Just a note that this is the ONE HUNDRED FIFTIETH post on this blog! Yay me!
Volume 3 opens with a tale by Will Eisner where the Escapist and the Spirit meet. The tale isn't a spectacular one, and Eisner lacks much of the style he used back in the fifties, but the fact that this was his LAST WORK does add a bit of poignancy to it.
Shawn Martinbrough draws another of Kevin McCarthy’s excellent stories that keep the Escapist in true comic form while also utilizing challenging plot ideas. This time, Escapist travels to a North Korea-style dictatorship that wants Escapist dead for the values he may give to the society. Good art, good writing, a good adventure.
An extended version of Roy Thomas’ Alter Ego article comes next, followed by a slight improved Howard Chaykin story. I love Howie, but he seems to lack relevance in today’s comic world. Maybe it’s time to stick to art chores?
One more Escapenot story is the volume. Meh.
Eddie Campbell draws a beautiful but not overly well written story of the Escapist’s day at the fair. Is this becoming a recurring theme? So-so stories by guest writers?
No, maybe not, as Paul Grist of Jack Staff fame gives us Doc Hypnosis. The tale falls right in line with his previous work, and gives us a clever and well written adventure tale pitting the Master of Elusion vs the Physician of Illusion. Great stuff!
Novelist Chris Offutt writes a unique tale of the Escapist set during Viet Nam (supposedly for an unmade Eclipse revival of the character) drawn by Tom Yeates. A tricky, well written, and taut in all the right places that combines superhero conventions with war effectively.
We move in to some indy creator work with a short by Jason. Slightly above the Escapenot stuff, but nothing great here either.
We follow that story up with a romance/crime-inspired piece by Steven Grant & Norm Breyfogle that has little or nothing to do with The Escapist. Decent story, just odd ball placement.
Howard Chaykin comes back for a third time, this time with his Bite Club colloborator David Hahn on art. A weird little short based around music, it still fails to capture any sense of excitement for this reader.
Jeffrey Brown gives us a rather unique look at the Escapist in an above average short.
Finally, “The Final Curtain” has Jason Hall team up with issue one’s Eric Wight with another so-so tale from Escapist’s past. With the exception of the first couple storiez, this volume seems the dullest yet. But at least the price tag was dropped to a more reasonable $14.95. Mildly Recommended.
Showing posts with label Escapist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Escapist. Show all posts
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Super-Powered Comics: Amazing Adventures of the Escapist volume 2
The second volume of The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist takes a step up in quality from volume one. We start the book out with a supposed EC-created Escapist story, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Joe Staton. The two legendary creators channel EC right down to the page design and lettering as they tell the story of an undercover Nazi who seeks to unleash the mind of Adolf Hitler on the world during the fifties. His battle with the Escapist makes a far superior tale of fifties-era corruption than the previous volume’s Chaykin story.
Two tales of the Escapenot, a young cartoony version of the title character, fill this volume. I don’t have much to say about them other than they’re beyond bland.
Stuart Moore and Astounding Space Thrills’ Steve Conley combine forces for another great tale: The Escapist 2966. The future Escapist lives in a giant key shaped space station and he is summoned from it to battle the threat of Roboputer. I don’t want to give any of the twists of this one away, but it is fun stuff harkening back to Weird Science or Mystery in Space.
Matt Kindt writes and draws an odd little story that alternates between the Escapist’s comic adventures and the story of one of its creators. An okay piece, but nothing as moving and telling as I think it was meant to be.
Scott Morse draws a cute little short called “The Boy Who Would Be the Escapist”. A fun little tale of a kid who finds a key and thinks he has become his favorite hero. Probably the best of the non-Escapist Escapist stories in any of the first 3 volumes.
Roy Thomas comes up next for a prose piece, as he writes a supposed Alter Ego article about the fictitious Fab Comics Group. Easily the best of the fake history stories in any of these collections.
