The Escapist - Epilogue: 1999 - R.A. Wonsowski

(I need to say at the very top, to Mr. Chabon, how very much his novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, has meant to me.  It's brilliantly written, charged with emotion, and is one of my Top 10 favourite novels of all time.  Everyone who loves comics should read it. 

But the ending of the book filled me with such anger and sadness, and I cannot, even after reading this book every year since its publication, and loving it every time, CANNOT forgive or sympathize with Sammy or his actions at the end of the novel - even though it is the only way the story could have ended.  So, here's what I think happened MUCH later...)

Layout: 3 rows, 2 panels each.

Panel 1 to 4 combine to make one picture: that of a tabletop covered with ESCAPIST memorabilia.  Among them:  in Panel 1, a stack of 1940's era comic books in mylar bags; the top one, titled simply "The Escapist", has an image of the ESCAPIST crashing through the castle window of a mad scientist, in whose lab, trapped in a flask on a table, LUNA MOTH is held captive.  In Panel 2, Lying on top of a fifties-era box containing The Escapist: the Great Escape! board game, there is a Captain Action action figure dressed in a cloth Escapist costume, a die-cast Escapist decoder ring from the radio show and a dog-eared, yellowed membership card to the kid's club, the gold leaf from the lettering falling off where it should read "LEAGUE of the GOLDEN KEY!"  In Panel 3, on top of an autographed photo of early eighties David Copperfield, hair dyed blonde and in the mask and costume of the Escapist, is a key pendant on a slender gold chain and a domino mask.  In the corner, there's standing a small plastic Escapist figure next to a Hot Wheels panel van with the Escapist emblazoned on the sides.  In Panel 4, there is a modern Escapist comic, Whilce Portacio style, the Escapist gritting his teeth and breaking his chains, surrounded by Kirby crackle, a Bruce Timm style Escapist animation cel, and a DVD of Halle Berry in "Luna Moth".  Copy as follows:

Panel 1 -

CAPTION (Saul, the lawyer - his captions are in light green boxes):  ...it's like this, Tommy...

CAPTION (Tom Clayman - his captions are in canary yellow):  Tom.

CAPTION (Saul):  What?

Panel 2 -

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  Tom.  Only my fath...Sam...only HE called me...

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  ...´s ridiculous...

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  ...look, just call me Tom, please...

Panel 3 -

CAPTION (Saul):  ...yeah, well, look, er, TOM.  Whatever, he left you a pretty sizeable estate.

CAPTION (Saul):  Turns out all that goofy comic book crap was pret-ty lucrative, my friend.

CAPTION (Saul):  Every venture, every investment, every time he could rub two nickles together, he put one away for you.

Panel 4 -

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  ...

CAPTION (Saul) Um, Mr. Clayman, your father - -

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  Stop right there, Mr. Goodman.  I need to be perfectly clear here.


Panel 5 - P.O.V. from inside a freshly dug grave.  It's a cloudy day and the sun shines from above.  We see an average-looking man of about 60, in a dark grey suit.  This is TOM CLAYMAN.  He tosses what looks like a cloth domino mask, a golden key, and an ivory-colored piece of cardstock the size of a business card in at us at the bottom of the grave.  His face is expressionless.  The only other person we can see is a young rabbi singing the shma.

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  You might think that Sammy Clay was the Prince of Comics.  How good for you.  But...

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  The man who I believed was, and raised me as, my father, he left me and my mother when I was 10.  Just so he could play grab-ass in sunny California.

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  He missed my bar mitzvah.  My wedding.  The birth of my son.


Panel 6 - On the lid of the unadorned pine coffin, the flowers and dirt are topped with the items TOM tossed in.  An circular inset panel reveals "the small two-by-three card...wrinkled and dog-eared and dyed by the stain of long years spent in Sammy's wallet.  Sammy had taken a pen and, bearing down, crossed out the name of the never-more-than-theoretical family that was printed above the address, and in its place written, sealed in a black rectangle, knotted by the stout cord of an ampersand, the words KAVALIER CLAY."*

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  So, you'll forgive me, I couldn't give a shit about what he left me.

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  What he left me, was a him-shaped hole.  And all his money and guilt can't fill it.

