Mad Cave Studios has picked up the license to make comics based on John Carpenter’s 1981 film Escape from New York, a cult classic that saw Kurt Russell rescue the president when he crash-lands inside the prison that used to be New York.
The comic will head west, though, as Kyle Higgins and Val Rodrigues bring us Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago this September.
“Escape From New York is one of the films that taught me what genre storytelling could be—lean, mean, and built on a world you can’t stop thinking about,” Higgins said. “Getting to write in Carpenter’s Manhattan is the kind of thing my younger self wouldn’t have believed. I can’t wait for everyone to see Snake’s next adventure.”
The series finds Snake Plissken working as a coyote, smuggling people and contraband through the dangerous dead zones between prison territories like Chicago. When he’s hired to extract a woman wanted by the city’s warlord, Snake sees a shot at redemption.
Higgins is known for the creator-owned Massive-verse, which includes the comic Radiant Black, while Rodrigues’ credits include The Pale Knight.
“When I received the invitation to draw this project, I grabbed it with enthusiasm,” Rodrigues said. “Having the chance to draw such an iconic character from the movies by such a legendary movie director as John Carpenter is a fun and challenging task. Readers can expect the excitement of a Carpenter-style movie, with a distinctively absurd ’80s action skillfully adapted to the comics medium by Kyle’s writing, and that I’m doing my best to do justice with my linework.”
The debut issue features eight covers, including art by Stephen Mooney, Danica Brine, Dan Panosian and Christian Ward.
Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago #1 arrives Sept. 23.