Kavalier’s own life imitates, in eerie fashion, the comic book tales he illustrates. Early in his life, Kavalier had been an aspiring escape artist himself, and even performed with a mask. Later in the book he actually dons the costume of the Escapist in pathetic imitation of his imaginary alter ego. But he is a flawed superhero, capable of harming those he loves through his theatrical attempts at stylish exploits. But in other settings, Kavalier proves capable of true heroics, although without a cape and mask: he serves in World War II, and—in perhaps the strangest interlude in a book full of peculiar twists—single-handedly defends Antarctica against the Axis threat. On the home front, he engages in fisticuffs with the Nazi head of the Aryan-American League. And (all too fitting in this sometimes surreal novel) he rescues Salvador Dali from drowning . . . at a fashionable party. It is all too telling that the latter incident is one of the more straightforward moments in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
But Kavalier and Clay, for all their dramatic exploits, carry with them an aura of tragedy. Despite relentless efforts, Kavalier fails in his attempt to bring his brother Thomas to the United States, and out of the grasp of the Nazis. Indeed, one feels the heavy hand of fate throughout these pages. In their relationships with others—friends, lovers, associates—both Kavalier and Clay tend to let events guide them, with a passivity that is surprisingly out of step with the “Wham! Bang” theatrics they celebrate in their comic books.
Real and contrived heroes also dance around the periphery of this highly stylized, artfully written novel. The Old World golem becomes both a prototype for the Escapist, and an actual means of escape for Kavalier, in his labyrinthine journey to America. Even earlier Kavalier is mentored by Bernhard Kornblum, a real life escape artist who eventually saves his protégé's life. With so many strange ingredients mixed up in this tale, readers will hardly be surprised to learn that Clay’s father was known as the Mighty Molecule, and traveled around the country as a circus performer.
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