Wonder Boys adapted was pretty painless, mess-free, and ultimately very enjoyable, probably because I had no direct involvement. The Spider-Man experience had its moments of pain but was mostly super-fun. Working on the Escapist comic has been a delight. I love working with the editor, Diana Schutz, and getting the chance to oversee the work of fantastic artists like Howard Chaykin, Jim Starlin, Steve Lieber, Val Mayerik, Bill Sinkiewicz, Chris Ware, Gene Colan, so many of them heroes of mine, is an incredible thrill.

How long a run would you like for the series? Could you leave it entirely to others to write?

I am working on a story right now, about the relatively minor Kavalier & Clay character Mr. Machine Gun, and I plan to keep on contributing whenever I get the time and inspiration. But, yes, obviously the idea is to keep the book going for as long as there are enough readers to make it worth Dark Horse's time and money.

Do you think your early interest in comic-book storytelling influenced your own narrative style?

I really don't know, but it would certainly be very strange if it hadn't. I read a lot of comic books for a lot of years. Then again, I have seen every episode of Star Trek (the original series) at least seven times, and nobody—least of all me—has ever noticed the impact of that on my writing. Comic-book storytelling, to me, is just storytelling. If it influenced me it must have been in the same way that all the storytelling I loved influenced me—by making me want, more than anything else, to be a storyteller myself.