CAPTION (Tom Clayman):  And I sure as hell could never escape it.

FIN

*Attribution:  detail of the card in the last inset panel from The Amazing Adventures of  Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.

The Escapist - Rumble In The Bronx - Niel Jacoby

2 page spread: The Escapist, his hands shackled, his feet chained to a comically large metal ball, and his mouth gagged, is looking around at his situation as his blindfold falls off his head. He is in the center of a boxing ring in a Madison Square Garden-esque arena, with a boxer in each corner, each wearing the color of a different crime organization. The arena is full of the members of these crime organization, all wearing their organization's colors. The corners are designated like so:

12
34

The boxer in corner 1, representing the Spicoli family, is practicing his footwork, jabbing at the air. He wears a dark blue outfit.
The boxer in corner 2, representing the Weng Chiang Triads, is stoic, staring down the Escapist. He wears a jade outfit(the color, not the precious stone).
The boxer in corner 3, representing the Staten Island Street Surgeons, is staring into a pocket mirror, doing his hair. He wears a dark red outfit, and has a pair of brass knuckles poking out of his glove.
The boxer in corner 4, representing the Blood Talon death cult, is playing to his crowd, leading a chant of "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD TALON!" He wears all black, and a mask with a skull design on it.
There is a referee, who is revealed to be the man with the switchblade, but he is obviously not an impartial figure. He is obviously another member of one of the crime families. Perhaps he has a pompadour. He is holding the microphone that has descended from the ceiling.

REF: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MOOKS AND MOLLS, I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE FOLLOWING CONTEST IS YOUR MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING! THERE WILL BE NO DISQUALIFICATION, NO TIME LIMIT, AND NO STOPPING OF THE MATCH UNTIL THIS DO-GOODER RIGHT HERE IS EITHER DEAD OR THE LAST MAN STANDING IN THE RING!
(link)
PRESENTING THE VICTIM, FROM PARTS UNKNOWN, THE ENIGMATIC, ECCENTRIC, AND TO MOST OF THE BOSSES HERE TONIGHT, SUPREMELY E-NNOYING ESCAPIST!

Caption: SURROUNDED ON ALL SIDES BY MANHATTAN'S MOST BRUTAL CRIMINAL CABALS, ABOUT TO BE SET UPON BY THE MOST POWERFUL PUGILISTS IN PROFESSIONAL PUNCHSPORT, AND WITH HIS LEGS AND FEET BOUND IN THE MOST CAREFULLY CRAFTED DESIGNER LOCKS AND CHAINS.

Caption: IT'S JUST ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT FOR...

Logo: THE ESCAPIST!

Inset panel(left top of spread): Close in on the Escapist as he is looking downward, blindfolded and gagged. The severe lights of the boxing ring should give the false impression he's in an interrogation room. A mobster's switchblade has just cut the blindfold, which has just begin to fall.

The Escapist - Terror of the Terminal Time Trap! - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: Medium shot of a blank-walled white room. There is a chair in the exact middle, with the Escapist, just awoken, tied to it. Behind him is an open door. In the corner of the panel is clock text (ideally like a flip clock of the era).

ESCAPIST: Hmm.

CLOCK: 11:27:42

Panel 2: Same POV. The Escapist is standing in front of the chair and has undone his ropes. He is smug, but still confused as to his whereabouts.

ESCAPIST: That was simple enough.

CLOCK: 11:28:17

Panel 3: Same POV. The Escapist is about to walk out the door.

ESCAPIST: As death-traps go, this one is hardly very--

CLOCK: 11:28:21

Panel 4: Same POV. The Escapist is back to being tied up in the chair. He now has a worried expression on his face.

ESCAPIST: --complicated.

CLOCK: 11:27:42

END OF PAGE

The Escapist - - Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 3 PANELS.
Layout.
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1. The flickering lights of the city at night but upside down. The starry sky at the bottom of the panel the city gutters at the top.

NO COPY.

2. Close up on the escapists hands, they are wrapped with chains and held together with a large padlock.

NO COPY.

3. The Escapist hangs upside down high above the city. He is wrapped in chains from head to toe.

CAPTION THE ESCAPIST: Sometimes you have nowhere to escape to. 

