Comic Review: Michael Chabon’s The Escapist Amazing Adventures TPB (Dark Horse)

Dark Horse has collected Michael Chabon’s The Escapist from 2004 and 2005 in a large trade volume, numbering over 400 pages. That’s a lot of escapism!

The Escapist is a Mister Miracle/Houdini-like hero. He gets in and out of traps and catches bad guys. He’s obviously fictional, of course, but in addition, the historical accounts of his being published since the 1940’s is fiction too. You see, in between the comic stories, there are fabricated text accounts of his early print days, and other related topics, with equally fictional illustrations accompanying the articles. These make for fun reading, as they often pay tribute or parody to real characters with equally real parallel histories.

In reading the many many stories in this volume, I was amazed and impressed with their variety. There are stories in many different styles, such as (indie creator) Harvey Pekar’s Escape From The Hospital to The Lady or the Tiger, illustrated by Gene Colan, to Sequestered, with art by Kyle Baker.

In addition to the many Escapist stories, there are also adventures of Lunar Moth, plus page after page of cover illustrations by various artists.

This is a delightful, and huge collection of stories, providing hours of fun comic reading, both nostalgic and memorable. Recommended!

Dark Horse Michael Chabon’s The Escapist Amazing Adventures Trade, $24.99 for 408 pages of content. Ages 12+