Michael Chabon Presents. . .The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, Volume 1 
asked by runabout on November 1, 2006 8:04 PM
Leaping onto center stage from the wings of comics history comes that dazzling Master of Elusion, foe of tyranny, and champion of liberation - the Escapist. Operating from a secret headquarters under the boards of the Empire Theater, the Escapist and his crack team of associates roam the globe performing amazing feats of magic and coming to the aid of all those who languish in the chains of oppression. The history of the Escapist's creators Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay was recently chronicled in Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Now the best of the Escapist's adventures are collected into one volume for all to enjoy.
Reviews
I found this product to be a great value for the money. I shopped and compared at various sites.
reviewed by rafit on November 11, 2006 1:32 AM
For those people who are expecting a comics masterpiece from the author who brought you The Amazing Adventures of Kavlier & Clay, save your time and money. This collection of stories is short on pretty much everything that could have made it worthwhile!!!
Couched in terms of "lost adventures" this book features a number of fantastic artists doing questionable work. The whole book is full of ego as Chabon waxes nostalgic about a character who did not exist. If this was limited to the text between the stories, that would probably be ok, but the ego spills over and all of the stories are told with a big nudge and obnoxious wink.
Additionally, this book is very short, very small, and worth nowhere near the cover price.
Couched in terms of "lost adventures" this book features a number of fantastic artists doing questionable work. The whole book is full of ego as Chabon waxes nostalgic about a character who did not exist. If this was limited to the text between the stories, that would probably be ok, but the ego spills over and all of the stories are told with a big nudge and obnoxious wink.
Additionally, this book is very short, very small, and worth nowhere near the cover price.
reviewed by paradiselove on November 14, 2006 12:00 PM
A few years ago, Chabon wrote a well-received novel, _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,_ about two comic book impresarios in the 1930s, `40s, and `50s. Their greatest creation was the Escapist. It's only fitting that the fictional character of a fictional author in a fictional comic book come to life in a real book. A dozen or so writers and artists come together to present a series of stories from the Escapist's career, rendered in the styles of four or five decades, and Chabon and Malachi Cohen surround them with relevant history and literary/artistic criticism. One of the main supporting characters, Luna Moth, also gets a couple of stories. The best thing in this volume, though, is "The Lady or the Tiger," supposedly published in 1976 -- and which Glen Gold's introduction makes clear was the literary peak of the (fictional) series. Finally, the classic comic book "advertising" on the back cover is a hoot, especially the bit on bar codes!
reviewed by ozone on November 23, 2006 3:46 AM