Dean Haspiel draws a rip-roaring story in the style of Jack Kirby where Luna Moth comes under attack by a Fourth World-style alternate of herself. She finds herself in a fascinating alternate look at where her life might lead.
Brian K. Vaughan and Roger Petersen conclude volume two with a story of the Escapist’s ally Big Al as he is confronted by the Iron Chain with his own significance in the world. A good breakdown of what it means to be a “sidekick” in modern comics.
Unlike volume one, volume two takes the Escapist and uses his fictional history to craft a plethora of fine examples of superhero storytelling. Highly recommended.
Two tales of the Escapenot, a young cartoony version of the title character, fill this volume. I don’t have much to say about them other than they’re beyond bland.
Stuart Moore and Astounding Space Thrills’ Steve Conley combine forces for another great tale: The Escapist 2966. The future Escapist lives in a giant key shaped space station and he is summoned from it to battle the threat of Roboputer. I don’t want to give any of the twists of this one away, but it is fun stuff harkening back to Weird Science or Mystery in Space.
Matt Kindt writes and draws an odd little story that alternates between the Escapist’s comic adventures and the story of one of its creators. An okay piece, but nothing as moving and telling as I think it was meant to be.
Scott Morse draws a cute little short called “The Boy Who Would Be the Escapist”. A fun little tale of a kid who finds a key and thinks he has become his favorite hero. Probably the best of the non-Escapist Escapist stories in any of the first 3 volumes.
Roy Thomas comes up next for a prose piece, as he writes a supposed Alter Ego article about the fictitious Fab Comics Group. Easily the best of the fake history stories in any of these collections.
Dean Haspiel draws a rip-roaring story in the style of Jack Kirby where Luna Moth comes under attack by a Fourth World-style alternate of herself. She finds herself in a fascinating alternate look at where her life might lead.
Brian K. Vaughan and Roger Petersen conclude volume two with a story of the Escapist’s ally Big Al as he is confronted by the Iron Chain with his own significance in the world. A good breakdown of what it means to be a “sidekick” in modern comics.
Unlike volume one, volume two takes the Escapist and uses his fictional history to craft a plethora of fine examples of superhero storytelling. Highly recommended.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Super-Powered Comics: Amazing Adventures of the Escapist volume 1
The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist offers a strange historical look at the character introduced in Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
. An all star cast of creators fill this volume with interesting stories, some better than others.
Chabon himself retells the Escapist’s origins in an able but rather bland story with art by Eric Wight. It is one of the weaker stories in the book actually, but it does channel a golden age sensibility rather well.
Howard Chaykin comes in next with an okay story about a McCarthy-style politician that has his oddball fetish exposed by the Escapist. Able art, but nothing spectacular in the story department.
Kyle Baker draws a goofy little ditty about the Escapist being sequestered in the jury of a clearly innocent man being framed by the forces of his arch enemies, the Iron Chain. He finds a way to clear the man’s name, but not before a kick in the face about his own actions.
Steve Lieber draws another silver age-inspired story where the Escapist has to go undercover in the local prison to expose a plot. He ends up teamed with his cellmate against much of the rest of the prison’s population, only to find out the shocking identity of his cellmate when all is said and done.
Mike Baron & Val Mayerik provide a very week story of an aging Escapist sent out to save an endangered nuclear submarine. Rather weak work by otherwise qualified creators.
Divine Wind gives us the supposed manga version of the character from the early eighties. Writer Kevin McCarthy (who provides about half the stories in this volume) gives us an interesting alternate take on the character based around a kamikaze who could not die. Strong, interesting story that does a lot to lift up a few of the earlier stories in the volume.
The Escapegoat is a silly little short featuring an anthromorphocized version of the character. Cute, but nothing all that mind-blowing.
Bill Siekiewicz draws the first story of Luna Moth in the latter half of the volume. The script is below average, and the art is far more muddled than usual from Bill. Not a very well done work at all, and actually very disappointing because of it.
