The Escapists

This book is in a way an extension of the novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It begins with a prose story in which a much older Sammy Clay goes to a comic convention and has a chance meeting with a boy there, thus inspiring the youngster to become a comic book creator in the future. The comic itself is set in the present day and centered around Maxwell Roth, a young man who learns on his father's death that the older man was obsessed with collecting "The Escapist" comics and paraphernalia. ("The Escapist" is the fictional comics series written by the characters Kavalier and Clay in the novel.) Later, Roth decides to buy the rights to the old character and write a new series run, along with his childhood friend (an expert show more letterer) and an artist he recently met (and has a crush on).

For starters, it was really fun to see the fictional comic series from within the novel come into being, and I'm glad to see Dark Horse got on board in producing that. While readers of the novel will enjoy seeing the fictional comic come to life in a roundabout way, this book also stands on its own and those who didn't read the novel will not be confused in reading it. Throughout, The Escapists is very much a love song to comics in general. Although it does have some heavy moments, it manages to feel light overall and reads very quickly. It covers a lot of ground in terms of friendships, romantic feelings, family relations, corporate greed, creativity and the act of writing itself. The color-saturated illustrations are well done, with different styles used for the meat of the story versus the new Escapist series and the old Escapist series. show less

The Escapists by Brian K. Vaughan is one of several comics inspired by Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Like that prose novel, this graphic novel plays with the boundary of reality and fiction. In it, a young man from Cleveland, Max Roth, buys the rights to a defunct comic-book character, the Escapist. He finds two friends to help create a new version of the comic book, then tries to publicize it in the manner of the character’s creators, Sam Clay and Joe Kavalier. It tells the story in real time, with flashback and pages of the fictional comic the team creates, all with different artists to distinguish the changes in story. Like the novel it’s inspired by, The Escapists show more is clever with sympathetic characters, a layered narrative, and a story both tragic and hopeful. A fitting, post-modern complement to Chabon’s excellent novel. show less

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/m-IevRaQy3U

Enjoy!

Ik had het boek/stripverhaal gekocht omdat ik een enorme fan ben van Chabons [book:The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay], met weinig hoop op veel goed, maar dit draaide veel beter uit dan verwacht. Een zeer geslaagde aanvulling op Chabons boek, en waarschijnlijk zelfs behoorlijk genietbaar op zich.