The Escapist – Terror of the Tax Man! – MK Stangeland Jr.

Page 1

(1 Panel)

Panel 1: SPLASH PAGE!

Panel style should be a silver/golden-age type opening page image where the hero finds themselves in the midst of some predicament, the full story of which will begin as soon as the reader turns to the next page. Here, TOM MAYFLOWER (out of costume) is in a chair, with two IRS agents standing in front of him. MAYFLOWER looks concerned, but he’s managing to be far more calm than he feels on the inside.

TEXT BOX: He’s escaped Death Traps!

TEXT BOX (2): He’s escaped Diabolical Masterminds!

TEXT BOX (3): But can TOM MAYFLOWER escape the scrutiny of…

TEXT BOX (4): …the IRS?!

IRS AGENT: I regret to inform you that the IRS believes it is necessary to subject you to an audit, Mr. Mayflower.

TOM MAYFLOWER: (Thought Balloon) This is one foe I can’t simply fight my way past.

TOM MAYFLOWER (2): (Thought Balloon) But if they scrutinize too closely, they might learn about my secret identity as…

TOM MAYFLOWER (3): (Thought Balloon, written in name-logo style word art) …THE ESCAPIST!

(END PAGE)

The Escapist - Sacrifices - Grant McLaughlin

1 - Shot of a headstone.  It's a close-up of the deceased's name: Tom Mayflower.

PLUM BLOSSOM (off-panel): I can't believe he's gone.

2 - Pull back to show that Big Al, Miss Plum Blossom, and Omar are standing around Tom's grave, all looking downcast.  Al extends a hand to comfort Plum.

BIG AL: Hush now.  We must be strong.

3 - Continue to pull back, the focus remaining on the grave and assembled friends.  Omar speaks, a solemn expression on his face.  His words surprise and upset Al and Plum.

OMAR: Alois is right.  We must find his key and then find a replacement.

BIG AL: Omar!  Can we not delay this conversation for one day?

4 - Continue to pull back.  The friends are now walking away, heading off to continue with their lives.  Omar's words are lost due to the distance.

OMAR (trailing off): I'm afraid not.  The Iron Chain will not rest, and so neither can we...

5 - Pulling further back.  We've moved so far back that we see a figure looking towards the friends walking away (who are now near the gate of the cemetery).  The figure is wearing the Escapist costume, his back to the reader.  It's Tom Mayflower.

TOM: I'm sorry, friends.

6 - Tom turns to face the reader.  He is clearly troubled, but he is also determined.

TOM: ...but what I do now must be done alone.

The Escapist - The Greatest Trap - Ben Rosenthal

1. The Escapist sits bound to a chair. Hands tied behind his back and a simple chain holding him in place. His head is bowed forward as he is unconscious. Two figures speak to each other off panel.

VOICE 1
A chain and some rope? That aint going to last two seconds when he comes to.

VOICE 2
I agree. But they are not that which binds him.


2. A tighter shot on The Escapist from the chest up. He is still unconscious.

VOICE 1
Whaddya mean?

VOICE 2
Those which bind him physically are only there to keep him to the chair.


3. A tighter shot again of The Escapist. This is just of his head, still bowed forward and unconscious.

VOICE 2
The real question is can The Escapsist escape--


4. the Escapist is standing in an Escher-esque sequence. No rules of out physical reality apply. There are stairs and pathways which all have chained up doors at the end of them. The Escapist is looking around this dream scale, trying to figure out what to do.

VOICE 2
--his own mind!

The Escapist -The Binding Effect- Dan Hill

PAGE ONE

Panel 1: Wide panel: Full bleed, night. We’re looking side on at the wheels of a train as it thunders forwards.

1 THE ESCAPIST(V/O): A lock, any lock is designed to keep something from someone else. Something valuable.

2 THE ESCAPIST(V/O): This can be money, food, water...even freedom.

Panel 2: CUT TO: a bleary eyed COMMANDANT STEINER looking towards us as he leans on his elbow in bed. He’s silver haired and in his late forties. He’s also out of uniform, wearing a white vest and looks only half awake.

