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Mark McKay
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2217
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| Posted: 05 February 2023 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | 1
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JB,
I seem to recall you mentioning a memoir years ago, and struggling to get it published because it was too similar to a work of fiction at that time. (Crazy!)
Any thoughts on reigniting it?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 130260
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| Posted: 05 February 2023 at 6:16pm | IP Logged | 2
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First, there was no “struggle”. I wrote it as a kind of “pipe cleaning” exercise, and showed it to exactly one publisher. At the same time CAVALIER AND CLAY was published, a kind of roman a klef of the early days of the comicbook industry. So I felt that particular pot had been stirred. I still feel the same way, basically.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 30078
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| Posted: 05 February 2023 at 7:58pm | IP Logged | 3
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I know you don’t usually read fiction but did you ever read KAVALIER &
CLAY?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 05 February 2023 at 8:36pm | IP Logged | 4
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No.
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Wilson Mui
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4475
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 3:30am | IP Logged | 5
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How about posting the pages you've written here?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | 6
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No.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2892
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | 7
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Kavalier & Clay bears zero relation to reality, unless Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were cousins, Jack Kirby grew up in Europe and escaped the Holocaust in a coffin, and Stan Lee was a closeted gay man and this was all info that only Michael Chabon was party to (although Kirby and Lee exist as real-world walk-on characters as well). It's the clef-iest roman à clef that ever existed, and was a deeply annoying read to boot.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 4:11pm | IP Logged | 8
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Was it Lee and Kirby? I understood it was Siegel and Shuster.
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Marc Foxx
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 4:16pm | IP Logged | 9
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It's been years since I read it, but I felt it was more early days Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, with the creation of The Escapist instead of Captain America.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 4:18pm | IP Logged | 10
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It’s a pretty broad sampling of the talent of the time, with historical accuracy a very distant consideration.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 4:30pm | IP Logged | 11
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There's a certain lumping in of traits from different people on the main characters. Kavalier's escape-artist skills come from Steranko, but also serve as an easter egg for Kirby via Scott Free. Since Sammy Clay is a New York Jew, and the whole thing centers on New York (and some other things I don't quite recall), I took him to be more of a Lee stand-in than anyone else.
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Dave Kopperman
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| Posted: 06 February 2023 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | 12
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All of which is to say, an honest memoir by an industry insider from the 70's through today would be pretty welcome, but I completely understand why you wouldn't want to pursue it.
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