96 CITY OF GLASS
living dead, and Black Kiss (Vortex 1988), a gleefully depraved tale of sex, horror,
and Hollywood. Th e 1980s also saw Chaykin off er iconoclastic takes on well-known
characters such as Blackhawk (DC 1987) and Th e Shadow (DC 1986).
After this intensely prolifi c period, Chaykin turned his attentions to Hollywood,
writing for television shows including Th e Flash and Viper. With a few exceptions—
such as Power and Glory (Malibu 1994), a comic adventure miniseries about the
hollowness of cheap patriotism and the superhero ideal—Chaykin did little work
in comics as an artist during this time. He continued to work as a writer, how-
ever, including several collaborations with David Tischman. Most notable of these
is American Century (DC/Vertigo 2001–3), a highly acclaimed exploration of the
seamy underside of the ostensibly sunny 1950s. Chaykin returned as both artist and
writer with series such as Challengers of the Unknown (DC 2004), a scathing satire
of reactionary right-wing politics and the superfi cial, sensationalistic news media,
and City of Tomorrow (DC/Wildstorm 2005), a science fi ction/crime story that
indicates Chaykin’s continued interest in the hazy distinction between simulation
and reality. Chaykin has maintained a high profi le in the comics industry in recent
years, working for independent publishers as well as for Marvel and DC.
Brannon Costello
CITY OF GLASS. Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli collaborated with novelist
Paul Auster to adapt Auster’s 1985 prose novel, City of Glass, and produced this
groundbreaking graphic novel, originally published by Avon Books in 1994 as Neon
Lit: Paul Auster’s City of Glass. “Neon Lit,” edited by Art Spiegelman, was to be a
series of comics-format adaptations of contemporary fi ction; unfortunately, City of
Glass was one of only two titles completed (the other was Barry Giff ord’s Perdita Dur-
ango). Th e title was revised and republished by Picador/Henry Holt in 2004, with an
introduction by Spiegelman.
By genre, the graphic novel City of Glass has much in common with the hard-boiled
detective story and fi lm noir, since it involves a detached private investigator, a sexy female
client, surveillance, and a mystery; but it is no ordinary detective story. Th e protago-
nist is Daniel Quinn, a disengaged, young widower who writes detective novels under a
pseudonym. After receiving a couple late-night phone calls intended for the Paul Auster
Detective Agency, Quinn decides to assume Auster’s detective identity, and he takes the
case. His clients, Peter and Virginia Stillman, hire him to follow Peter’s father, who is
about to be released from a mental institution and who might try to harm Peter. For
weeks, Quinn shadows the elder Stillman’s every move and regularly updates Virginia
by phone. When Quinn loses his quarry, he turns to Auster for help, but Auster turns
out to be a writer rather than a detective. When Quinn reaches only the Stillmans’ busy
signal, he stakes out their building for months and loses himself in the process.
Th e novel is full of shifting or double identities. Quinn writes his detective stories
under the pen name William Wilson, which is also the title of an Edgar Allan Poe
story about doppelgangers. In some panels, Quinn is replaced by the narrator of his
