The Comic Cover

After reading the first 80 or so pages of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, I have been absorbed into the lives of Josef Kavalier and Sammy Klayman, watching their very distinct, yet not totally dissimilar, stories intersect. However, as I read through the blog post topic suggestions, I saw one regarding the front cover. I hadn't taken a second to analyze, or even thoughtfully look at, the front cover of the book. When I reluctantly picked up this book in early July, I skipped as fast as I could to page 1, hastily skipping over the cover. As I look back at this fascinating book cover, here are some of my thoughts/observations:

                                            The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (with bonus content): A Novel eBook : Chabon, Michael: Books - Amazon.com

First of all, I noticed the comic book layout of the cover page. After just reading the chapter where Chabon takes a prolonged break from storytelling to discuss the state of comic books in the year 1939, I could appreciate the significance of the comic book in the story, justifying its presence on the cover page. The artistic combination of various fonts, font sizes, and geometric shapes also gives the cover page an artistic theme.

Secondly, I noticed the city skyline, highlighted by a skyscraper that appears to be the Empire State Building, which towers over all the other buildings in the city. At the time of this story, the Empire State Building was the tallest in the world, justifying its exaggerated size in comparison with other buildings. Obviously, Chabon, or whoever designed the cover, wants us to see this building due to its size and red color, making it seem like a crucial part of the story.

Finally, the key on the right side of the cover seems to signify the role of Houdini-esque escape in the story, as seen in Kavalier's obsession with lock-picking and escaping tight spaces from his studies with Kornblum. The idea of escape seems to go farther than physical lock-picking, as Sammy Clay wishes to escape the confines of his life in Brooklyn and let his curious mind free.

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