Hmmmm. I was not a comic book reader as a kid. We didn't have any money "to waste" and I think my mother thought comics were lower class and perhaps anti-Christian. As a result, I would read one or two at another kid's house. Walking to the local library (after school) became a habit and I found that I could imagine some pretty wonderful visions (in my head) when reading "Swiss Family Robinson," without resorting to explicit pictures. Nevertheless, I loved Chabon's "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" and, so, when I found this little paperback first edition of "Michael Chabon Presents....," I snatched it up. It turns out I still don't like comics much. But, the fact that this copy is signed "To Bob Bason. Michael Chabon" means it is going to go in my stacks, comfortably close to all the rest of the Chabons, right between the signed copies of "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union."

Read the book that this character was born from - several times - Might have to get my hands on this one.

No, no i no.
Tot allò que a Kavalier i Klay era la promesa d'un heroi clàssic, aquí es transforma en un còmic de pega amb pretensions i sense xixa. Avorrit, amb historietes insofribles. Només se salva la de Kyle Baker.

Not really one for comics/graphic novels, but having read 'Kavalier and Clay' earlier in the year, this was a must. Nice to see both The Escapist and Luna Moth in drawn form. I would have liked to see the Luna Moth story regarding her origins, but maybe that will be in one of the later books?

Since I'm not already familiar with the Escapist comics (nor have I read Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay), I don't think I was the target demographic for this book. While the book starts out strong with the story of the Escapist origin, the quality and artwork of each story varies.

I picked this up at a discount book shop for pretty cheap, having loved Chabon's novel. As a companion piece to the book, this works fairly well. It slightly expands upon the (fictional) publication history of the Escapist comics, though repeats some of what is explained in the novel. The stories are satisfying little one-shots. For Chris Ware completists, the back cover has been written and designed in his typically detailed style and with his particular style of humour. These are all the more positive aspects of this comic.

The bad: There is a variety of art styles, which makes this interesting, but I don't really love any of them, and I don't think they really capture the period they are trying to depict. For example, the 'Passing Of The Key' origin story seems a bit more angular and modern than the clean, curvy style I associate with the Golden Age of comics (I'm thinking Curt Swan). Kyle Baker's caricatured style suits his story but I wouldn't otherwise get into it. Chaykin provides something closer to Frank Miller's style than his 'American Flagg' work, which fits the story and era but is a bit ugly. Tony Leonard Tamai pulls off a great Manga style but the story isn't great. Bill Sienkiewicz even gets involved but it's far from his best work.

The format is quite small: the book is about half of the size of a regular comic. On the plus side, it means that it can be shelved alongside Chabon's novel on your shelf. On the other hand, it's not very realistic as a supposed archive of classic comics. Releasing this as a full-sized comic would have been great in some ways, but may have made some of the art look even worse.

Some positives and negatives here. OK if you loved the novel and want to get more of the Escapist, but I don't think it would really work as a standalone comic. Some big names are involved but it unfortunately never quite gels for me.

Michael Chabon's The Escapist has all the earmarks of classic pre-surperhero and pulp fiction characters such as The Spirit, The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Spider, The Avenger and others. Chabon has an uncanny knack for creating a believable world the seamlessly surrounds his protagonists, as he does in The Final Solution and Summerland. An escape artist is a perfect occupation for a pulp hero: a little mystical and mysterious, with physical jeopardy an everyday part of the business. This collection of artists captures the spirit of the Golden Age perfectly.

I read the Adventures of Kavalier and Clay a million years ago. It never occurred to me that the Escapist comics would be published. There is no cohesive storyline in the book. It is just a bunch of different versions of the The Escapist, all of them interesting and with their own merits. There is also a great manga version of the Escapist and two Luna Moth stories that were incredible. The explanations given by various authors regarding the series help put everything in perspective.

So I just read this again and for the most part my opinion stayed the same. The only change I would say is that not every story got explanations and sometimes I was curious as to which age each story came from or if I had the correct publisher and was matching the age correctly.

A nice read to follow The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, this is a "collection" of strips of their greatest creation. While imaginative in its use of various styles in cartooning from the 20th century, this book is designed for enthusiastic readers of the novel only.

Fun! Good hearty geek fun. Terrific art, too.

this book was such a fun read, and also really enjoyable. it is one of the few comics i actually enjoyed reading, and one of the many,MANY, books ive read more then 18 times.

Very Ironic as it reflects a lot of the history of the Comic Book world as well as the original Novel