Escapo

Comic book fans have adored Paul Pope's visceral artwork and surreal stories for years but only few devotees could consider themselves lucky enough to own Escapo (or rich enough to snag a second-hand copy). Now readers have a another chance to buy it, this time in a much more affordable and beefier collection. While the stories here focus on an escape artist, the narrative centers less on his spectacles and more with dilemmas of the human condition--in this case, unrequited love and the inevitability of death. Pope draws his art with loads of energy--limbs stretch to the motion of the characters, panels warp to perspective of the viewer, and the sound effects and emanata look ready to burst. The new coloring also does the original black-and-white version justice--Shay Plummer applies enough color and shading to enhance the stories without becoming overbearing, a nice in-between that should satisfy new readers without upsetting purists. Definitely worth picking up if you enjoyed Pope's other work or just want to see what makes his style so unique. While I finished the two stories in about 45 minutes, I still felt the cost was right--hardcover, lots of bonus artwork and concept drawings, and larger pages than most of the other comics in my collection. It also beats paying the price some resellers wanted for the old version.

Escapo consists of two stories about the “world’s greatest” escape artist. The first tale tells of his struggle with not having his affection returned by one of the other carnival workers. The second story is about our protagonist attempting to cheat death in a very mythical style tale. These stories were originally released in a collected format in 1999 and has long since been out of print, making it difficult to find, and expensive to procure. Fans of Pope’s other works such as, 100%, Heavy Liquid, and Batman Year 100, have been chomping at the bit, eagerly awaiting this reissue. For them, it likely holds everything they were wanting. The narrative in both stories, while good, is also very short. Of the 160 pages bound into the book, only roughly two thirds are the pair of Escapo stories. Some might feel it too slim in storied content for the 24.99 cover price, but most of the bonus material is really quite nice. The pinups from John Cassaday (Planetary, Astonishing X-Men, Uncanny Avengers), Dean Haspiel (American Splendor), and Yuko Shimizu (The Unwritten covers) are really striking, and a nice afterwards by Pope tells us about his progression as an artist during the time he was originally working on Escapo from 96-98. The layouts and sketch sections feel a bit thrown together however, due to the lack of detail to help explain the images provided. The art is every bit as good as something you would expect to see from a more recent Pope release. It is filled with wonderfully complex, off the wall trap designs that Escapo must maneuver his way through for the enjoyment of the stunned carnival patrons. Pope’s fluid line work, and layouts makes these scenes a visual feast that will have you on the edge of your seat with anticipation wondering how Escapo will make it out alive. Pope’s work has a loose feeling that always makes it enjoyable to look at and his action sequences step it up even more with his use of unorthodox “camera angles.” Pope’s style is easily recognizable and always full of substance and life. Pope’s dialogue through most of this work has a certain lyrical quality to it that is quite pleasant, and greatly missed in most of today’s comics. This fits the second story very well indeed, and adds to its already mystifying atmosphere. The dialogue’s greatest ally in this story is the lettering which is entirely done by Pope himself, and is just as much a part of the art as everything else. Escapo is a perfect example of why lettering should be a bigger deal in graphic storytelling (to see the opposite effect that lettering can have on a book check out Frankenstein Alive Alive #1). You grit your teeth at his inner turmoil and his refusal to give up. You feel the electric and exuberant cheers that erupt from the crowd and the elated screams of the ringmaster at the completion of one of Escapo’s death defying stunts. Shay Plummer does a bang-up job on the coloring in this collection. In the afterwards, Pope talks about the general guidelines he asked Plummer to follow but left the rest up to him, and Plummer did not disappoint. The colors perfectly evoke the desired emotions from scenes throughout the narrative and help draw your eye to where it is needed most in a panel. Anyone who is a fan of Paul Pope, and didn’t already own this, will have likely already purchased this book. Anyone who already owned the previous paperback edition could do with picking this up for the bonus content and color work by Plummer. But someone not familiar with Pope’s work might be better off with checking out 100% or Heavy Liquid first which are more substantial on story and coming back to Escapo when they find themselves wanting more.

Paul Pope's Escapo is a great read and visually stimulating. Paul's unique art style beautifully details the story of titular hero, a man who has been "escaping" since his very birth. Death is but a wrong mistake away, a thought that is not lost on the man who dresses as The Grim Reaper itself. While Escapo is fearless in the ring, he is still mystified by love and cowers at the fear of rejection. Will his failure in love lead to his failure in the ring? Read and find out!

Awesome comic! This book is sort of a series of vignettes about the escape artist Escapo and his struggles with love and death. Great writing and artwork in this book. The quality of this hardcover edition is quite good. Very interesting cover.

Paul pope is a master and this early work shows his artistic talent to his fullest! Colorful, adventurous and emotional. A must have Good conditions, timely delivery

beautifully remastered artwork and a fun story. nothing earth shattering as far narrative but its well written/drawn enough to keep you involved. can't help but feel like a sequel would tie it up nicely, ends a bit abrupt.

I have never felt like I have wasted my money on a Paul Pope book. If you are a Pope fan then you should check this book out.

The art is amazing and the story interesting, a must for Pope fans

This book defines “labour of love”. Pope looks at love, life and death through the eyes of an escape artist. This seemingly simple story is added weight by his unique style of illustration and colouring that is somewhere between manga, Corto Maltese, Kirby and Dali. That sounds absurd but it absolutely works, especially in the oversized format. Simply put, artwork is Next Level. This reprint contains fifty pages worth of bonus material such as sketches, pin-up gallery and an alternate ending. In Weapons of Choice, the afterword to the book, Pope talks about his approach to drawing and tools used for Escapo. It’s very detailed and I have to admit, some of it went over my head. I did enjoy reading about where he was at in life while working on Escapo though. It’s always nice to get inside the artist’s head to get a little more context on the story. I read the book twice in the same sitting and what I took from it was this: embrace life, whatever it throws your way. I want to shake this man’s hand and thank him for blessing us with this book.

Pope's artwork is always exquisite. The story's quite good too.