Jim Starlin writes and illustrates a story in his (semi-)usual cosmic vein, where Luna Moth fulfills the dream of a little girl who wants to see her dead mother one last time. Mostly silent, it remains one of the more powerful works in the collection.
Dan Brereton draws the beautiful but otherwise weak final Luna Moth story of the volume. Not much really happens script wise. It seems like a real shame to me, as Luna Moth seems to be an interesting character that is rather mis-utilized in this volume. Hopefully she will get some better tales next volume.
The story closes with a tale by Chabon-friend and novelist Glen David Gold with art by Gene Colan. He writes the supposed last chapter of a late seventies serial from the Escapist’s title that is easily the best story in the volume. I don’t want to give much away about the story, but I will compare it favorably to both Will Eisner’s Spirit and Frank Miller’s first run at Daredevil.
All in all the first volume of The Escapist is a mixed bag at best. Gold & Colan’s Lady and the Tiger and Divine Wind are both high quality work, but I am not sure if it outways the mediocrity of the rest of the volume. And with a steep $18 cover price, I can give this volume only a Mild Recommendation. But if you enjoyed Kavalier & Clay I suspect you will enjoy this one.
. An all star cast of creators fill this volume with interesting stories, some better than others.Chabon himself retells the Escapist’s origins in an able but rather bland story with art by Eric Wight. It is one of the weaker stories in the book actually, but it does channel a golden age sensibility rather well.
Howard Chaykin comes in next with an okay story about a McCarthy-style politician that has his oddball fetish exposed by the Escapist. Able art, but nothing spectacular in the story department.
Kyle Baker draws a goofy little ditty about the Escapist being sequestered in the jury of a clearly innocent man being framed by the forces of his arch enemies, the Iron Chain. He finds a way to clear the man’s name, but not before a kick in the face about his own actions.
Steve Lieber draws another silver age-inspired story where the Escapist has to go undercover in the local prison to expose a plot. He ends up teamed with his cellmate against much of the rest of the prison’s population, only to find out the shocking identity of his cellmate when all is said and done.
Mike Baron & Val Mayerik provide a very week story of an aging Escapist sent out to save an endangered nuclear submarine. Rather weak work by otherwise qualified creators.
Divine Wind gives us the supposed manga version of the character from the early eighties. Writer Kevin McCarthy (who provides about half the stories in this volume) gives us an interesting alternate take on the character based around a kamikaze who could not die. Strong, interesting story that does a lot to lift up a few of the earlier stories in the volume.
The Escapegoat is a silly little short featuring an anthromorphocized version of the character. Cute, but nothing all that mind-blowing.
Bill Siekiewicz draws the first story of Luna Moth in the latter half of the volume. The script is below average, and the art is far more muddled than usual from Bill. Not a very well done work at all, and actually very disappointing because of it.
Jim Starlin writes and illustrates a story in his (semi-)usual cosmic vein, where Luna Moth fulfills the dream of a little girl who wants to see her dead mother one last time. Mostly silent, it remains one of the more powerful works in the collection.
Dan Brereton draws the beautiful but otherwise weak final Luna Moth story of the volume. Not much really happens script wise. It seems like a real shame to me, as Luna Moth seems to be an interesting character that is rather mis-utilized in this volume. Hopefully she will get some better tales next volume.
The story closes with a tale by Chabon-friend and novelist Glen David Gold with art by Gene Colan. He writes the supposed last chapter of a late seventies serial from the Escapist’s title that is easily the best story in the volume. I don’t want to give much away about the story, but I will compare it favorably to both Will Eisner’s Spirit and Frank Miller’s first run at Daredevil.
All in all the first volume of The Escapist is a mixed bag at best. Gold & Colan’s Lady and the Tiger and Divine Wind are both high quality work, but I am not sure if it outways the mediocrity of the rest of the volume. And with a steep $18 cover price, I can give this volume only a Mild Recommendation. But if you enjoyed Kavalier & Clay I suspect you will enjoy this one.
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