3 STEINER: What is the meaning of--

4 GUARD(OFF): Commandant...

Panel 3: Pan around to see a CAMP GUARD (dressed in German army uniform circa 1943) at Steiner’s doorway. He looks exhausted and apologetic, holding on to the doorframe for support.

5 GUARD: ...you have to see this.  

Panel 4: CUT TO: Wide panel: Full bleed, night. We pan up from the train wheels to get a side on view of the train carriage itself. Peering back out at us from the windows we can see several FACES.

6 THE ESCAPIST(V/O): But they're imperfect-- slight misalignments in the pin chambers, misshapen pins...

7 THE ESCAPIST(V/O): ...therefore picking a lock, any lock, works because of inescapable flaws in their design.

Panel 5: CUT TO: Early morning. Steiner climbing the ladder of a watch tower somewhere in the camp he commands. The guard from the previous panel is several rungs beneath him.

8 GUARD: I don’t know how it happened, Commandant.

Panel 6: Steiner and the guard, now at the top of the watch tower, peer back at us in wonder and amazement.

9 STEINER: This is impossible.

10 GUARD: I told you...

Panel 7: Wide panel: From their POV looking out over Camp Feurstadt, a work camp. We can see guard towers at the other corners of the fence that surrounds the camp. We can see the huge wide gates of the camp thrown open.

Below them in the camp itself we can see all of the buildings (living quarters, processing facility, etc). All of the doors are thrown open on the buildings. Nothing stirs. It’s empty.

11 GUARD(V/O): They’re all gone.

Panel 8: Full bleed: Wide panel: CUT TO: the train as it hurtles towards us. Leaning out of the driver’s cab slightly, surveying the landscape is THE ESCAPIST.

Behind him we can see the rest of the train and Bavarian mountains as they recede into the distance.

12 THE ESCAPIST(V/O): Apply a little pressure and sooner or later, they all fall.

Why The Escapist?

In a summer rife with comic book adaptations The Escapist is one of the rare examples of a character born in prose who found his way into comics after the fact. The Escapist, for those living under a rock, came into existence via Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. That book follows the lives of two Jewish cousins, artist Joe Kavalier and writer Sam Clay. The novel is firmly rooted in the Golden Age era of comics and The Escapist is the creation of Joe and Sam.

His origin is very much of that era. In it, escape artist Tom Mayflower is recruited by his uncle into the highly secret League of the Golden Key. Bestowed with a costume and a golden key he learns that whilst wearing the costume he becomes physically stronger and is capable of fantastic feats of escapology, strength, agility and derring do. The Escapist himself is a great homage to the characters that came out of that era and is supposedly partly based on the youthful exploits of comics book legend Jim Steranko. 

Jerry Siegel’s father suffered a heart attack after his store was held up in armed robbery and it has often been said that Superman was partly born out of this tragedy, a helpless bookworm on one hand and an all powerful near-God on the other. One who could leap buildings and stop bullets without breaking a sweat. The Escapist serves a similar purpose for his creators. Joe himself has just escaped a war ravaged Czechoslovakia, leaving behind his friends and family. The Escapist allows Joe to deal with that survivors guilt. Not only that but it could also be argued that the character speaks to Sam’s own desire to escape from his frail body (Tom Mayflower has a crippled leg when not wearing the costume) and repressed homosexual feelings. 

It was only logical that he would also ‘escape’ prose and make his mark in comics too. Dark Horse Comics created an anthology title centred around the character four years after the novels debut entitled Michael Chabon Presents the Amazing Adventures of the Escapist. These stories were written and drawn in a mock Golden Age style, perfectly evoking a more innocent era of comics. Two years later a young upstart named Brian K. Vaughan put his own spin on the character with the eponymous series The Escapists. This followed the fortunes of three creators as they buy up the rights to the Escapist character in an effort to revitalise him for a modern audience. The series is a great love letter not only to comics but the hardship, love and craziness that goes into making them. 

I chose this character not only because of my love for Chabon’s novel (it’s still my favourite book of all time) but the range of subject and tone that can be explored with the character. Pulp, adventure, history, war and even the metafictional aspects of comics and their history are all wide open here with Tom and his excellent supporting cast. Ultimately though The Escapist shows us how the best comics help us leave behind our mortal frames and the constraints of dreary reality if only momentarily.