The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

This chapter introduces the back story of the comic book character Luna Moth. Deep in the sub-basement of the library in Empire City, Miss Judy Dark, Under-Assistant Cataloguer of Decommissioned Volumes, is hard at work. Judy is a solitary and lonely individual whose good looks are “marred forever by the cruelty of a pair of big black eyeglasses” (267).

As Judy prepares to leave, she walks past the security guard, Officer O’Hara. He asks her if she’s seen the book. She has and tells him it is lovely. On her way home, she thinks about how she hasn’t seen the new book on display in the library. It’s called The Book of Lo, a sacred book from the ancient and mysterious Cimmerians and supposedly the oldest book in the world. She heads back to the library to finally have a look at the book.

When she gets to the exhibit hall where the book is, she finds O’Hara on the ground, bound, with masked men standing around him, the Book of Lo in a sack at their feet. To distract them, she screams and runs toward them, grabs the sack, and runs toward her office in the basement. As Judy is running away, she feels a pulsating sensation coming from the book.

The thieves catch up to her before she can get to safety. One of them fires his gun at Judy. It ricochets off a pipe from which a live power line tumbles out and electrocutes Judy. The thieves take the book and leave her for dead.

Judy flies. She is naked, and translucent swallow-tailed moth’s wings have sprouted from her. She arrives at an ancient-looking temple. She enters and finds a raven-haired giantess with green wings and antennae sitting on a throne, surrounded by glow worms. It is the Cimmerian moth goddess, Lo.

Lo is surprised that her book has chosen Judy as her next champion. Lo tells Judy about the history of the Cimmerians and their downfall. Cimmerian society was a utopia ruled by women, but an evil man, Nanok, taught himself the ways of black magic and defeated the Cimmerians. Men ruled the world, and wars and famines became common. As the world degenerated, Lo decided to send out her champion, and she does so every time things get bad. Lo tells Judy that she now possesses all the power of the ancient Cimmerians. Judy has only to imagine something to make it real. Before Judy leaves, Lo gives her one more piece of advice: “[T]here is no force more powerful than that of an unbridled imagination” (272), and that she needs help, Judy need only come to Lo in her dreams.

Judy flies back to Empire City, now clothed in a green suit, a very short skirt, fishnet stockings, and high heels. She finds the men who have stolen the book. They have O’Hara with them and are attempting to dislodge the jewels from the cover of the Book of Lo. One of the men tries to run from her. She extends her arms and green light ripples out from her. The man is painfully turned into a mouse. She freezes another of the thieves and burns the last one. Surprised by her own powers, she says, “Guess I still have a bit to learn” (274).

O’Hara comes to; Judy unties him and helps him to his feet. She flies away, leaving O’Hara with the red imprint of her lips on his cheek and wondering if what he’s experienced is actually real.

Deasey really dislikes the new character Sam and Joe have come up with; “I cannot allow this to happen to my country. Things are bad enough already,” he says (275). Sam argues that their character isn’t showing anything that any boy couldn’t see at Jones Beach. The narrator informs the reader that Luna Moth, according to a critic, was “the first sex object […] created expressly for consumption by little boys” (275). However, Deasey knows the character will be a hit.

Deasey thinks back on an unfinished novel of his, Death Wears A Black Hat, about the love between two brothers and a woman who died. He wonders about getting back to work on it. Deasey lets slip that Anapol and Ashkenazy are looking for a new character.

Ashkenazy finds Luna Moth “beauteeful.” Anapol is nervous about having such a risqué character. He doesn’t like the moth idea and wonders about a butterfly. Sam argues that she can’t be a butterfly because she is the Mistress of the Night. Anapol doesn’t like the word mistress.

Joe and Sam want a better deal regarding Luna Moth and also want a cut of the radio proceeds with the Escapist. Sam threatens to leave if Anapol and Ashkenazy don’t agree. There is a lot of negotiating back and forth. Eventually, they all settle on Joe and Sam getting a raise of $100 per week and 5% of the royalties of Luna Moth. Anapol then informs them that he wants them to stop taking aim at the Nazis. This is something Joe cannot abide. Sam and Joe decide to quit working with Anapol and Ashkenazy rather than stop using the Nazis as villains in their comics. Deasey wants to have a word with the two cousins.

In Deasey’s office, Deasey tries to talk them down from quitting, but when the two remain steadfast in their decision he then informs Joe and Sam about a lawsuit that the creators of Superman are bringing against Empire Comics, stating that they are in violation of copyright laws. It takes Sam a while to understand why Deasey is telling them all this, but he finally surmises that Anapol is in legal trouble because, when discussing the creation of a comic book hero with Sam back in the beginning, he used the fateful words “[m]ake me a Superman” (288). Sam goes back to talk to Anapol and Ashkenazy. Joe asks him what he is going to do, and Sam says, “I guess I’m going to go in there and offer to perjure myself” (288).