The Escapists #2 hit stores today, featuring the second part in the tale of Max Roth and Case Weaver!

“This is the issue where Jason Shawn Alexander and I jump on board as artists, masterfully coloured by Matt Hollingsworth and Dave Stewart,” artist Steve Rolston e-mailed fans this morning. “Esteemed writer Brian K. Vaughan has really woven a beautiful story here that’s clever & original on its own but also faithful to the vibe of a great novel.”

Vaughan had his own thoughts. “If you can find a new book with a better team than that, you… I don’t know, live in some kind of alternate reality,” Vaughan posted on his Web site’s forum. “I LOVE this issue, so I hope you guys give it a read.”

The story had been set to appear in Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #9 before Dark Horse Comics canceled the series in January.

In issue #2, Roth and Weaver complete their first issue of the new Escapist comic. The solicitation notes that “their promotional plans include a risky publicity stunt that puts Denny in an old Escapist costume… and in harm’s way!”

And if perhaps that’s not enough for you, take a look at the preview for issue #4, due in stores October 11.

The solicitation for The Escapists #2 has hit the net.

The Escapists #2 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan, Gerard Jones
Artist: Steve Rolston, Jason Alexander
Cover Artist: James Jean

Multiple Eisner Award-winning and Wizard Top Ten writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man; Ex Machina; Runaways) teams with acclaimed artists Steve Rolston (Queen & Country, MEK) and Jason Alexander (Damn Nation, Gotham Central) for the second installment of our first Escapist mini-series! Max Roth and Case Weaver have finished the very first issue of their re-launch comic, featuring a revamped Luna Moth, and their promotional plans include a risky publicity stunt that puts Denny in an old Escapist costume . . . and in harm’s way!

Also in this issue is a never-before-seen chapter from Men of Tomorrow, Gerard Jones’s wildly acclaimed book on the history of comics, in which he unearths some scandalous press on the Master of Elusion!

With cover art by the sensational James Jean, two-time winner of the Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist!

Publication Date: Aug 09, 2006
Format: Full color, 32 pages
Price: $2.99

Dark Horse Comics has posted online the solicitation for The Escapists #1, the spin-off of the canceled Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist. Here’s what you will (hopefully) get to enjoy July 12:

The Escapists #1

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Philip Bond, Eduardo Barreto
Cover Artist: Frank Miller
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crime

From Pulitzer-winning author Michael Chabon!

Wizard Top Ten and multiple Eisner Award-winning writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways) teams with critically acclaimed artists Philip Bond (Vimanarama, Vertigo Pop, Tank Girl) and Eduardo Barreto (Batman, The Long Haul) to deliver this knockout first issue!

Discovering his late father’s decades-spanning vault of Escapist memorabilia at the age of six, Max became a fan of the Master of Elusion almost overnight. After exhausting the extensive stash of Golden and Silver Age comics, he needed more-and started writing his own Escapist stories. Now nineteen, he’s determined to make the character a sensation once again, but where is he going to find an artist-in Cleveland? Meet Maxwell Roth and Case Weaver, latter-day versions of Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, in part one of The Escapists!

With cover art by multi-platinum superstar Frank Miller kicking off a round robin of stellar cover artists including James Jean and John Cassaday, this launch of the first Escapist miniseries can’t be missed!

• Special Introductory price: $1.00!

• “[Vaughan] turned in a script that caused grown men, or at least one grown man, to weep for joy. It is a script that well meets, and perhaps even exceeds, the expectations raised by the shadow of the parent novel…”

– Michael Chabon

Publication Date: Jul 12, 2006
Format: Full color, 32 pages
Price: $1.00

Dark Horse has pulled the plug on Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, making November’s issue #8 the last in the series, the anthology’s main artist revealed today.

Steve Rolston, in a LiveJournal posting and an e-mail to his fans, announced the series would be relaunched “in a series of more affordable packages,” including a six-issue mini-series, The Escapists, due in stores in July.

“While this does mean you’ll have to wait until the summer, it also means you won’t have to wait as long between issues and the price tag will be much more affordable for those who weren’t keen on the anthology format,” Rolston said.

Rolston’s announcement indicates The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #9, due in stores this Wednesday, will not hit shelves after all. No word on what will happen to the stories completed for that book.

Brian K. Vaughan, writer for The Escapists, said in a forum posting that the decision was made “because Dark Horse felt that our story deserved a wider audience, and Mr. Chabon agreed that a relaunched monthly series (with a significantly more affordable cover price) would help us reach exactly that.”

“It’s a drag that people will have to wait a few more months to see Steve Rolston and Jason Alexander’s stuff, but I honestly think this might be the best book I’ve ever been a part of, so I’m grateful that DH is working hard to get it into many more hands,” Vaughan said.

Michael Chabon, in an e-mail, said he was “just glad and grateful to Dark Horse that they’re sticking with it at all and impressed that they’re planning to honor all their outstanding commitments to the writers and artists who had already been hired to do work for the quarterly.”

He added he was happy more readers would get to see Vaughan’s story line, saying “it’s just such great stuff.”

Rolston indicated the first two issues of The Escapists would feature the first part of the story arc already seen in the current anthology. Issue #1 will feature Philip Bond’s art, and issue #2, due in August, will feature Rolston.

Chabon had indicated almost a month ago that changes were in the works, but had said at the time they would probably be “nothing as drastic as outright cancellation.” The Escapist had suffered poor sales since its inception, selling only 4,594 copies of issue #8, less than half of its first issue in February 2004.

Comic stores ordered only 4,594 copies of Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #8 in November, the lowest number since the series’ debut, according to ICv2 and Diamond.

Dark Horse distributes its titles to comic stores exclusively by Diamond. However, these numbers do not include other sales outlets, specifically bookstores, where the Escapist can commonly be found.

ICv2’s estimates, released Monday and based on Diamond’s US sales indexes and publisher sales data, also do not include sales by Diamond UK, orders made after November, or copies still in Diamond’s inventory.

Even with these exceptions, though, the numbers do give some insight into the business-side of the Escapist anthology. November’s sales are less than half what issue #1’s were in February 2004, when it sold 9,695 copies.

However, compared to the previous issue, sales only dropped 386 issues. The decline comes despite nabbing hot-property Brian K. Vaughan as a regular writer.

For further November comic sales analysis, head to ICv2.